1.54 mu m photoluminescence has been observed from GaN doped with Er d
uring growth by metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy, Strong Er3+-relat
ed photoluminescence (PL) was measured at room temperature for GaN:Er
doped during growth on c-plane Al2O3 and Si. Experiments to evaluate t
he effects C and O on the optical activity of Er indicated that these
impurities dramatically enhance Er PL in GaN. GaN films doped with Er
to a concentration of 3x10(18) cm(-3) with [O] similar to 10(20) cm(-3
) and [C] similar to 10(21) cm(-3) luminesce at 1.54 mu m with an inte
nsity similar to 2 orders of magnitude greater than films with oxygen
and carbon backgrounds of less than 10(19) cm(-3). The thermal PL quen
ching behavior was also markedly different for samples of varying O an
d C content. Er3+ luminescence from samples with high O and C concentr
ations quenched by only 10% between 15 and 300 K while the integrated
PL signal from the samples with lower [O] and [C] quenched similar to
85% over the same temperature range. (C) 1998 American Institute of Ph
ysics.