A direct correlation has been established between stacking faults in a-plane GaN epilayers and luminescence peaks in the 3.29–3.41 eV range. The structural features of the stacking faults were determined by diffraction-contrast transmission electron microscopy, while the optical emission characteristics were observed by highly spatially resolved monochromatic cathodoluminescence. The studies were performed in the exact same regions of thinned foils. We find that stacking faults on the basal plane are responsible for the strong emission at ∼3.14eV. Luminescence peaks at ∼3.33 and ∼3.29eV are associated with the presence of stacking faults on prismatic a planes and partial dislocations at the stacking fault boundaries, respectively.

The In x Ga 1-x N system has electronic band gaps extending from under 1eV to 3.4 eV, and as such they are used as the active layer in commercially available visible-light emitting devices. There are many interesting features that make these nitride semiconductor alloys especially useful for efficient light emitters. It has been conjectured that the combination of piezoelectric fields and local composition inhomogeneities may be responsible for the observed high emission efficiencies, in spite of their characteristic high dislocation densities. But it is very difficult to grow In x Ga 1-x N layers with high indium composition. This paper presents an overview of the properties of In x Ga 1-x N epilayers based on a systematic study of thick layers and of quantum well structures. We find that the microstructure of thick films varies significantly with indium composition. For x < 0.08, the composition is uniform and unperturbed by dislocations. For 0.10 < x < 0.20, secondary phases nucleate at threading dislocations. For x > 0.20, spontaneous phase separation occurs resulting in a polycrystalline, inhomogeneous layer. A correlation between optical properties and microstructure is presented. It is observed that the misfit strain is affected by threading dislocations. Mechanisms of misfit strain relaxation are presented for In x Ga 1-x N layers grown on standard GaN on sapphire and on epitaxial-lateral-overgrowth GaN layers. In addition, we have studied the properties of quantum well structures using several novel techniques. The electrostatic fields across the wells have been profiled using electron holography in the TEM. The effect of well thickness on the strength of the fields is reported. The effects of localization by compositional fluctuations and of internal field screening have been studied using time-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. In spite of significant progress that has been made in the last ten years, much work remains ahead in order to master the science and technology of these alloys.

Al x Ga 1−x N layers with 0.05⩽x⩽0.25 were studied using spectrally and time resolved cathodoluminescence (CL). Continuous wave spectra were taken at temperatures ranging from 5 to 300 K. The near-band-edge peak emission energy exhibits an s-shaped temperature dependence characteristic of disordered systems. This effect is quantitatively explained within a model of potential fluctuations caused by alloy disorder. An s-shape temperature dependence has been observed in other alloy systems including InGaN, however, no systematic study exists for AlGaN. In this work, the s-shape temperature dependence is systematically analyzed as a function of aluminum content and quantitatively correlated with a model of alloy disorder. The shift in the luminescence peak position with respect to the usual temperature dependence of the band gap has been quantified by −σE2/kBT, where σE is the standard deviation of the potential fluctuations. Its dependence on aluminum concentration, x, was found to systematically increase from 7 meV at x=0.05 to 21 meV at x=0.25, following the theory for alloy disorder. The recombination and relaxation kinetics investigated using time-resolved CL are fully consistent with our potential fluctuation model. At 5 K, when the excitons are strongly localized, the exciton lifetime increases monotonically with aluminum content. At elevated temperatures, when the excitons are delocalized, the decay is significantly faster and preferentially nonradiative, regardless of the aluminum content.

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The optical properties of thick InxGa1−xN layers have been studied using optical absorption and cathodoluminescence techniques. The indium composition x of the layers ranged from 0.03 to 0.17 as determined by Rutherford backscattering measurements. The difference between the band gap and the peak emission energy (Stokes shift) was found to be considerably smaller than reported in the past for these alloys. Monochromatic images show that light emission from most of the film is homogeneous and is associated with a low Stokes shift. A second emission band at longer wavelengths is observed for x⩾0.08. This band originates from indium-rich regions in the vicinity of extended defects, and exhibits a larger Stokes shift. Our observations indicate that it is possible to grow InGaN epilayers with high indium composition, high homogeneity, and lower Stokes shift.

Distinct crystalline and optical properties have been observed in Mg-doped Al0.03Ga0.97N grown on a patterned sapphire substrate; the pattern consisting of etched trenches along the sapphire 〈112̄0〉 direction. The epilayer has two distinct regions: one grown directly onto the sapphire mesa and the other an epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) region that overhangs the trench. Transmission electron microscopy shows the presence of pyramidal defects as well as large dislocation densities in the region grown directly on sapphire. In contrast, the ELO region is defect free and contains no Mg-related pyramidal defects. Cathodoluminescence measurements show superior near-band-edge emission in the ELO region, suggesting that the emission is susceptible to nonradiative centers caused by the high defect density in the rest of the sample. The Mg-related donor–acceptor-pair emission is fairly uniform throughout the film, indicating that it is not affected by the nonradiative centers. These optical and structural properties of AlGaN are closely related to the direction of the growth front.

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