Studying electronic properties in GaN without electrical contacts using γ-γ vs e^--γ Perturbed Angular Correlations

The potential use of combined e^--γ vs γ-γ Perturbed Angular Correlations (PAC) experiments as a possible alternative to study electronic properties of materials and/or samples where Hall effect measurements are difficult to perform due to low-quality ohmic contacts is here demonstrated using Si- and Zn-doped GaN samples as a showcase example. To do so, the lattice site of implanted ¹⁸¹Hf/¹⁸¹Ta and the recombination of Ta ionized and excited electronic states were studied as a function of temperature and sample doping in GaN. By combining the γ-γ and e^--γ PAC results with Density Functional Theory simulations, it was possible to assign a single stable site with a double-donor character for Ta in GaN. A metastable charge state was also identified at particular temperatures using e^--γ PAC. A thermally activated process was observed for the electronic recombination at high temperatures with activation energies of 15(2) meV and 12(1) meV for the Si- and Zn-doped samples, respectively, and attributed to Si shallow donors present in both samples. A reduced number of available electrons was observed in the Zn-doped sample due to donor compensation by the Zn acceptors. At low temperatures, it is suggested that the recombination process occurs via Variable Range Hopping. The doping characteristics of both samples were successfully distinguished.