Efficient Outdiffusion of Hydrogen from Mg-Doped Nitrides by NFsub 3 Annealing

High concentration (more than 1 10sup 18 cmsup -3) of hydrogen atoms remaining in Mg-doped GaN epitaxial layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition even after conventional annealing in Nsub 2 ambient could induce degradation in GaN-based devices containing Mg-doped layers. In this study, by annealing Mg-doped nitrides in NFsub 3 ambient, we successfully reduced residual hydrogen below mid-10sup 17 cmsup -3, which is much smaller than by Nsub 2 annealing. NFsub 3 annealing enhances outdiffusion of hydrogen from the bulk, which is possibly because the nitrogen and fluorine radicals decomposed from NFsub 3 accelerate desorption of hydrogen adatoms from the surface. The proposed method for Mg activation would improve the reliability of GaN-based light-emitting diodes and laser diodes. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]