Visible cathodoluminescence of GaN doped with Dy, Er, and Tm

We reported the observation of visible cathodoluminescence of rare-earth Dy, Er, and Tm implanted in GaN. The implanted samples were given isochronal thermal annealing treatments at a temperature of 1100 °C in N2 or NH3, at atmospheric pressure to recover implantation damages and activated the rare-earth ions. The sharp characteristic emission lines corresponding to Dy3+, Er3+, and Tm3+ intra-4fn-shell transitions are resolved in the spectral range from 380 to 1000 nm, and observed over the temperature range of 8.5–411 K. The cathodoluminescence emission is only weakly temperature dependent. The results indicate that rare-earth-doped GaN epilayers are suitable as a material for visible optoelectronic devices.