Improved luminescence properties of Eu-doped GaN light-emitting diodes grown by atmospheric-pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy

Abstract

We investigated the luminescence properties of Eu-doped GaN (GaN:Eu) grown by atmospheric-pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. The GaN:Eu exhibited radiant red emission due to the intra-4f shell transition of Eu3+ ions at room temperature. The intensity of the dominant peak was about 4 times higher than that in the sample grown at 10 kPa, even though the Eu concentration was only half that of the 10 kPa sample. This was mainly caused by the enhancement of the energy transfer from the GaN host to Eu ions. The enhanced energy transfer resulted in improved luminescence properties of a GaN:Eu light-emitting diode.