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The incorporation and optical properties of Mg in cubic GaN (c-GaN) epilayers grown by rf plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on (100) GaAs are investigated by secondary ion mass spectroscopy and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL). By varying the Mg flux by more than four orders of magnitude, the incorporation of Mg saturates at high Mg flux and is limited to a value of about 5×1018 cm−3 due to the high volatility of Mg at growth temperature. In addition, we observe an accumulation of Mg at the GaN/GaAs interface due to a diffusion of Mg to the GaAs substrate. Low-temperature PL spectra reveal several well-separated lines. Besides a shallow acceptor level at EA≅0.230 eV, additional Mg-related deep defect levels indicate an incorporation of Mg at off-gallium sites or as complexes.

We report on temperature-dependent Hall-effect measurements and secondary ion mass spectroscopy on unintentionally doped, n-type conducting GaN epitaxial films. Over a wide range of free carrier concentrations we find a good correlation between the Hall measurements and the atomic oxygen concentration. We observe an increase of the oxygen concentration close to the interface between the film and the sapphire substrate, which is typical for the growth technique used (synthesis from galliumtrichloride and ammonia). It produces a degenerate n-type layer of ≈1.5 μm thickness and results in a temperature-independent mobility and Hall concentration at low temperatures (<50 K). The gradient in free carrier concentration can also be seen in spatially resolved Raman and cathodoluminescence experiments. Based on the temperature dependence of the Hall-effect, Fourier transform infrared absorption experiments, and photoluminescence we come to the conclusion that oxygen produces a shallow donor level with a binding energy comparable to the shallow Si donor.

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