Intrinsic exciton transitions in GaN

Abstract

Intrinsic excitonic transitions in GaN have been studied using a variety of spectroscopic measurements. Sharp spectral structures associated with intrinsic free excitons could be observed in photoluminescence, reflection, and absorption spectra. The energy positions of excitonic transitions in GaN epitaxial layers were found to be influenced by the residual strain resulting from lattice-parameter and thermal-expansion mismatches between the epilayers and the substrates. The values of the four principal deformation potentials of wurtzite GaN were derived by using the strain tensor components determined by x-ray measurements. The observation of spectral features involving the emission of LO phonons in absorption and photoluminescence excitation spectra at energies above exciton resonances indicate that a phonon-assisted indirect excitation process, which simultaneously generates a free exciton and a LO phonon, is a very significant and efficient process in GaN. The lifetime of the free excitons is found to be longer than the relaxation time of LO-phonon emission but much shorter than that of acoustic-phonon emission.