Fine Structure of the Carbon-Related Blue Luminescence Band in GaN

Abstract

Photoluminescence studies reveal three CN-related luminescence bands in GaN doped with carbon: the YL1 band at 2.17 eV caused by electron transitions via the −/0 level of the CN, the BLC band at 2.85 eV due to transitions via the 0/+ level of the CN and the BL2 band at 3.0 eV attributed to the CNHi complex. The BLC band studied here has the zero-phonon line at 3.17 eV and a phonon-related fine structure at low temperatures. The 0/+ level of the CN is found at 0.33 ± 0.01 eV above the valence band, in agreement with recent theoretical predictions. These results will help to choose an optimal correction scheme in hybrid functional calculations.