High-concentration hydrogen in unintentionally doped GaN

We use nuclear reaction analysis to study hydrogen in unintentionally doped GaN, and high-concentration hydrogen, nearly 10(21) cm(-3), is detected. Accordingly, a broad but intense infrared absorption zone with a peak at 2962 cm(-1) is reported, which is tentatively assigned to the stretch mode of NH: Ga complex. The complex is assumed to be one candidate answering for background electrons in unintentionally doped GaN. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic and vibrational Raman scattering in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions in GaN on sapphire substrate

We analyze low-temperature Raman and photoluminescence spectra of MBE-grown GaN layers on sapphire. Strong and sharp Raman peaks are observed in the low frequency region. These peaks, which are enhanced by excitation in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions, are attributed to electronic transitions related to shallow donor levels in hexagonal GaN. It is proposed that a low frequency Raman peak at 11.7 meV is caused by a pseudo-local vibration mode related to defects involved in yellow luminescence transitions. The dependence of the photoluminescence spectra on temperature gives additional information about the residual impurities in these GaN layers.

Observation of defects in GaN epilayers

GaN epilayers grown on sapphire substrates nitridated for various lengthy periods were investigated by light scattering tomography (LST) and Raman scattering. In the LST images of the plane-view epilayers, the light scattering defects distribute in [<11(2)over bar 0>] directions. The defect density is lower in epilayer grown on substrate nitridated for a longer period. The defects are believed to be straight threading edge dislocations on {<1(1)over bar 00>} planes. The Raman shift of E-2 mode is larger in the sample grown on substrate nitridated for a longer period. Our results show that the stress is higher in the sample with fewer dislocations.

Heteroepitaxy of cubic GaN: influence of interface structure

We report on the epitaxial growth and the microstructure of cubic GaN. The layers are deposited by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs and Si substrates. Despite the extreme lattice mismatch between these materials, GaN grows in the metastable cubic phase with a well-defined orientation-relationship to the GaAs substrate including a sharp heteroboundary. The preference of the metastable phase and its epitaxial orientation originates in the interface structure which is found to be governed by a coincidence site lattice.

Catalytic Activation of Mg-Doped GaN by Hydrogen Desorption Using Different Metal Thin Layers

The annealing of Mg-doped GaN with Pt and Mo layers has been found to effectively improve the hole concentration of such material by more than 2 times as high as those in the same material without metal. Compared with the Ni and Mo catalysts, Pt showed good activation effect for hydrogen desorption and ohmic contact to the Ni/Au electrode. Despite the weak hydrogen desorption, Mo did not diffuse into the GaNepilayer in the annealing process, thus suppressing the carrier compensation phenomenon with respect to Ni and Pt depositions, which resulted in the high activation of Mg acceptors. For the GaN activated with the Ni, Pt, and Mo layers, the blue emission became dominant, followed by a clear peak redshift and the degradation of photoluminescence signal when compared with that of GaN without metal.

The growth of ZnO on bcc-In2O3 buffer layers and the valence band offset determined by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy

This work was supported by the 863 High Technology R&D Program of China (Grant Nos. 2007AA03Z402 and 2007AA03Z451), the Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Project (973 program) of China (Grant No. 2006CB604907), and the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60506002 and 60776015). The authors express their appreciation to Dr. Tieying Yang and Prof. Huanhua Wang (Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for XRD measurements and helpful discussions.

Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling in GaN-based heterostructures probed by the circular photogalvanic effect under uniaxial strain

The spin splitting in GaN-based heterostructures has been investigated by means of circular photogalvanic effect experiments under uniaxial strain. The ratios of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling coefficients (R/D ratios) have been measured in AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructures with various Al compositions. It is found that the R/D ratio increases from 4.1 to 19.8 with the Al composition of the AlxGa1-xN barrier varied from 15% to 36%. The Dresselhaus coefficient of bulk GaN is experimentally obtained to be 0.4 eV angstrom(3). The results indicate that the spin splitting in GaN-based heterostructures can be modulated effectively by the polarization-induced electric fields.

