Direct evidence of hydrogen interaction with carbon: C–H complex in semi-insulating GaN

Abstract

It has been established that hydrogen (H) plays a key role in p-type doping of GaN and it must be removed by dissociation of the Mg–H complex in order to achieve p-type conductivity. However, in carbon (C)-doped semi-insulating GaN, which is the core component of power electronic devices, the role of H, especially the formation and dissociation process of C–H defects, has remained to date a mystery. In this work, we provide a direct evidence for the interaction between H and C in the form of the CN−Hi complex in as-grown C-doped GaN. The complex can be dissociated into CN− and H+ after post-growth annealing. The activation energy is estimated to be about 2.3–2.5 eV from the temperature-dependent annealing experiments. Our study reveals that the CN−Hi complex plays an essential role in understanding the variation of optical and electronic properties of C-doped GaN.