Bulk and Surface Electronic Structure of GaN Measured Using Angle-Resolved Photoemission, Soft X-ray Emission and Soft X-ray Absorption

ABSTRACTThe electronic structure of thin film wurtzite GaN has been studied using a combination of angle resolved photoemission, soft x-ray absorption and soft x-ray emission spectroscopies. We have measured the bulk valence and conduction band partial density of states by recording Ga L- and N K- x-ray emission and absorption spectra. We compare the x-ray spectra to a recent ab initio calculation and find good overall agreement. The x-ray emission spectra reveal that the top of the valence band is dominated by N 2p states, while the x-ray absorption spectra show the bottom of the conduction band as a mixture of Ga 4s and N 2p states, again in good agreement with theory. However, due to strong dipole selection rules we can also identify weak hybridization between Ga 4s- and N 2p-states in the valence band. Furthermore, a component to the N K-emission appears at approximately 19.5 eV below the valence band maximum and can be identified as due to hybridization between N 2p and Ga 3d states. We report preliminary results of a study of the full dispersion of the bulk valence band states along high symmetry directions of the bulk Brillouin zone as measured using angle resolved photoemission. Finally, we tentatively identify a non-dispersive state at the top of the valence band in parts of the Brillouin zone as a surface state.