Photoluminescence Studies of Mg-Doped AlxGa1-xAs Epitaxial Layers Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Magnesium (Mg)-doped AlxGa1-xAs epitaxial layers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at various substrate temperatures, Al mole fractions, and As/Ga beam equivalent pressure (BEP) ratios. The optical properties were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The PL emission peal intensity was increased and the emission peak was slightly blue shifted from 700.7 to 697.3 nm when the substrate temperature was increased. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) was decreased from 29.6 to 19 meV when the substrate temperature was increased. The other growth parameters, such as the As/Ga BEP ratio and the Al mole fraction, also affected the optical properties of the Mg-doped AlxGa1-xAs; epilayers. The anomalous behavior of the blue- and red-shift of the PL peak energy was observed also to be temperature dependent. (c) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics