Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Erbium (Er) ions were implanted into gallium nitride (GaN) and the temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) and PL lifetime were characterized. Thermal quenching of the Er3+ luminescence was restrained by using GaN as a host material and PL was observed from Er3+ at room temperature. We prepared a flat depth profile of the density distribution of Er by ion-implanted into GaN and monitored the thermal quenching process due to the residual defects after implantation and annealing. We also monitored the auger effect that is believed to be the main cause of the thermal quenching process and concluded that, in the temperature range 15 K to 100 K, the thermal quenching process is dominated by nonradiative recombination from the first excited state (4I13/2) to the ground state (4I15/2) of Er3+.