Research of acceptor impurity thermal activation in GaN: Mg epitaxial layers

The effect of thermal annealing of GaN:Mg layers on acceptor impurity activation has been investigated. Hole concentration increased and mobility decreased with an increase in thermal annealing temperature. The sample annealed at 1000 °C demonstrated the lowest value of resistivity. Rapid thermal annealing (annealing with high heating speed) considerably improved the efficiency of Mg activation in the GaN layers. The optimum time of annealing at 1000 °C has been determined. The hole concentration increased by up to 4 times compared to specimens after conventional annealing.