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Current Status of Carbon-Related Defect Luminescence in GaN

F. Zimmermann1, J. Beyer1, C. Röder1, F.C. Beyer2, E. Richter3, K. Irmscher4, and J. Heitmann1

Published in:

phys. stat. sol. (a), vol. 218, no. 20, pp. 2100235, doi:10.1002/pssa.202100235 (2021).

Abstract:

Highly insulating layers are a prerequisite for gallium nitride (GaN)-based power electronic devices. For this purpose, carbon doping is one of the currently pursued approaches. However, its impact on the optical and electrical properties of GaN has been widely debated in the scientific community. For further improvement of device performance, a better understanding of the role of related defects is essential. To study optically active point defects, photoluminescence is one of the most frequently used experimental characterization techniques. Herein, the main recent advances in the attribution of carbon-related photoluminescence bands are reviewed, which were enabled by the interplay of a refinement of growth and characterization techniques and state-of-the-art first-principles calculations developed during the last decade. The predicted electronic structures of isolated carbon defects and selected carbon-impurity complexes are compared to experimental results. Taking into account both of these, a comprehensive overview on the present state of interpretation of carbon-related broad luminescence bands in bulk GaN is presented.

1 Institute of Applied Physics, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Leipziger Str. 23, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
2 Department Materials, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB, Schottkystrasse 10, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
3 Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik, Gustav-Kirchhoff-Str. 4, 12489 Berlin, Germany
4 Department of Volume Crystals, Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Max-Born-Straße 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany

Keywords:

carbon, carbon complexes, GaN, luminescence

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. physica status solidi (a) applications and materials science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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