150 KeV proton irradiation effects on photoluminescence of GaInAsN bulk and quantum well structures.

Low-temperature (T = 30 K) photoluminescence (PL) and post thermal annealing effects on 150 KeV proton irradiated GaInAsN bulk, single quantum well and triple quantum well structures (Eg ~ 1.0 eV) have been investigated. The nitrogen proportion of the samples was confirmed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) measurement as 0.26%, 0.30% and 0.20% for GaInAsN bulk, SQW, and MQW samples, respectively. The result shows that the PL intensity of GaInAsN materials degraded seriously by proton irradiation. The PL intensity enhancement were observed for all three types of sample after thermal annealing at 650 °C for 5 min, and MQW sample was recovered by the factor bigger than 100. The irradiation induced red-shift and thermal annealing induced blue-shift phenomena were analyzed by SRIM simulation result and theoretical models of InGaAs band structure. • LT-PL and post thermal annealing effects on MBE grown 150 KeV proton irradiated InGsAsN have been investigated • PL intensity of all GaInAsN samples degraded seriously by proton irradiation. • The PL intensity enhancement were observed for all GaInAsN samples after five minutes thermal annealing. • The degradation of PL intensity is linearly depending on the total thickness of the GaInAsN material. • Proton irradiation caused red-shift of PL peak can be explained by the replacement of As atoms by N atoms. • After 650 °C annealing for five minutes, the annealing enhancement of PL peak intensity are observed in all samples. • PL peak positions are blue-shifted due to the inter-diffusion and short-range ordering of N and nearby atoms in InGaAsN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]