A newly designed two-step reactor which places both chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) in series is proposed to grow nonpolar m-plane GaN (1 0 -1 0) material on a closely lattice-matched (1 0 0) LiAlO2 single crystal substrate. The surface morphologies are characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Structural properties of the GaN epilayers are investigated by X-ray diffraction, and the FWHM of GaN (1 0 -1 0) rocking curve is around 0.13 degrees. Optical and electrical properties are evaluated by photoluminescence spectroscopy, optical transmission spectra and Hall measurement. Photoluminescence spectroscopy exhibited a near band edge emission peak at 3.410 eV. The carrier concentration is (3.9 +/- 0.01) x 10(18) cm(-3). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.