The diffusion of magnesium has been studied in GaN layers grown on sapphire substrate by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapor-phase-epitaxy (MOVPE) in a "home-made" reactor. Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) was used to visualise the Mg profiles in two kinds of multi-sublayer GaN structures. One structure was grown with a variable flow of Ga precursor (TMG) and the second one with a variable growth temperature. In both cases, the Mg dopant precursor (Cp2Mg) flow was kept constant. Using the second Fick's law to fit the experimental SIMS data, we have deduced an increasing then a saturating Mg diffusion coefficient versus the Mg concentration. Mg incorporation was found to get higher for lower growth rate, i.e. when TMG flow is reduced. Furthermore, based on the temperature-related behaviour we have found that the activation energy for Mg diffusion coefficient in GaN was 1.9 eV. It is suggested that Mg diffuses via substitutional sites. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.