GaN films grown on (0001) 6H–SiC and (0001)Al2O3substrates using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition withGaCl3andNH3as precursors are comparatively explored by optical, scanning tunneling, and transmission electron microscopy. Independent of the substrate material used, the surface of the GaN layers is covered by hexagonally shaped islands. For GaN on 6H–SiC, the islands are larger in diameter (≈50 &mgr;m) and rather uniformly distributed. An atomically flat interface is observed for GaN onAl2O3in contrast to GaN grown on 6H–SiC, where the interface is characterized by large steps. For both substrates, faceted holes (named as pinholes) are observed in near-surface regions of the GaN layers occurring with a density of about7×108 cm−2. No unequivocal correlation between the density of pinholes and the density of threading dislocations (≈1.6×1010 cm−2forGaN/Al2O3and≈4×109 cm−2for GaN/6H–SiC) can be found. Rather, different types of defects are identified to be correlated with the pinholes, implying a dislocation-independent mechanism for the pinhole formation. Despite the small lattice mismatch between GaN and 6H–SiC, the pronounced original surface roughness of this substrate material is believed to account for both the marked interfacial roughness and the still existing high density of threading dislocations. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.