Growth of GaN based structures on focused ion beam patterned templates

Focused ion beam technique is a powerful tool for defining patterns within a semiconductor film. In this paper, we show that it is possible to realize patterns such as disks and columns within thick GaN templates and that it is compatible with the regrowth of GaN based heterostructures. We study the effect of the pattern size and shape on the regrowth by molecular beam epitaxy. We show that the growth using ammonia as the nitrogen source with flux at temperature optimized for 2‐dimensional growth leads to the apparition of well defined growth planes. We show that the development of these planes is dependent with the initial pattern size and shape. These results confirm the difficulty for realizing micro or nano‐columns with axial heterostructures. At the opposite, these growth conditions seem favourable for core‐shell heterostructures column with well defined m‐plane and eventually a‐plane lateral facets. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)