Single-Reactor-Run Architecture of Cleaving Homoepitaxial GaN with Aperture-Driven Disordered BN Interlayers

Abstract High-quality freestanding GaN membranes are fabricated using a single-reactor-run metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. The procedure begins with the growth of a single-crystalline GaN template, followed by the formation of a 20 nm-thick full-coverage disordered BN layer on GaN, which remains stable under high-temperature GaN growth conditions. We introduce a heat-treatment step to generate numerous nanoscale apertures in the BN layer, enabling aperture-mediated homoepitaxial regrowth. Meanwhile, the BN layer suppresses strong epitaxial bonding, where the regrown GaN is mechanically detachable from the GaN template. In addition, multiple disordered BN interlayer formations are established, enabling epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG). Moreover, GaN Schottky diodes are fabricated to demonstrate minimal material degradation through the aperture-mediated lift-off process, enhanced device performance with BN-assisted ELOG, and the feasibility of ultralight wearable UV detectors. This approach eliminates the need for ex situ transfer or substrate-specific lift-off processes, providing a simple and thermally robust platform for manufacturing freestanding wide-bandgap semiconductor membranes.