Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:05:36.375Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Blue Luminescence in Undoped and Zn-doped GaN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

M. A. Reshchikov ,
H. Morkoç ,
R. J. Molnar ,
D. Tsvetkov  and
V. Dmitriev
M. A. Reshchikov
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, U.S.A.
H. Morkoç
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, U.S.A.
R. J. Molnar
Affiliation:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA 02420, U.S.A.
D. Tsvetkov
Affiliation:
TDI, Inc., Silver Spring, MD 20904, U.S.A.
V. Dmitriev
Affiliation:
TDI, Inc., Silver Spring, MD 20904, U.S.A.
Get access

Abstract

A broad band with a maximum at about 2.9 eV (blue band) is widely observed in the photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra of unintentionally doped GaN grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) or by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). In some samples this band exhibits fine structure attributed to electron-phonon coupling, in others it appears featureless. Different defect origin and recombination mechanisms responsible for the blue band have been suggested in the past. The situation is complicated by the fact that bands similar in shape and position were observed also in Zn- and Mg-doped GaN, as well as in undoped GaN after dry or wet etching. We investigated PL in HVPE-grown undoped, Si- and Zn-doped GaN layers in wide temperature and excitation intensity ranges. We have found that the shape, temperature and excitation intensity dependencies of the blue band in undoped GaN are almost identical to those in GaN lightly doped with Zn. Moreover, in both undoped and Zn-doped samples we observed a distinctive set of peaks related to an exciton bound to the Zn acceptor. Although the exact structure of the Zn acceptor is still unknown, our experimental results unambiguously demonstrate that Zn impurity is responsible for the blue band in unintentionally doped GaN. The results of transient PL study are also consistent with the above attribution.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 743: Symposium L – GaN and Related Alloys , 2002 , L11.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Cremades, A., Piqueras, J., Xavier, C., Monteiro, T., Pereira, E., Meyer, B. K., Hofmann, D. M., and Fischer, S., Mat. Sci. and Eng. B42, 230 (1996).Google Scholar
2. Trager-Cowan, C., O'Donnell, K. P., Hooper, S. E., and Foxon, C. T., Appl. Phys. Lett. 68, 355 (1996).Google Scholar
3. Schubert, E. F., Goepfert, I. D., and Redwing, J. M., Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, 3224 (1997).Google Scholar
4. Carrano, J. C., Grudowski, P. A., Eiting, C. J., Dupuis, R. D., and Campbell, J. C., Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 1992 (1997).Google Scholar
5. Zaldivar, M. Herrera, Fernandez, P., Piqueras, J., and Solis, J., J. Appl. Phys., 85, 1120 (1999).Google Scholar
6. Fleisher, K., Toth, M., Phillips, M. R., Zou, J., Li, G., and Chua, S. J., Appl. Phys. Lett. 743, 1114 (1999).Google Scholar
7. Kaufmann, U., Kunzer, M., Obloh, H., Maier, M., Manz, Ch., Ramakrishnan, A., and Santic, B., Phys. Rev. B 59, 5561 (1999).Google Scholar
8. Tsai, C.-C., Chang, C.-S., and Chen, T.-Y., Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 3718 (2002).Google Scholar
9. Yang, H. C., Lin, T. Y., and Chen, Y. F., Phys. Rev. B 62, 12593 (2000).Google Scholar
10. Reshchikov, M. A., Shahedipour, F., Korotkov, R. Y., Wessels, B. W., and Ulmer, M. P., J. Appl. Phys. 87, 3351 (2000).Google Scholar
11. Reshchikov, M. A. and Korotkov, R. Y., Phys. Rev. B 64, 115205 (2001).Google Scholar
12. Toth, M., Fleisher, K., and Phillips, M. R., Phys. Rev. B 59, 1575 (1999).Google Scholar
13. Xu, S. J., Li, G., Chula, S. J., Wang, X. C., and Wang, W., Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 2451 (1998).Google Scholar
14. Brown, S. A., Reeves, R. J., Haase, C. S., Cheung, R., Kirchner, C., and Kamp, M., Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 3285 (1999).Google Scholar
15. Dhar, S. and Ghosh, S., Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 4519 (2002).Google Scholar
16. Reshchikov, M. A., Visconti, P., and Morkoç, H., Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 177 (2001).Google Scholar
17. Skromme, B. J. and Martinez, G. L., MRS Internet J. Nitride Semicond. Res. 5S1, W9.8 (2000).Google Scholar
18. Reshchikov, M. A., Huang, D., Morkoç, H., and Molnar, R. J., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 693, I2.10 (2002).Google Scholar
19. Suski, T. and Perlin, P., private communicationGoogle Scholar
20. Reshchikov, M. A., Yi, G.-C., and Wessels, B. W., MRS Internet J. Nitride Semicond. Res. 4S1, G11.8 (1999).Google Scholar
21. Kaufmann, U., Kunzer, M., Maier, M., Obloh, H., Ramakrishnan, A., Santic, B., and Schlotter, P., Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 1326 (1998).Google Scholar
22. Korotkov, R. Y., Reshchikov, M. A., and Wessels, B. W., Physica B, in press.Google Scholar