Strain effects on optical polarisation properties in (11(2)over-bar2) plane GaN films

We present the theoretical results of the electronic band structure of wurtzite GaN films under biaxial strains in the (11 (2) over bar2)-plane The calculations are performed by the kappa p perturbation theory approach through using the effective-mass Hamiltonian for an arbitrary direction The results show that the transition energies decrease with the biaxial strains changing from -0 5% to 0 5% For films of (11 (2) over bar2)-plane, the strains are expected to be anisotropic in the growth plane Such anisotropic strains give rise to valence band mixing which results in dramatic change in optical polarisation property The strain can also result in optical polarisation switching phenomena Finally, we discuss the applications of these properties to the (11 (2) over bar2) plane GaN based light emitting diode and lase diode

Surface Disorder of GaN Irradiated by Highly Charged Arq+-Ions

Surface damage of gallium nitride films irradiated by Arq+ (6 ≤ q ≤ 16) ions at room temperature is studied by the atomic force microscopy. It is found that when charge state exceeds a threshold value, significant swelling was turned into obvious erosion in the irradiated region. The surface change of the irradiated region strongly depends on the charge state and ion fluence. On the other hand, surface change is less dependent on the kinetic energy nearly in the present experimental range (120 keV≤ Ek ≤ 220 keV). For q ≤ 14, surface of the irradiated region iscovered with an amorphous layer, rough and bulgy. A step-up appears between the irradiated and un-irradiated region. Moreover, the step height and the surface roughness are functions of the ion dose and charge state...

低速高电荷态重离子在GaN单晶中引起的辐照损伤研究

利用Rutherford沟道背散射分析研究了低速高电荷态重离子(Xe26+)在氮化镓(GaN)晶体中辐照损伤的产生对剂量的依赖关系,比较了垂直照射和60o倾斜照射的差异。基于“库仑爆炸”模型对结果进行了解释。

高电荷态离子126Xeq+引起GaN表面形貌变化研究

用不同电荷态的126Xeq+离子（9≤q≤30）在室温下轰击GaN晶体表面，经原子力显微镜分析表明，当q>18，辐照区域由隆起转为显著的刻蚀.被轰击后的GaN晶体表面形貌主要取决于入射离子的电荷态.同时，样品表面形貌还与入射离子的剂量和入射角有关；在实验参数范围，与入射离子的初动能没有明显关系（180 keV≤Ek≤600 keV）.当入射离子的电荷态q=18，与样品表面法线成60°角倾斜入射和垂直表面入射时，样品的表面几乎没有变化，只是倾斜入射后有很微小的隆起；当q＜18时，样品表面膨胀隆起，粗糙度增强，倾斜入射时表面隆起比垂直入射时更明显，而且都有清晰的峰状分界区；当q＞18时，样品表面被蚀刻呈凹陷状，有明显的齿状刻痕，且侵蚀深度与离子剂量近似呈线性关系，倾斜入射时的刻蚀深度大于垂直入射时的刻蚀深度.

Surface erosion of GaN bombarded by highly charged Pb-208(q+)-Ions

Surface change of gallium nitride specimens after bombardment by highly charged Pbq+-ions (q = 25, 35) at room temperature is studied by means of atomic force microscopy. The experimental results reveal that the surface of GaN specimens is significantly etched and erased. An unambiguous step-up is observed. The erosion depth not only strongly depends on the charge state of ions, but also is related to the incident angle of Pbq+-ions and the ion dose. The erosion depth of the specimens in 60 incidence (tilted incidence) is significantly deeper than that of the normal incidence. The erosion behaviour of specimens has little dependence on the kinetic energy of ion (E-k = 360, 700 keV). On the other hand, surface roughness of the irradiated area is obviously decreased due to erosion compared with the un-irradiated area. A fiat terrace is formed.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on GaN crystal irradiated by slow highly charged ions

We utilize slow highly charged ions of Xeq+ and Pbq+ to irradiate GaN crystal films grown on sapphire substrate, and use X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze its surface chemical composition and chemical state of the elements. The results show that highly charged ions can etch the sample surface obviously, and the GaN sample irradiated by highly charged ions has N depletion or is Ga rich on its surface. Besides, the relative content of Ga-Ga bond increases as the dose and charge state of the incident ions increase. In addition, the binding energy of Ga 3d(5/2) electrons corresponding to Ga-Ga bond of the irradiated GaN sample is smaller compared with that of the Ga bulk material. This can be attributed to the lattice damage, which shifts the binding energy of inner orbital electrons to the lower end.