The Mn3+/2+ acceptor level in group III nitrides

Abstract

Molecular-beam-epitaxy grown GaN:Mn and AlN:Mn layers with Mn concentrations around 1020 cm−3 were investigated by optical absorption and photoconductivity measurements. From electron spin resonance Mn is known to be mostly present in the neutral acceptor state in GaN without codoping. This leads to a reassignment of the optical absorption features to a charge transfer from the neutral Mn3+ oxidation state, either by direct photoionization at 1.8 eV or through a photothermal ionization process via an excited state at 1.42 eV above the Mn3+ ground state by spin-allowed Mn3+ 5E→5T internal absorption. The position of the Mn3+/2+ acceptor level at 1.8 eV above the valence-band edge of GaN makes the realization of carrier-mediated ferromagnetism rather unlikely in GaN:Mn.