Electrical and optical properties of Cr and Fe implanted n-GaN

Deep levels introduced into n-GaN films by Fe and Cr implantation have been studied by means of optical absorption and microcathodoluminescence spectroscopy measurements and by deep level transient spectroscopy, admittance spectroscopy, and capacitance-voltage profiling. The results are compared with previous measurements on Mn and Co implanted GaN. It is shown that the acceptor levels of substitutional Mn, Co, Fe, and Cr in n-GaN are located, respectively, near E-v+1.6 eV, E-v+1.7 eV, E-v+1.8 eV, and E-v+2 eV, the trend being similar to that observed in GaAs, GaP, and InP. The Fermi level in the implanted region is pinned near deep electron traps at E-c-0.5 eV that are tentatively attributed to complexes between substitutional transition metal ions and native defects such as nitrogen vacancies. It is shown that for all implanted species after 700 degreesC annealing a damaged region with relatively high resistivity is formed down to the depth of about 1 mum much, exceeding the projected range of implanted ions. This region is enriched with radiation-damage-related defects and is most likely formed by outdiffusion of these defects from the implanted region during annealing. The thickness of this damaged region is shown to be the lowest for Cr implantation. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.