Temperature dependence of photoluminescence of InGaN films containing In-rich quantum dots

The temperature dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) of InGaN films, grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, has been investigated. A strained InGaN thin film which contains composition-fluctuated regions shows the so-called S-shaped temperature dependence of the dominant PL peak energy. However, an InGaN thick film which contains quantum dot-like In-rich regions shows a sigmoidal temperature dependence of the dominant PL peak energy, as the result of a transfer of carriers from the band-edge related luminescent centers to quantum dot-like In-rich regions. It is also found that the activation energy for the thermal quenching of PL intensity in the InGaN thick film which contains quantum dot-like In-rich regions is larger than that in the strained InGaN thin film which contains composition-fluctuated regions. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.