We report the initial use of lithographically defined carbon growth templates for use as an epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) mask for metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) heteroepitaxial GaN on sapphire. Interferometric lithography is used to define high aspect ratio structures in SU-8, which are then pyrolyzed in a reducing atmosphere up to 1200 degrees C. The resist structures convert to amorphous carbon, shrinking 80% in the vertical direction and 53% in the horizontal direction, but maintain their pattern geometry and adhesion to the substrate. These templates are capable of surviving GaN nucleation layer growth temperatures (similar to 530 degrees C), GaN crystal growth and high-temperature annealing up to 1050 degrees C. This new approach to ELOG offers several advantages, requiring fewer processing steps, and favorable selectivity tendencies as well as the capability to create growth masks which are difficult or impossible to fabricate using a top-down etching approach. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.