Vacancy-oxygen complexes and their optical properties in AlN epitaxial films studied by positron annihilation

Vacancy-type defects in AlN grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) using halide vapor phase epitaxy were probed by a monoenergetic positron beam. Doppler broadening spectra of the annihilation radiation were measured and compared to the spectra calculated using the projector augmented-wave method. For MOVPE-AlN, the concentration of vacancy-type defects was high near the interface between AlN and the GaN buffer layer, and the defect-rich region expanded from the interface toward the surface when the NH3 flow rate increased. For the sample grown on the AlN buffer layer, however, the introduction of such defects was suppressed. For LEO-AlN, distinct deep emission peaks at 3-6 eV were observed in cathodoluminescence spectra. From a comparison between Doppler broadening spectra measured for LEO-AlN and computer simulated ones, an origin of the peaks was identified as complexes of Al vacancy (V-Al) and oxygen atoms substituting nitrogen sites such as V-Al(O-N)(n) (n=3 and 4).