High Quality Bulk GaN Crystal Growth

Crystal Systems proposes in Phase I to carry out research which will establish a scientific basis for growth of high quality GaN single crystals. This will form the basis for Phase II research and development leading to the growth of large high quality GaN boules (and possibly A N boules) and 4" wafers. There is a strong need for GaN devices in the military and the potential for extensive commercial application which could quickly lead to a ten to fifty billion dollar industry. The bottleneck for the production of such devices is the availability of high quality GaN wafers and substrates. Crystal Systems proposes to use a two-pronged approach to GaN crystal growth. Both are based on the use of GaN nutrient, a solvent, and a temperature gradient. In one case a metallic solvent which is an alloy of Ga and a metal M is used. In the other case a high dielectric constant with catalyst system is used as the solvent. We propose to carry out experiments which will produce a matrix array showing growth rates at a fixed dislocation density on a temperature-pressure scale. This will serve as the design basis for large crystal growth in Phase II. The production of high quality GaN (and other III-Nitride) wafers will break the bottleneck for the production of various devices (green, blue LEDs, Lasers, etc.) needed for many applications in the military and will lead to a new commercial industry with a 10 billion to 50 billion dollar annual value.