Promotion of radiative recombination in GaAs1—XPxby N-ion implantation

As a means of promoting radiative recombination in GaAs
1-x
P
x
, nitrogen doping by ion implantation has been evaluated. When the sample is impanted at room temperature, poor results are obtained. However, when the sample is heated up to 350°C during implantation, and annealed at 800°C for 1 h, photoluminescence spectra are obtained similar to those of GaAs
1-x
P
x
with N incorporated during growth. For indirect-bandgap GaAs
1-x
P
x
(x = 0.52), the integrated intensity at 77 K of the implanted sample is more than 1000 times larger than that of an unimplanted sample. This shows that under appropriate conditions implanted N atoms are substituted for P atoms and become isoelectronic traps. This trap, under the proper annealing conditions, can enhance radiative recombination significantly.