A combination of atomic force microscopy （AFM） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） is used to characterize dislocation etch pits in Si-doped GaN epilayer etched by molten KOH. Three types of etch pits with different shapes and specific positions in the surface have been observed,and a model of the etching mechanism is proposed to explain their origins. The pure screw dislocation is easily etched along the steps that the dislocation terminates. Consequently a small Ga-polar plane is formed to prevent further vertical etching,resulting in an etch pit shaped like an inverted truncated hexagonal pyramid at the terminal chiasma of two surface steps. However, the pure edge dislocation is easily etched along the dislocation line,inducing an etch pit of inverted hexagonal pyramid aligned with the surface step. The polarity is found to play an important role in the etching process of GaN.
