Implantation of nanoporous GaN with Eu ions

Nanoporous GaN samples were implanted with 150 keV Eu+ ions with a fluence of 5 × 1015 cm−2. Channelling and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements indicate a high crystalline quality. After implantation the optical activity of the GaN is quenched by the implantation damage. The 〈0 0 0 1〉 aligned spectrum reveals broad damage distribution over the entire porous layer responsible for an expansion along the c-axis with a parameter increase of 0.3% as indicated by the XRD. Above band gap excitation photoluminescence at low temperature indicates the presence of two regions with different optical properties after annealing. We observe a transparent zone with UV and yellow–green broad emissions and a pale brown region where the UV emission is absent. In both regions the intraionic 4f6Eu3+ emissions are present. XRD and channelling confirm the good crystalline quality of the samples after the annealing and the incorporation of Eu into near substitutional Ga sites.