Novel Technique for Improving the Signal-to-Background Ratio of X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure Spectrum in Fluorescence Mode and Its Application to the Chemical State Analysis of Magnesium Doped in GaN

A novel measurement technique for an X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) for magnesium (Mg) doped in gallium nitride (GaN) has been developed. XANES spectra from Mg at very low concentrations of 1 x 10(18)/cm(3) doped in GaN have successfully been obtained by optimizing the region of interest (ROI) and by using highly brilliant synchrotron radiation X-rays of SPring-8. The ROI is the limited energy region from an X-ray fluorescence spectrum to elicit signals of particular atoms. Using this new technique, we have investigated the effect of the annealing process for Mg-doped GaN on the XANES spectra. It has been found that the XANES spectra of Mg significantly changed as the annealing temperature increased. This indicates that the local structure around Mg atoms in GaN was modified by the annealing process. (C) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics