NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR, NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR CRYSTAL GROWTH METHOD, AND NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT EMITTING ELEMENT

In growing a crystal of a nitride semiconductor on a nitride base which uses a nonpolar plane such as an m-plane, gases which do not have etching effect on nitrides are mainly used as constituent gases of a main flow (atmosphere to which a principal nitride plane of the base is exposed) during a heating step in a relatively high temperature region before nitride semiconductor layers are grown and constituent gases of a main flow during a period lasting until growth of a first and second nitride semiconductor layers is completed. Also, Si source material is not supplied in an initial growth stage of the nitride semiconductor layers. This reduces removal of nitrogen atoms from near a nitride surface of the epitaxial base and thereby reduces introduction of defects into epitaxial films, enabling epitaxial growth with surface morphology characterized by excellent flatness.