The relationship between surface reconstruction transitions and surface kinetics was studied for cubic GaN grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy onto (001) GaAs. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction was used to monitor the transient behaviour of the surface reconstruction upon the pulsed supply of either Ga or N at a given substrate temperature. A quantitative analysis of the dynamics of the surface reconstruction transitions yields the desorption fluxes of Ga and N. The exceptionally high thermal stability of the (2 x 2)-reconstructed surface in vacuum was examined by ab initio total-energy calculations.

Relation between Surface Reconstruction Transitions and Growth Kinetics of Zincblende (001) GaN. O.Brandt, H.Yang, A.Yamada, K.H.Ploog: Journal of Crystal Growth, 1997, 175-176[1], 134-8