Nonradiative recombination due to point defects in GaInN/GaN quantum wells induced by Ar implantation

In this contribution, we quantitatively investigate nonradiative recombination due to argon implantation induced point defects in GaInN/GaN quantum wells via time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. A significant reduction of carrier lifetimes in the QW is observed already for implantation doses of 1 × 1011 cm-2 and higher due to nonradiative recombination at implantation defects. These new nonradiative processes exhibit thermal activation energies below 40 meV, therefore being a dominant loss mechanism at room temperature. The thermal stability of the defects has been analyzed using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 800°C and 850°C. We find a partial recovery of the nonradiative lifetimes after RTA indicating an elimination of some defects.

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