Deep hole traps in n-GaN films grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy

Concentrations of deep hole traps were measured in a set of hydride vapor phase epitaxy grown samples with thicknesses varying from 2.6 to 68 μm. Results were obtained from low temperature capacitance–voltage measurements before and after illumination and from deep level transient spectroscopy measurements with optical injection (ODLTS). The former revealed the presence of high densities (∼10¹⁵ to 10¹⁶ cm^-3) of hole traps whose concentration decreased with sample thickness in a manner similar to that found for the dislocation density. Capacitance versus temperature measurements in the dark and after illumination suggested that these traps form a band of states rather than a single level in the GaN band gap. It is suggested that such states could be associated with dislocations. The main hole traps observed by ODLTS were deep hole traps, of energy near E_v+0.9 eV. Their density was also observed to substantially decrease with sample thickness. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.