GaN films on AIN buffer layers were grown on (111) silicon substrates in a vertical rotating disk metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition reactor (CVD, Inc.). The dependence of residual stress in GaN films on the V/III molar flow ratio was studied. The crystalline quality of GaN films was analyzed by x-ray diffractometry, and the x-ray lattice parameter method was used to determine the residual stress in the films by measuring the c-axis and a-axis strain separately. The x-ray results show that the residual stress decreases with an increasing V/III molar flow ratio if all other growth parameters are kept constant.