Electron paramagnetic resonance of a donor in aluminum nitride crystals

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectra are obtained from a donor in aluminum nitride (AlN) crystals. Although observed in as-grown crystals, exposure to x rays significantly increases the concentration of this center. ENDOR identifies a strong hyperfine interaction with one aluminum neighbor along the c axis and weaker equivalent hyperfine interactions with three additional aluminum neighbors in the basal plane. These aluminum interactions indicate that the responsible center is a deep donor at a nitrogen site. The observed paramagnetic defect is either a neutral oxygen substituting for nitrogen (ON0) or a neutral nitrogen vacancy (VN0).