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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 February 2017
In0.06Ga0.94N/GaN superlattices (SLs) grown on sapphire (0001) by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition were studied before and after europium (Eu) ion implantation to understand the strain induced-effects in the SL structure. The implanted SLs were investigated as a function of the thermal annealing temperature up to 1000 °C in nitrogen ambient. Temperature dependent photoluminescence spectra showed a red-shift of the SL emission peaks due the quantum confined Stark effect, followed by a blue-shift due to In atoms out-diffusion from the In0.06Ga0.94N quantum well, for both Eu ions implanted and unimplanted SLs. The amplitude of observed spectral shifts was smaller and the line width of the SLs emission peaks were narrower in the SLs:Eu3+ as compared to the unimplanted SLs. It is concluded that Eu3+ ions modified the strain in the SLs acting like impurity and/or defects getter in implantation degraded SLs resulting in material phase purification and improvements of SLs optical properties.