Structural and defect characterization of Gd-doped GaN films by X-ray diffraction and positron annihilation

Abstract

Molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown Ga1-xGdxN films were investigated by X-ray diffraction and slow positron beams. From the positron lifetime results, N-vacancy-related defects may be expected in the Ga0.9Gd0.1N film grown under Ga-rich conditions which exhibits a lattice expansion in the c-axis direction. In contrast, Ga vacancies more than 1019 cm-3 were detected in the Ga0.9Gd0.1N film grown under N-rich conditions which does not exhibit the lattice expansion, implying that the highly-concentrated Ga vacancies contribute to a relaxation of the lattice distortion caused by incorporating oversized Gd atoms. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.