Growth of M-plane gallium nitride on $\gamma $-LiAlO$_{2}$ (100) substrate by radio frequency plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

We present a study of the growth of GaN (1\underline {1}00) thin films on$\gamma $-LiAlO$_{2}$ (100) by radio frequency plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The films were monitored in-situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. After growth, the samples are characterized by double crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence measurements. X-ray diffraction measurements show the pure M-plane GaN of the samples. The cross-sectional TEM micrographs show anisotropy in defect structure. The morphological images show that the lattice lines are either parallel or perpendicular to the GaN $c $axis.