Near-infrared photoluminescence properties of neodymium in in situ doped AlN grown using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

We present luminescence spectroscopy measurements of in situ Nd doped AlN grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. A Nd concentration as high as 0.08 at. % is incorporated into the host material. The Nd incorporation efficiency within the AlN matrix is found to be highly sensitive to the Al flux but independent of the substrate temperature (between 800 °C to 950 °C). Photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation, and combined excitation-emission spectroscopy (CEES) spectra are used to identify the Stark sublevels of the following manifolds: 4I9/2, 4I11/2, 4I13/2, 4F3/2, 4F5/2, 2H9/2, 4F7/2, 4S3/2, 4G5/2, and 4G7/2. A main Nd incorporation site and two minority sites are identified using CEES measurements.