Optical nonlinearities of Gallium Nitride

Abstract

Luminescence, induced absorption and degenerate four-wave mixing experiments are perform on GaN epilayers grown on a sapphire substrate by MOCVD.We measure the nonlinear behavior of the luminescence spectra near the excitonic resonance, by using an excitation at 4.026 eV from an excimer laser. At low intensities of excitation, spectra show a saturation of the I2 line due to the finite donor density in the sample. Higher intensities of excitation induce collision processes between photo-created quasi-particles.Using a dye laser as a pump beam, we measure the induced variation of absorption of a probe beam as a function of the intensity and of the wavelength of the excitation. With increasing intensities of the pump beam, transmission spectra show a red-shift of the absorption edge and of the excitonic resonance.Pulsed degenerate four-wave mixing experiments were performed using the third harmonic of a picosecond Nd-YAG laser at 3.492 eV. A characteristic time constant of 16 ps has been measured, which is independent of the temperature, spacing of the interference fringe and of the intensity of the pump beams.