Time-resolved photoluminescence of polycrystalline GaN layers on metal substrates

The low-temperature time-resolved photoluminescence of polycrystalline GaN layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on metal substrates (Mo and Ta) was investigated. The photoluminescence spectra observed include two emission bands in the ultraviolet spectral region. We assign one of these bands to recombination processes inside cubic nanocrystallites, which are formed in the hexagonal polycrystalline GaN host. The recombination radiation of cubic nanocrystallites is enhanced due to predominant trapping of the nonequilibrium electron-hole pairs in these crystallites.