Optical investigation of ferromagnetic Ga1−xMnxN layers grown on sapphire (0 0 0 1) substrates

We have investigated the temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra in Ga1−xMnxN layers (where x≈0.1–0.8%) grown on sapphire (0 0 0 1) substrates using the plasma-enhanced molecular beam epitaxy technique. All the layers doped with manganese exhibited n-type conductivity with Curie temperature over 350 K. The efficient PL are peaked in the red (1.86 eV), yellow (2.34 eV), and blue (3.29 eV) spectral range. It was found that the blue band at 3.29 eV is mostly associated with the formation complexes between donors (e.g., N vacancy) and Mn acceptors, which results in forming donor levels at 0.23 eV below the conduction band edge. The yellow band is attributed to intrinsic gallium defects. The broad band at 1.86 eV is attributed to inner 5D state transition (T2 to E) of Mn ions.