Local lifetime and luminescence efficiency for the near-band-edge emission of freestanding GaN substrates determined using spatio-time-resolved cathodoluminescence

Spatio-time-resolved cathodoluminescence measurements were carried out on low threading dislocation density freestanding GaN substrates grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. High-resolution cathodoluminescence imaging allows for visualization of nonradiative recombination channels in the vicinity of accidentally formed inversion domain boundaries. Local cathodoluminescence lifetimes (τCL) for the near-band-edge (NBE) emission are shown to be sensitively position dependent. A linear relation between the equivalent internal quantum efficiency (ηinteq) and τCL for the NBE emission was observed at room temperature under a weak excitation condition, and spatially resolved excitation led to the observation of the highest ηinteq of 20% with τCL of 3.3 ns.