Spectral dependence of carrier lifetime in high aluminum content AlGaN epitaxial layers

The spectral dependences of the nonequilibrium carrier lifetimes obtained by using time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy reveal new features in the carrier dynamics in AlGaN epilayers with high aluminum content. Three decay components can be traced in the PL decay. The fast, intermediate, and slow components are attributed to the decay of the free carriers, localized carriers, and the carriers trapped in deep states, respectively. The spectral dependence of the fast component is flat with a very weak dependence on temperature. At low temperatures, the intermediate decay component has the longest effective decay times in the vicinity of the PL band peak and exhibits a decrease on both high and low energy slopes. The spectral dependence of the lifetimes flattens at elevated temperatures. To interpret the decrease in the carrier lifetime at lower energies, we suggest the modification of the double-scaled potential profile in AlGaN alloys by introducing a gradual potential decrease to the low-potential regions instead of the abrupt walls of the regions previously assumed.