Influence of electric field on persistent photoconductivity in unintentionally doped n-type GaN

The influence of electric field on persistent photoconductivity in unintentionally doped n-GaN is investigated. It was found that under higher electric field the build-up course was slowed down while the decay course was accelerated. After a higher-voltage pulse, it was observed that the current dropped to a value lower than the dark current, and a current increase that lasted for thousands of seconds was observed. It is suggested that the above phenomena should be caused by the increase in capture rate of electron traps with electric field and are related to the Coulomb-repulsive characteristic of defects related to persistent photoconductivity. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3562008]