A new spiral parallel mesh electrode (PME) is presented to control active nitrogen species in plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxial (PA-MBE) growth of group III nitrides and their alloys. Direct flux of active nitrogen from radio frequency inductive coupled plasma (rf-ICP) discharge was able to be measured using a mesh electrode for filtering charge particles and electron emission due to the self-ionization of nitrogen atoms on a negatively biased electrode. In situ measurement of direct nitrogen atom fluxes using the spiral PME during PA-MBE growth of GaN and AlN on Si substrates is investigated. A linear rf power dependence of direct flux of active species on atoms such as nitrogen (N + N*), where N and N* were ground and excited atoms, respectively, from a rf-ICP was confirmed by the spiral PME. An indirect flux of nitrogen adsorbed (ADS) atoms (N + N*) during discharge was also monitored by the spiral PME and received influence of the wall surface of the growth chamber. ADS nitrogen atoms are able to be used for nitridation of Si surface to grow a double buffer layer (DBL) AlN/beta-Si(3)N(4)/Si. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.