Initial interface study of Au deposition on GaN(0 0 0 1)

Synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy (SRPES) has been used to study the electronic structure of the Au/GaN(0 0 0 1) system at the initial growth stage. The peak fitting of Au4f_7/2 core-level and the energy shift of valence band indicate that Au–Ga alloy were formed in the interface reaction. According to the Ga3d signal intensity attenuation vs. the gold film thickness, the early growth mode is considered to be 3D mode above the reaction layer. By using the Linear Augmented Plane Wave method the density of states (DOS) for GaN and Au bulk are calculated within the framework of local functional theory. The theoretical results agree with the valence band structure quite well. The mechanism of interface reaction is discussed based on the experimental and theoretical results.