H‐ and D‐related mid‐infrared absorption bands in Ga 1– y In y As 1– x N x epitaxial layers

Epitaxially grown ternary and quaternary layers of GaAs based dilute nitrides have been exposed to H + and D + ion bombardment to investigate the interaction between hydrogen (deuterium) and nitrogen. Low‐temperature Fourier transform infrared absorption measurements reveal the formation of N–H (N–D) complexes by the appearance of high‐frequency absorption bands in the mid‐infrared due to vibrational modes of H(D). In thin layers, the transformation of isolated substi‐ tutional nitrogen, N As , into complexes involving H (D) is complete, in thick (500–1000 nm) layers only partial. Analyses of the band intensities dependent on variations of the sample structure and parameters during ion irradiation challenge the model of a unique defect associated with the observed vibrational modes. A new model is proposed based on two different N–H (N–D) centers, each involving one H (D) atom. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)