Electron Paramagnetic Resonance of $V_{N}-V_{Ga}$ complex in $BGaN$

Abstract

Metastable photoinduced Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) signal at low temperatures is reported in GaN alloyed with boron ($B_{x}Ga_{1-x}N$) epitaxial layers grown at temperatures ranging from 840 {\deg}C to 1090 {\deg}C. An isotropic EPR line with g = 2.004 is observed with intensity depending on the growth temperature for all samples with boron content between 0.73% and 2.51%. Temperature dependence of EPR intensities is compared with the results of High-Resolution Photoinduced Transient Spectroscopy (HRPITS). This allows to link particular traps with EPR signal. The activation energies of these traps are consistent with the theoretical position of the $V_{N}-V_{Ga}$ complex. Thermal annihilation of the EPR signal with 30 meV activation energy corresponds to shallow donor ionization. The model explaining light-induced EPR signal involving redistribution of electrons between deep and shallow donors mediated by photoionization to the conduction band is proposed.