In this work, Er-doped aluminum nitride (AlN), Pr-doped AlN, and Er, Pr co-doped AlN thin films were prepared by ion implantation. After annealing, the luminescence properties were investigated by cathodoluminescence. Some new and interesting phenomena were observed. The peak at 480 nm was observed only for Er-doped AlN. However, for Er, Pr co-doped AlN, it disappeared. At the same time, a new peak at 494 nm was observed, although it was not observed for Er-doped AlN or Pr-doped AlN before. Therefore, the energy transfer mechanism between Er³⁺ and Pr³⁺ in AlN thin films was investigated in detail. Through optimizing the dose ratio of Er³⁺ with respect to Pr³⁺, white light emission with an International Commission on Illumination chromaticity coordinate (0.332, 0.332) was obtained. This work may provide a new strategy for realizing white light emission based on nitride semiconductors.

Er ions are implanted into the GaN thick films grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. The implantation energy is 200 keV and the implantation doses are 1×1013, 1×1014, 1×1015, and 5×1015 atom/cm2, respectively. The effects of the implantation dose and annealing temperature on the GaN band-edge luminescence are investigated. The cathodoluminescence spectra from 82 to 323 K are measured for 1×1015 atom/cm2-implanted GaN annealed at 1100°C. Luminescence peaks at 356, 362, 376, 390, and 414 nm are observed on the 82 K cathodoluminescence spectrum. When the temperature is increased to 150 K, the intensities of the 356 and 414 nm peaks are nearly unchanged and the 362, 376, and 390 nm peaks disappear. The intensity ratio of 538 nm (H11/22→I15/24) and 559 nm (S3/24→I15/24) is increased with the increase in temperature. We try to shed light on the above interesting phen