We investigated the partial decomposition of GaN layers grown with different coalescence degrees by atmospheric pressure metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (AP-MOVPE) on SiN treated sapphire substrate. The decomposition was performed in AP-MOVPE reactor under nitrogen (N-2) flow at 1200 degrees C. The growth and decomposition processes were in-situ monitored by laser reflectometry (LR) at normal incidence. Surface morphology, crystalline and optical properties of GaN layers were examined before and after partial decomposition by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD). Low decomposition rate and low surface degradation were obtained for thick and most coalesced GaN layers. The partial decomposition did not significantly affect the optical and crystalline properties of GaN. In particular, HRXRD showed almost the same full width at halfmaximum (FWHM) of (00.2) and (10.2) rocking curves (RCs) before and after partial decomposition of coalesced GaN layer. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.