I. K. Shmagin

Absorption coefficient, energy gap, exciton binding energy, and recombination lifetime of GaN obtained from transmission measurements

The absorption coefficient for a 0.4-μm-thick GaN layer grown on a polished sapphire substrate was determined from transmission measurements at room temperature. A strong, well defined exciton peak for the A and B excitons was obtained. The A, B, and C excitonic features are clearly defined at 77 K. At room temperature, an energy gap Eg=3.452±0.001 eV and an exciton binding energy ExA,B=20.4±0.5 meV for the A and B excitons and ExC=23.5±0.5 meV for the C exciton were determined by analysis of the absorption coefficient. From this measured absorption coefficient, together with the detailed balance approach of van Roosbroek and Shockley, the radiative constant B=1.1×10−8 cm3/s was obtained.

VISIBLE-BLIND GAN SCHOTTKY BARRIER DETECTORS GROWN ON SI(111)

We report novel GaN detectors grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si(111) substrates. Wurtzite structure epitaxial GaN exhibits room-temperature photoluminescence with a band-edge-related emission width as narrow as 7 nm and intensities comparable to high quality layers grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Spectral response of lateral geometry Schottky detectors shows a sharp cutoff at 365 nm with peak responsivities of ∼0.05 A/W at 0 V, and ∼0.1 A/W with a −4 V bias. The dark current is ∼60 nA at −2 V bias. The noise equivalent power is estimated to be 3.7×10−9 W over the response bandwidth of 2.2 MHz.

Growth of bulk InGaN films and quantum wells by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapour deposition

Abstract InGaN bulk layers and single quantum wells were grown on 1.4 to 2.4 μm thick GaN on sapphire films by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (AP-MOCVD). The morphology of the epitaxial layers was strongly affected by the V III ratio in the gas phase. The incorporation efficiency of indium was observed to increase with higher growth rates and decreasing temperature, but was independent of the V III ratio in the investigated parameter range. In0.16Ga0.84N single quantum wells showed intense quantum well related luminescence at room temperature, with a full width at half maximum of 7.9 nm at a thickness of 50 A. Single quantum wells embedded in InGaN of graded composition showed superior properties compared to quantum wells with In0.04Ga0.94N barriers of constant composition.

Optical metastability in bulk GaN single crystals

Bulk GaN single crystals were grown from cold pressed GaN powder by sublimation in flowing ammonia. Optical transmission measurements indicated that the absorption coefficient for the transparent samples is 50 cm−1 in the wavelength region from 650 to 400 nm. Optical metastability in bulk GaN crystals was studied through time dependent photoluminescence both at room and liquid–nitrogen temperatures. The observation included decreasing output intensity of the ultraviolet emission attributed to the band edge and increasing output intensity of a new emission band centered at 378 nm at room temperature. At liquid–nitrogen temperature, the photoinduced emission band consisted of at least one LO-phonon replica of the zero-phonon line centered at 378 nm. The ratio of output intensities of the photoinduced band to the band edge increased by a factor of 10 during 27 min of exposure time. The photoinduced effect is attributed to the metastable nature of traps in bulk GaN.

Growth of bulk AlN and GaN single crystals by sublimation

Single crystals of AlN to 1 mm thickness were grown in the range 1,950--2,250 C on 10 x 10 mm{sup 2} {alpha}(6H)-SiC(0001) substrates via sublimation-recondensation method. Hot pressed polycrystalline AlN was used as the source material. The color varied from transparent to dark green/blue. The crystal morphology varied with growth conditions. Most crystals were 0.3 mm--1 mm thick transparent layers which completely covered the substrates. Raman, optical and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results are presented. Single crystals of gallium nitride (GaN) were also grown by subliming powders of this material under an ammonia (NH{sub 3}) flow. Optical microscopy, Raman and photoluminescence results are shown.

Effect of growth temperature on point defect density of unintentionally doped GaN grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and hydride vapor phase epitaxy

We report on the investigation of the effect of growth temperature on point defect density of unintentionally doped GaN grown by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and hydride vapor phase epitaxy. A correlation between photoluminescence (PL) spectra and the concentration of donors and acceptors in unintentionally doped GaN is presented. The effects of oxygen and native acceptors on the electrical and optical properties of GaN epitaxial layers are discussed and a classification of PL data is presented. On this basis we show that oxygen creates a shallow donor in GaN with an activation energy of about 23.5±1 meV. We determine that the concentration of native acceptors in GaN increases with an increase in growth temperature. These native acceptors, probably gallium antisites (GaN) and/or gallium vacancies (VGa), are nonradiative defects. We show that a second donor level in GaN has an activation energy of about 52.5±2.5 meV and produces a PL peak with an energy of about 3.45 eV at lo...

OBSERVATION OF LASING FROM PHOTOPUMPED INGAN/GAN HETEROSTRUCTURES IN AN EDGE EMITTING CONFIGURATION

Optically pumped lasing from InGaN/GaN single heterojunctions (SH) was observed in an edge emitting configuration at 77 K. The heterojunctions were grown by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on c-plane sapphire substrates. The frequency tripled output of a mode-locked titanium:sapphire laser with a pulse width of 250 fs, operating at 280 nm, was used as the photoexcitation source. The nonlinear dependence of output emission intensity on input power density, the observations of a strongly polarized output emission, and distinct Fabry–Perot modes are discussed.

Reconfigurable optical properties in InGaN/GaN quantum wells

Reconfigurable optical properties were studied in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) structures. It was observed that a short time exposure to a high intensity ultraviolet light results in long term, but reversible changes of the optical properties of InGaN/GaN MQW samples. The photoinduced changes can be observed using an optical microscope under low intensity ultraviolet light and are visible as a high contrast pattern. The retention time at room temperature for 12 and 20 MQW samples was longer than five days and four weeks, respectively. The effect was studied at room and cryogenic temperatures.

OPTICAL DATA STORAGE IN INGAN/GAN HETEROSTRUCTURES

Optical storage data was realized using an InGaN/GaN single heterostructure. It was observed that exposure to a high power density ultraviolet light temporarily changes the optical properties of the InGaN epitaxial layer. The photo-induced changes can be observed under an optical microscope with low intensity ultraviolet excitation. This effect was used to create high contrast optical patterns on the sample at room temperature and 77 K. The photo-induced changes completely disappear in about four hours at room temperature. After the recorded pattern is erased, the information can be rewritten without a change in efficiency or retention time.

Optical properties of wide bandgap III-V nitride semiconductors

Applications of III-V nitride materials, such as GaN, AlN, InN and their alloys include blue-green light emitting devices, solar blind photodetectors, and high power/frequency electronics. A number of unique and potentially useful optical phenomena have been observed in high quality thin films and heterostructures of AlGaN, GaN, and InGaN. These include: (1) persistent optical effects such as optical metastability in bulk GaN crystals; (2) tunable emission from InGaN quantum wells, (MQW) and; (3) reconfigurable optical properties in InGaN-GaN heterostructures.