Sedhain, A.Du, L.Edgar, James H.Lin, J. Y.Jiang, H. X.2010-03-112010-03-112009-12-29http://hdl.handle.net/2097/3163The yellow color of bulk AlN crystals was found to be caused by the optical absorption of light with wavelengths shorter than that of yellow. This yellow impurity limits UV transparency and hence restricts the applications of AlN substrates for deep UV optoelectronic devices. Here, the optical properties of AlN epilayers, polycrystalline AlN, and bulk AlN single crystals have been investigated using photoluminescence PL spectroscopy to address the origin of this yellow appearance. An emission band with a linewidth of ~0.3 eV (at 10 K) was observed at ~2.78 eV. We propose that the origin of the yellow color in bulk AlN is due to a band-to-impurity absorption involving the excitation of electrons from the valence band to the doubly negative charged state, (V[superscript]2-[subscript]Al), of isolated aluminum vacancies, (V[subscript]Al)superscript]3-/2- described by V[superscript]2-[subscript]Al)+hv=V[superscript]3-[subscript]Al)+h[superscript]+. In such a context, the reverse process is responsible for the 2.78 eV PL emission.This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).Aluminium compoundsIII-V semiconductorsImpurity absorption spectraPhotoluminescenceSemiconductor epitaxial layersVacancies (crystal)Valence bandsWide band gap semiconductorsText