We report on the spectral and temperature dependence of persistent photoconductivity (PPC) in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition grown unintentionally doped n-type GaN. The PPC effect is detectable up to temperatures of at least 352 K, the highest temperature used in this study. At 77 K, the conduction persists at a level 80% higher than the equilibrium dark conduction for over 104 s after removing the excitation. We have determined the spectral dependence for the optical cross section for PPC and obtain an optical ionization energy of ∼2.7 eV. The temperature dependence of the photoconductivity decay and its nonexponential shape are explained by a distribution of capture barriers with a mean capture barrier of 0.2 eV and a width of ∼26 meV.

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The development of reliable Ohmic and Schottky contacts on GaN will require an understanding of the thermal stability and metallurgy of metal-GaN contact structures. We investigated the behavior of Pt, Pd, and Ni on GaN as a function of annealing temperature. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the interface and surface behavior. 800Å thin metal films were deposited by sputtering on 2μm GaN films grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire substrates. No reactions occur in the Pt, Pd, and Ni systems with annealing up to 800°C. The Pt film begins to form submicron spheres and islands after annealing above 600°C. The Pd and Ni films begin to island with annealing above 700°C. Below these temperatures no structural changes were observed.