Photoluminescence efficiency of BGaN epitaxial layers with high boron content

High-boron-content epitaxial layers of BGaN intended for lattice-matching with AlGaN in UV light emitters were grown on SiC substrate and GaN and AlN templates on sapphire. Photoluminescence (PL) of these layers was studied under quasi-steady-state conditions by varying temperature and excitation intensity. The PL spectra in the samples with different boron content and their dynamics evidence formation of boron-rich regions occupying a small fraction of the total layer volume and acting as the emission killers. The room-temperature PL efficiency of the BGaN epilayers was estimated and shown to drastically decrease at increasing boron content with no significant correlation with either the type of substrate/template or technological conditions of the layer deposition.