Cathodoluminescence study of In[sub x]Ga[sub 1-x]N quantum wells.

We studied the cathodoluminescence spectra of In[sub x]Ga[sub 1-x]N, focusing on the spatial variation of the spectra. Strong inhomogeneity of cathodoluminescence spectra was observed on 22 nm thick In[sub x]Ga[sub 1-x]N layers, where the peak energy varied up to 400 meV. In a double quantum well with a well width of 10 Å, the luminescence peak in a broad area spectrum was at 3.18 eV, but on some areas the peak was at 3.07 eV, the size of the area being about 1 μm. The variation of the cathodoluminescence spectra clearly indicates the presence of in-plane potential fluctuation in some In[sub x]Ga[sub 1-x]N samples, although the cathodoluminescence spectra of most of our quantum wells optimized for devices were found to be uniform at least within the spatial resolution limit. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]