Mg acceptor energy levels in AlxInyGa1-x-yN quaternary alloys: An approach to overcome the p-type doping bottleneck in nitrides

The Mg-Ga acceptor energy levels in GaN and random Al8In4Ga20N32 quaternary alloys are calculated using the first-principles band-structure method. We show that due to wave function localization, the MgGa acceptor energy level in the alloy is significantly lower than that of GaN, although the two materials have nearly identical band gaps. Our study demonstrates that forming AlxInyGa1-x-yN quaternary alloys can be a useful approach to lower acceptor ionization energy in the nitrides and thus provides an approach to overcome the p-type doping difficulty in the nitride system.