Nitrogen-related defects in diluted Ga(As,N) were detected by Raman scattering in resonance with the localized E+ transition. These defects were attributed to local vibrational modes of N dimers on Ga- and As-lattice sites. Rapid thermal annealing under appropriate conditions was found to be able to remove the N dimers. The required minimum annealing temperature coincides with the threshold-like onset of strong, near-band-gap photoluminescence. This finding suggested that the N dimers were connected with non-radiative recombination centers.

Non-Radiative Recombination Centers in Ga(As,N) and their Annealing Behavior Studied by Raman Spectroscopy. M.Ramsteiner, D.S.Jiang, J.S.Harris, K.H.Ploog: Applied Physics Letters, 2004, 84[11], 1859-61