Influence of structural nonuniformity and nonradiative processes on the luminescence efficiency of InGaAsN quantum wells

We compare the luminescence efficiency (i.e., room-temperature photoluminescence intensity), fluctuations in composition and thickness, degree of localization, and luminescence decay times of In0.37Ga0.63As0.983N0.017 quantum wells grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at different temperatures and annealed under a comprehensive variety of conditions. Luminescence efficiency is not directly coupled to structural nonuniformity or localization, and even three-dimensional growth is not detrimental by itself. In contrast, there is always a correlation between luminescence efficiency and nonradiative decay time. Therefore, the luminescence efficiency of InGaAsN quantum wells depends almost exclusively on the density of nonradiative recombination centers, while the influence of structural nonuniformity is negligible.