Scanning tunneling and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy of indium nitride

Abstract Indium nitride epilayers grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy have been studied by cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). A broad CL emission peak centered at 0.8 eV was observed at 80 K. This peak was attributed to an excitonic radiative recombination mechanism as its emission intensity exhibited a super-linear dependence on beam current with a power-law exponent of m =2. A large spatial variation in the CL emission intensity was ascribed to the presence of threading dislocations, which act as non-radiative recombination centers. A surface band gap of ∼1.4 eV was estimated from STS I – V curves.