Diffuse X-ray scattering from various types of stacking faults in basal (0001) planes in a-oriented wurtzite GaN epitaxial layers was described theoretically and the calculated intensity distributions were compared with experimental data. From the comparison, the densities of stacking faults in a series of a-GaN samples were determined. The method made it possible to discriminate the diffuse scattering from stacking faults from the influence of non-planar defects like dislocations.

Diffuse X-ray Scattering From Stacking Faults in a-Plane GaN Epitaxial Layers. M.Barchuk, V.Holý, D.Kriegner, J.Stangl, S.Schwaiger, F.Scholz: Physical Review B, 2011, 84[9], 094113