Light-induced absorption change in Fe-doped GaN

The properties of a light-induced absorption (LIA) change were investigated in a semi-insulating Fe-doped GaN crystal. The temporal profile and a spectrum of the LIA were measured in the temperature range from 15 K to 300 K. The LIA was almost proportional to the light intensity and showed slight saturation behavior. The relaxation time constant, in the range of milliseconds, was equal to the lifetime of infrared photoluminescence related to the Fe³⁺ internal transition Fe³⁺(⁴T₁)→Fe³⁺(⁶A₁). The LIA was attributed to an excited-state absorption from Fe³⁺(⁴T₁). Some of the peak energies observed in the LIA spectrum showed good agreement with transition energies expected from an energy diagram of Fe-doped GaN crystal.