Electrical, luminescent, and deep trap properties of Si doped n-GaN grown by pendeo epitaxy

Abstract

Electrical and luminescent properties and deep trap spectra of Si doped GaN films grown by maskless epitaxial lateral overgrowth (MELO) are reported. The dislocation density in the wing region of the structure was 106 cm−2, while in the seed region it was 108 cm−2. The major electron traps present had activation energy of 0.56 eV and concentrations in the high 1015 cm−3 range. A comparison of diffusion length values and 0.56 eV trap concentration in MELO GaN and epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) GaN showed a good correlation, suggesting these traps could be effective in carrier recombination. The doped MELO films were more uniform in their electrical properties than either ELOG films or undoped MELO films. We also discuss the differences in deep trap spectra and luminescence spectra of low-dislocation-density MELO, ELOG, and bulk n-GaN samples grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. It is suggested that the observed differences could be caused by the differences in oxygen and carbon contamination levels.