Absence of local-potential fluctuation effects in Si-doped InxGa1−xN epilayers studied by optical characterizations

Abstract We have studied the characteristics of In x Ga 1− x N epilayers grown on sapphire substrates by using photoluminescence (PL), optical absorption (OA), photocurrent (PC) and persistent photoconductivity (PPC) measurements. For the undoped In x Ga 1− x N epilayers containing high In composition, we observed the Stokes shift, S-shaped temperature-dependent PL emission, and PPC effect. These results show a strong dependence on In contents in the properties of In x Ga 1− x N epilayers. The decay kinetics of the PPC effect has been investigated, from that, the depth of the localization caused by alloy potential fluctuations (APFs) in In x Ga 1− x N epilayers is determined. However, for Si-doped In x Ga 1− x N epilayers, the Stokes shift, S-shaped temperature-dependent PL peak shift and PPC effect have not been observed.