Improvement of luminescence capability of Tb 3+ ‐related emission by Al x Ga 1− x N

Thermal quenching of the trivalent Tb (Tb 3+ )‐related luminescence in Al x Ga 1− x N ( x : 0.00–0.15) is investigated. Tb ions are introduced into Al x Ga 1− x N epitaxial layers, which are grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy, by implantation at 200 keV. For all samples, strong and sharp emission peaks attributed to the 4f‐4f transition of Tb 3+ are observed around 490–600 nm. The thermal quenching of the luminescence intensity and the decay time related to Tb 3+ transitions strongly depend on the Al contents, and the luminescence is suppressed by introducing Al into GaN. For Al x Ga 1− x N with x > 0.10, the Tb 3+ ‐related green photoluminescence can be observed at room temperature. (© 2003 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)