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The optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique has been employed to examine the nature and formation mechanism of non-radiative defects in GaNAs and InGaAsN. In both alloys, two defects were observed and were shown to he deep-level, non-radiative recombination centers. One of the defects has been identified as a complex involving an As(sub Ga) antisite. These two defects gain more importance with increasing N composition up to 3%, presumably due to an increase in their concentration. With a further higher N composition, the defects start to lose importance in carrier recombination that is attributed to an increasingly important role of other new non-radiative channels introduced with a high N composition. On the other hand, effect of In composition up to 3% seems to be only marginal. Both defects were shown to be preferably introduced in the alloys during low-temperature growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), but can be rather efficiently removed by post-growth rapid thermal annealing., Pub in: Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Volume 692. This article is from ADA405047 Progress in Semiconductor Materials for Optoelectronic Applications Symposium held in Boston, Massachusetts on November 26-29, 2001.

The optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique has been employed to examine the nature and formation mechanism of non-radiative defects in GaNAs and InGaAsN. In both alloys, two defects were observed and were shown to be deep-level, non-radiative recombination centers. One of the defects has been identified as a complex involving an AsGa antisite. These two defects gain more importance with increasing N composition up to 3%, presumably due to an increase in their concentration. With a further higher N composition, the defects start to lose importance in carrier recombination that is attributed to an increasingly important role of other new non-radiative channels introduced with a high N composition. On the other hand, effect of In composition up to 3% seems to be only marginal. Both defects were shown to be preferably introduced in the alloys during low-temperature growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), but can be rather efficiently removed by post-growth rapid thermal annealing.

Type I band line-up in GaNxAs1−x/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) with xless-than-or-equals, slant3% is concluded based on the following experimental results: (i) a comparable radiative decay time of the GaNAs-related photoluminescence (PL) measured from single GaNAs epilayers and the GaNAs/GaAs MQW structures, (ii) the observed PL polarization, and (iii) the spatial confinement of photoexcited holes within the GaNAs layers under resonant excitation of the GaNAs MQW.

The first experimental signature of an intrinsic defect in GaNAs is provided from an optically detected magnetic resonance study. The resolved central hyperfine structure identifies the defect with a nuclear spin I = 3/2, containing either an AsGa antisite or a Ga interstitial. From the strength of the hyperfine interaction and the growth conditions, a complex involving the AsGa antisite seems to be a more likely candidate.

The band alignment in the GaN_xAs_1-x/GaAs quantum well (QW) structures with low N composition is studied by employing time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, PL polarization measurements and optically-detected cyclotron resonance (ODCR) studies. The type I band line-up is concluded based on the following experimental results. Firstly, radiative lifetime of the near band gap PL emission in the GaNAs/GaAs MQW structures is nearly identical to that for the spatially direct PL transitions in the GaNAs epilayers. Secondly, the observed polarization of the PL emission in GaNAs QWs (preferentially along the growth direction) is more consistent with the type I band line-up in the GaNAs/GaAs QWs. Thirdly, since the ODCR peaks arising from the free electrons and free holes in GaAs disappear under resonant excitation of the GaNAs MQWs, the photo-excited holes are spatially confined within the GaNAs layers under the resonant excitation condition.

Properties of a grown-in intrinsic defect in GaNAs alloys and GaNAs/GaAs quantum well structures with low N composition have been investigated by optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR). The characteristic hyperfine (HF) structure, arising from S=1/2 and I=3/2, suggests a complex involving the As_Ga antisite as being the most likely candidate for the responsible defect. The strong HF interaction evidences a high localization of the wavefunction of the unpaired electron near the As_Ga antisite, which is found to be rather insensitive to either N composition or quantum confinement. The formation mechanism for the defect has been studied by varying growth temperature or by performing post-growth rapid thermal annealing. It is shown that the defect can be preferably introduced during molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth at low temperature under non-equilibrium conditions, similar to the case of its parental compound GaAs grown under similar conditions.

