Optical band gap of indium nitride

Abstract

Room-temperature optical absorption data in the 1.5–2.5-eV range are reported for indium nitride thin films prepared by reactive radio-frequency sputtering. The fundamental absorption edge in high-purity material is located at 1.89±0.01 eV and corresponds to a direct transition at k=0, in agreement with band-structure calculations. A significant Moss-Burstein shift is noted for carrier concentrations in excess of 1019 cm−3 and obeys the empirical relationship EG =1.89+2.1×10−8 n1/3 eV.