Keywords: solid solutions, Si
2
, GaN
x
, single crystal, liquid phase epitaxy from tin
solution, hydrogen environment, voltage characteristics.
Introduction: The development of semiconductor instrumentation is inextricably linked
with the success of the technology for obtaining traditional semiconductor materials such as
Ge and Si. However, these materials do not meet modern requirements, in particular, in terms
of the spectral range of electromagnetic radiation, in terms of speed and temperature range of
operation of optoelectronic devices based on them. Semiconductor binary compounds III-V, II-
VI and their solid solutions with elemental semiconductors have come to replace traditional
materials. Among binary compounds, gallium nitride (GaN) is one of the attractive materials.
Light-emitting diodes, violet injection lasers, ultraviolet detectors, and high-temperature
transistors have been developed on its basis [1, 2]. However, GaN is an expensive material;
large-scale use of bulk elements based on it is not cost-effective. Therefore, at present, a
significant factor hindering progress in this field is the lack of an available technology for
obtaining GaN films with a low (less than 10
7
cm
–
2
) dislocation density on cheap conductive
substrates. In this regard, the preparation of thin GaN layers of device quality on accessible
substrates, such as Si, is one of the urgent problems of modern gallium nitride micro- and
optoelectronics. In this aspect, the most important and still unsolved problem is to overcome
the large difference in the lattice constant and thermal expansion coefficient of single-crystal
Si and GaN, in addition, the GaN lattice is hexagonal, and Si is cubic.
This paper presents the results of a study on the growth of substitutional solid solutions
(Si
2
)
1-x
(GaN)
x
on single-crystal Si (111) substrates by liquid-phase epitaxy from a limited
volume of a tin solution-melt in a hydrogen medium and the current-voltage characteristic
(CVC) of p-Si-n-(Si
2
)
1-x
(GaN)
x
structures.