Defect-induced Raman scattering in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions in hexagonal GaN on a sapphire substrate

Abstract
Strong defect-specific low-frequency peaks are detected in low-temperature Raman spectra of hexagonal GaN grown by molecular beam epitaxy on sapphire substrate. The intensity of these peaks is found to be enhanced by excitation in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions. The validity of the assignment to electronic Raman scattering (ERS), as proposed before for their counterparts in cubic GaN on GaAs [M. Ramsteiner, J. Menniger, O. Brandt, H. Yang, and K. H. Ploog, Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 1276 (1996)], is confirmed. Our results imply that the observed ERS peaks are related to shallow donors which are not necessarily hydrogenic. One Raman peak at very low frequency (11.7 meV) is alternatively explained by a pseudo-localized vibrational mode.