(Invited) Impurity Co-doping of Gallium Nitride Materials for Enhanced Light Emission

Abstract

Impurity doping of silicon and other semiconductor materials has been an active research area for more than 20 years. There have been two main thrusts of this work, erbium doping to provide infrared light emission in silicon for telecommunications, and doping with other rare earths for full color displays and solid state lighting. Major advances in both of these areas have been achieved through metal-organic chemical vapor deposition synthesis of rare earth doped GaN thin films. However, the low emission efficiency in prototype devices has prevented commercial applications. Recent advances concerning co-doping GaN films with a rare earth and an impurity element are addressed. Experimental data showing enhanced light emission through co-doping of the GaN films are presented. Theoretical simulations of europium and silicon atoms in the GaN lattice are described. These results indicate that significant light emission can be achieved via co-doping of GaN.