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We have performed a detailed contactless electroreflectance study of the interband excitonic transitions on both the Ga and N faces of a 200-μm-thick freestanding hydride-vapor-phase-epitaxy grown wurtzite GaN sample with low defect concentration in the temperature range between 20 and 300 K. The transition energies of the A, B, and C excitons and broadening parameters of the A and B excitons have been determined by least-square fits to the first derivative of a Lorentzian line shape. The energy positions and separations of the excitonic transitions in the sample reveal the existence of residual strain. At 20 K the broadening parameter of A exciton deduced for the Ga (5×10[SUP5] dislocation cm[SUP-2] and N (1×10[SUP7] dislocation cm[SUP-2]) faces are 3 and 7 meV, respectively, indicating a lower defect concentration on the former face. The parameters that describe the temperature dependence of the interband transition energies of the A, B, and C excitons as well as the broadening function of the A and B features are evaluated. The results from an analysis of the temperature dependence of the broadening function of excitons A and B indicate that GaN exhibits a very large exciton-phonon coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality free-standing GaN was obtained by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE) growth and the subsequent removal of the sapphire substrates. In the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the as-grown HVPE-GaN, we observed a strong phonon replica peak for temperatures higher than 80 K. Both the near-band-edge emission and the yellow emission in the cathodoluminescence spectra were inhomogeneous, and correlated with the crystalline structure. With the homoepitaxial regrowth by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD) in the GaN substrates, these unusual optical properties were no longer observed and the PL peak became sharper than GaN grown by MOCVD on sapphire substrates, indicating that the free-standing GaN is suitable as substrates for the growth of device structures. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcathodolumunescence (MCL) spectra measurements, MCL and electron beam induced current (EBIC) imaging of the freestanding n-GaN samples grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy were made. Dark-spot defects in plan-view EBIC and MCL images and dark line defects in MCL images taken on the cleaved surface of the samples could be associated with dislocations. MCL spectra measurements in the vicinity of dislocations and in the matrix do not reveal specific luminescence bands that could be attributed to dislocations but rather suggest that dislocation regions have higher density of deep nonradiative traps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positron annihilation measurements reveal show that negative Ga vacancies are the dominant acceptors in n-type gallium nitride grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. The concentration of Ga vacancies decreases, from more than 10[sup 19] to below 10[sup 16] cm[sup -3], as the distance from the interface region increases from 1 to 300 µm. These concentrations are the same as the total acceptor densities determined in Hall experiments. The depth profile of O is similar to that of VGa, suggesting that the Ga vacancies are complexed with the oxygen impurities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A free-standing GaN template grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM investigation was augmented by x-ray diffraction, defect delineation etching process followed by imaging with atomic force microscopy and variable temperature photoluminescence. The density of dislocations near the N face was determined to be, in order, 3±1x10[sup 7], 4±1x10[sup 7], and about 1x10[sup 7] cm[sup -2] by cross-sectional TEM, plan-view TEM, and a defect revealing etch, respectively. The same methods on the Ga face revealed the defect concentration to be, in order, less than 1x10[sup 7] cm[sup -2] by plan-view TEM, less than 5x10[sup 6] cm[sup -2] by cross-sectional TEM, and 5x10[sup 5] cm[sup -2] by defect revealing hot H[sub 3]PO[sub 4] acid, respectively. The full width at half maximum of the symmetric (0002) x-ray diffraction peak was 69 and 160 arc sec for the Ga and N faces, respectively. That for the asymmetric (101_4) peak was 103 and 140 arc sec for Ga and N faces, respectively. The donor bound exciton linewidth was about 1 meV each at 10 K, and a green band centered at about 2.44 eV was observed. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A free-standing 300-μm-thick GaN template grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy has been characterized for its structural and optical properties using x-ray diffraction, defect delineation etch followed by imaging with atomic force microscopy, and variable temperature photoluminescence. The Ga face and the N face of the c-plane GaN exhibited a wide variation in terms of the defect density. The defect concentrations on Ga and N faces were about 5x10[sup 5] cm[sup -2] for the former and about 1x10[sup 7] cm[sup -2] for the latter. The full width at half maximum of the symmetric (0002) x-ray diffraction peak was 69 and 160 arc sec for the Ga and N faces, respectively. That for the asymmetric (10-14) peak was 103 and 140 arc sec for Ga and N faces, respectively. The donor bound exciton linewidth as measured on the Ga and N faces (after a chemical etching to remove the damage) is about 1 meV each at 10 K. Instead of the commonly observed yellow band, this sample displayed a green band, which is centered at about 2.44 eV. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]