We report optical studies on AlxGa1−xN alloy layers across the full composition range. The series of alloy layers was grown on (111)-oriented silicon substrates using gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. From reflectance measurements, we determine the composition dependence of the energy gap to be Eg=3.42+1.18x+1.56x2, in good agreement with previous work. By combining Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy studies, we determine the composition dependence of phonons having A1(TO), E1(TO), E22, A1(LO), and E1(LO) symmetry. The longitudinal optic phonons exhibit one-mode alloy behavior. Two-mode alloy behavior is observed for all transverse optic and the E22 phonons (i.e., each mode has AlN-like and GaN-like branches). All phonons are seen to blueshift with increasing x. The influence of stress on the phonon energies is discussed.

The structure and properties of GaAs layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at low temperature (150-250 °C) have been studied. The samples were found to contain up to 1.5 at.% extra As, which formed nano-scale clusters under annealing. The dependences of the excessive As concentration and As-cluster size and density on the growth and annealing conditions were established. LT-GaAs layers were found to have high electrical resistivity, however, our investigations of microwave absorption in a weak magnetic field revealed a characteristic signal usually attributed to the superconducting phase. It has been proved that this microwave absorption is unlikely to be due to either the arsenic clusters in LT-GaAs films or indium in the substrate, as it was assumed previously. We suggest a new hypothesis that the superconducting phase in LT-GaAs is Ga nanoclusters formed on the growth surface.

Layers of AlxGa1−xN, with 0⩽x⩽1, were grown on Si(111) substrates by gas source molecular beam epitaxy with ammonia. We show that the initial formation of the Si–N–Al interlayer between the Si substrate and the AlN layer, at a growth temperature of 1130–1190 K, results in very rapid transition to two-dimensional growth mode of AlN. The transition is essential for subsequent growth of high quality GaN, AlxGa1−xN, and AlGaN/GaN superlattices. The undoped GaN layers have a background electron concentration of (2–3)×1016 cm−3 and mobility up to (800±100) cm2/V s, for film thickness ∼2 μm. The lowest electron concentration in AlxGa1−xN, with 0.2<x<0.6, was ∼(2–3)×1016 cm−3 for 0.5–0.7-μm-thick film. Cathodoluminescence and optical reflectance spectroscopy were used to study optical properties of these AlxGa1−xN layers. We found that the band gap dependence on composition can be described as Eg(x)=3.42+1.21x+1.5x2. p–n junctions have been formed on crack-free layers of GaN with the use of Mg dopant. Light emitting diodes with peak emission wavelength at 3.23 eV have been demonstrated.

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