Photoluminescence from single nitrogen isoelectronic centers in gallium phosphide produced by ion implantation

Single emitters formed from two nitrogen isoelectronic traps in GaP are created by low energy implantation. Several dyad configurations are individually resolved, establishing that ion implantation can produce multi-impurity single emitters with high luminescence yield. Measured dyad concentrations significantly exceed those predicted from simulations, suggesting that their formation is strongly enhanced by implantation defects. Annealing at 600 degrees C optimizes the luminescence yield and higher temperatures lead to the physical dissociation of dyads. The dissociation activation energy increases with interatomic separation, indicating that nearest neighbor dyads are energetically unfavorable and that their concentration can be adjusted with a simple temperature treatment. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.