Magnesium Acceptor Energy Levels in Cubic GaN

Intra-impurity transitions of the Mg acceptor in cubic phase GaN were measured with the use of photothermal ionization spectroscopy. Apart from the photoionization band several sharp features were detected, related to internal Mg-acceptor transitions. The transitions were identified with the help of effective-mass model calculations involving light- and heavy-hole as well as spin--orbit split-off bands. Transitions to resonant states, associated with the spin-orbit split-off valence band, were also identified. The determined hole binding energy of the Mg acceptor in zinc-blende GaN is 236±1 meV.