This paper reports the growth of p-GaN by molecular beam epitaxy. During growth, reflection high electron energy diffraction displayed streaky pattern. Hall Effect measurement indicated a hole concentration of 3.90x10(20) cm(-3). Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that p-GaN has high structural quality. Photoluminescence spectrum showed that band edge emission was found at 354.1 nm, significantly shifted from usual reported value, i.e. 364 nm. The shift was attributed to Burstein-Moss effect. In addition, a broad emission peak at 387.5 nm was also observed which was due to the transition from conduction band edge to Mg acceptor level. Moreover, the presence of 657 cm(-1) Raman peak also confirmed the heavy Mg-doped characteristic in p-GaN. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.