An intrinsic property of quaternary alloys A 1Ϫy B y C 1Ϫx D x (xϷ1 -3 %) with D being an isovalent trap is reported: a set of discrete band gaps occurs due to substitution of the isovalent trap D on sites with different nearest-neighbor environments. Exemplary, this phenomenon is demonstrated for ͑Ga,In͒͑N,As͒ by experiment and explained by tight-binding supercell calculations. The band gap of this nitrogen-poor alloy is blueshifted by simply moving the nitrogen isovalent traps from Ga-ligand rich sites to In-ligand rich sites, without changing the alloy composition.

GaN x As 1−x samples with x<3% grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy were studied by low-temperature photoluminescence under hydrostatic pressure and photomodulated reflectance spectroscopy. The transformation from N acting as an isoelectronic impurity to N-induced band formation takes place at x≈0.2%. The N level does not shift with respect to the valence band edge of GaNxAs1−x. Concentration as well as hydrostatic-pressure dependence of the GaNxAs1−x bands can be described by a three band kp description of the conduction band state E− and E+ and the valence band at k=0. The model parameters for T<20 and T=300 K were determined by fitting the model to the experimental data. Modeling the linewidth of the E− transition by combining the kp model and ion statistics leads to the conclusion that the electron-hole pairs are strongly localized.

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