Three independent experimental techniques, namely, time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, PL polarization, and optically detected cyclotron resonance, are employed to determine the band alignment of GaNxAS1-x/GaAs quantum structures with a low-N composition. It is concluded that band lineup is type I based on the following experimental results: (i) comparable radiative decay time of the GaNAs-related emission measured from single GaNAs epilayers and from GaNAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) structures, (ii) polarization of the GaNAs-related emission, and (iii) spatial confinement of the photoexcited holes within the GaNAs layers under resonant excitation of the GaNAs QW's., DOI does not work: 10.1103/PhysRevB.63.033303

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was used to study defects in p-type 4H and 6H SiC irradiated with 2.5 MeV electrons at elevated temperatures (400 °C). After irradiation, an anisotropic EPR spectrum, labeled EI4, having monoclinic symmetry (C1h) and an effective spin S = 1 was observed in both 4H and 6H SiC. The same g-tensor with the principal values, gx = 2.0051, gy = 2.0038 and gz = 2.0029 was determined for the spectra in both polytypes. Here the z- and x-axis lie in the (1 1 2̄ 0) plane and the y-axis perpendicular to this plane. The angle between the principal z-axis and the c-axis is 54°. The fine structure parameters were determined as D = 3.28×10-2 cm-1 and 3.44×10-2 cm-1 for 6H and 4H SiC, respectively; E = 0.67×10-2 cm-1 for both polytypes. From the obtained 29Si hyperfine structure and spin Hamiltionian parameters, the defect can be identified as the pair of two carbon vacancies in the (1 1 2̄ 0) or equivalent planes.

A detailed study of as-grown Zn-doped GaN employing optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectroscopy is presented. Besides the well-known ODMR spectra of an effective-mass-like donor and Zn acceptor, a positive ODMR signal of an S=1 / 2 paramagnetic center was observed when monitoring the dominating blue luminescence band peaking at 2.8 eV. The involvement of a single Ga nucleus in the defect center is revealed from the rather well-resolved hyperfine interactions involving the isotopes 71Ga (39.9%) and 69Ga (60.1%), both with nuclear spin I=3 / 2. The C3v symmetry, the hyperfine interaction and the defect formation suggest a Ga-related complex nature of this center.

A systematic investigation of the effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on optical properties of undoped GaNAs/GaAs structures is reported. Two effects are suggested to account for the observed dramatic improvement in the quality of the GaNxAs1-x/GaAs quantum structures after RTA: (i) improved composition uniformity of the GaNxAs1-x alloy, deduced from the photoluminescence (PL), PL excitation and time-resolved measurements; and (ii) significant reduction in the concentration of competing nonradiative defects, revealed by the optically detected magnetic resonance studies.

We review our recent results from studies of electronic properties of GaNAs/GaAs structures with low nitrogen content, by photoluminescence (PL), PL excitation, time-resolved PL spectroscopies as well as optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) and cyclotron resonance (ODCR) studies. The issues to be addressed include key material-related properties and fundamental electronic parameters of the GaNAs alloy, relevant to device applications, such as identification of the dominant recombination processes in the alloy, compositional dependence of the electron effective mass and band alignment in the GaNAs/GaAs heterostructures., PLENARY INVITED TALK

We review recent progress in our understanding of intrinsic defects in GaN and SiC, gained from magneto-optical studies by Zeeman measurements and optically detected magnetic resonance. The two best-known intrinsic defects in these two wide bandgap semiconductors, i.e. the Ga interstitial in GaN and the silicon vacancy in SiC, are discussed in detail. The Ga interstitial is the first and only intrinsic defect in GaN that has so far been unambiguously identified, either in the presumably isolated form or in a family of up to three complexes. The silicon vacancy is among the most studied intrinsic defect in SiC, at least in two charge states, and yet still remains controversial., INVITED TALK

ODCR has been employed to study effective masses and carrier recombination in GaNAs/GaAs multi-quantum well (MQW) structures, prepared by MBE with the nitrogen composition up to 4.5 above GaAs bandgap excitation consists of the excitonic recombination within the GaNAs MQW, the band edge PL emissions from GaAs and a broad 0.8-eV PL of unknown origin. When monitoring these emissions under the above GaAs excitation, the ODCR spectrum is dominated by the electron and hole CR in GaAs, with effective mass values 0.07m0 and 0.5m_0, respectively. The ODCR mechanism is discussed in terms of hot carrier effects, resulting in a reduced carrier recombination in GaAs and an enhanced carrier trapping in the GaNAs MQW. Under resonant excitation of the GaNAs MQW only a broad ODCR signal can be observed corresponding to an effective mass value 0.1m_0, attributed to the electron CR in the GaNAs MQW, where a higher electron effective mass value and a much lower mobility are expected.