Electron energy loss spectroscopy and first-principles study of GaN via Zn doping

Shuang Xing; Manfu Wang; Yaru Wang; Hualong Tao; Yan Cui; Shimin Liu; Ming He; Bo Song; Jikang Jian; Xingjian Tian; Zhihua Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.micron.2021.103012

Electron energy loss spectroscopy and first-principles study of GaN via Zn doping

Micron. 2021 Apr:143:103012. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2021.103012. Epub 2021 Jan 23.

Authors

Shuang Xing¹, Manfu Wang¹, Yaru Wang¹, Hualong Tao¹, Yan Cui¹, Shimin Liu¹, Ming He², Bo Song³, Jikang Jian⁴, Xingjian Tian¹, Zhihua Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian, 116028, PR China.
² School of Physics and Materials Engineering, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian, 116600, PR China. Electronic address: heming-good@163.com.
³ Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, PR China.
⁴ School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangdong, 510006, PR China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian, 116028, PR China. Electronic address: zhzhang@djtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33524916
DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2021.103012

Abstract

The electronic structure of GaN and GaN:Zn was investigated by electron energy loss spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. In the low-loss spectrum, the interband transitions are assigned to the observed energy loss peaks. After Zn doping, impurity levels are introduced to the density of states and hybrid orbitals of N 2p and Zn 3d are formed around the Fermi level. In the nitrogen K-edge, an additional peak was observed due to the formation of donor defect states. A core-hole effect is believed to be significant for simulation of the N K-edge for both GaN and GaN:Zn.

Keywords: Electron energy loss spectrum; Electronic structure; GaN:Zn; Microstructure.