Morphology and photoluminescence improvements from high-temperature rapid thermal annealing of GaN

Rapid thermal annealing of GaN in an Ar or N2 ambient up to 1100 °C is shown to improve surface morphology and photoluminescence intensity. For both ambients the average rms surface roughness as determined by atomic force microscopy decreases from ∼4 nm on the as‐grown material to ∼1 nm after a 1100 °C anneal. The band‐edge luminescence intensity was increased by a factor of 4 after a 1100 °C anneal in a N2 ambient and a factor of 2 for annealing at 1100 °C in an Ar ambient as compared to as‐grown material. The 1100 °C anneal improves the ratio of band edge to deep‐level luminescence and also reduces the electron concentration and mobility. The reduction in mobility can be explained in terms of a two‐band conduction mechanism where defect band conduction dominates at the lower carrier densities or an increase in the free‐carrier compensation ratio.