Low defect-density a-plane GaN films were successfully grown by using side-wall epitaxial lateral overgrowth technology. Using this technology, a-plane GaN films with atomically flat surface were grown. The threading dislocation and stacking fault densities in the overgrown regions were lower than 106/cm2 and 103/cm, respectively. Side-wall epitaxial lateral overgrowth technology was also used to fabricate and characterize a -plane-GaN-based LEDs. The light output power of a blue-green LED was shown to increase monotonically with decreasing threading dislocation density.

One-Step Lateral Growth for Reduction in Defect Density of a-Plane GaN on r -Sapphire Substrate and its Application in Light Emitters. D.Iida, A.Miura, Y.Okadome, Y.Tsuchiya, T.Kawashima, T.Nagai, M.Iwaya, S.Kamiyama, H.Amano, I.Akasaki: Physica Status Solidi A, 2007, 204[6], 2005-9