Vibrational modes introduced by the incorporation of N into GaAs and GaInAs
have been studied by Raman spectroscopy on samples grown by molecular-beam
epitaxy using a rf nitrogen plasma source. When proceeding from GaAs1-xNx
to Ga1-yInyAs1-xNx with x less than or equal to0.04 and y less than or equa
l to0.12, the nitrogen-induced vibrational mode near 470 cm-1 observed in G
aAsN was found to broaden and to split into up to three components with one
component at a frequency higher than that of the Ga-N mode in GaAsN. This
observation shows that the incorporation of In into GaAsN strongly affects
the local bonding of the N atoms by changing the local strain distributions
as well as the formation of a significant fraction of In-N bonds. The reso
nant enhancement in the scattering cross section of the Ga-N vibrational mo
de, observed in low N-content GaAs1-xNx (x approximate to0.01) for incident
photon energies matching the mostly N-related E+ transition at around 1.8
eV, was found to broaden significantly upon increasing N content as well as
upon the addition of In to form GaInAsN. (C) 2001 American Institute of Ph
ysics.