Radiative defects in GaN nanocolumns: Correlation with growth conditions and sample morphology

Low-temperature photoluminescence is studied in detail in GaN nanocolumns (NCs) grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy under various conditions (substrate temperature and impinging Ga/N flux ratio). The relative intensities of the different emission lines, in particular those related to structural defects, appear to be correlated with the growth conditions, and clearly linked to the NC sample morphology. We demonstrate, in particular, that all lines comprised between 3.10 and 3.42 eV rapidly lose intensity when the growth conditions are such that the NC coalescence is reduced. The well-known line around 3.45 eV, characteristic of GaN NC samples, shows, however, a behavior that is exactly the opposite of the other lines, namely, for growth conditions leading to reduced NC coalescence, this line tends to become more prominent, thus proving to be intrinsic to individual GaN NCs.