Carrier concentration dependence of donor activation energy in n-type GaN epilayers grown on Si (1 1 1) by plasma-assisted MBE

The n-type GaN layers were grown by plasma-assisted MBE and either intentionally doped with Si or unintentionally doped. The optical characteristics of a donor level in Si-doped, GaN were studied in terms of photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy as a function of electron concentration. Temperature dependent PL measurements allowed us to estimate the activation energy of a Si-related donor from temperature-induced decay of PL intensity. PL peak positions, full width at half maximum of PL and activation energies are found to be proportional to the cube root of carrier density. The involvement of donor levels is supported by the temperature-dependent electron concentration measurements.

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► The n-type GaN layers were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy.
► The optical characteristics of a donor level in Si-doped GaN were studied.
► Activation energy of a Si-related donor was estimated from temperature dependent PL measurements.
► PL peak positions, FWHM of PL and activation energies are found to be proportional to the cube root of carrier density.
► The involvement of donor levels is supported by the temperature-dependent electron concentration measurements.