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Photoluminescence from Gd-implanted AlN and GaN Epilayers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

John M Zavada
Affiliation:
john.zavada@us.army.mil, U.S. Army Research Office, Electronics Division, 4300 S. Miami Blvd., Durham, NC, 27703, United States, 919-549-4238, 919-549-4310
Neeraj Nepal
Affiliation:
Kansas State University, Department of Physics, 116 Cardwell Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506-2601, United States
J. Lin
Affiliation:
Kansas State University, Department of Physics, 116 Cardwell Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506-2601, United States
K. H. Kim
Affiliation:
Kansas State University, Department of Physics, 116 Cardwell Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506-2601, United States
H. X. Jiang
Affiliation:
Jiang@phys.ksu.edu, Kansas State University, Department of Physics, 116 Cardwell Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506-2601, United States
J. Hite
Affiliation:
University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
G. T. Thaler
Affiliation:
University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
R. M. Frazier
Affiliation:
University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
C. R. Abernathy
Affiliation:
University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
S. J. Pearton
Affiliation:
spear@mse.ufl.edu, University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
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Abstract

GaN and AlN thin films were implanted with gadolinium (Gd)atoms and characterized using deep ultra-violet (UV) photoluminescence(PL). The Gd-implanted samples were annealed at temperatures up to 1178K in a flowing N2 gas to facilitate recovery of implantation-related damage. Using the output at 195 nm from a quadrupled Ti:sapphire laser, narrow PL emission was observed at 318 nm from the Gd- implanted AlN thin films. This emission is characteristic of the lowest energy 4f transition of the trivalent Gd ion. A boarder emission band, also centered at 318 nm, was observed under excitation at 266 nm. No PL emission was observed from the Gd-implanted GaN thin films at either the bandedge or due to a 4f transition. The dependence of the UV emission on AlN sample temperature was systematically studied. The peak PL emission intensity decreased by less that a factor of 3 over the temperature range of 10 K to 300 K. Decay transients of the UV emission were measured indicating that the lifetime of this emission is very fast.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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References

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