Behavior of Si in AlN

In Si doped AlN, a large persistent photoconductivity is found for temperatures below 60 K after exposure to light with photon energies above 1.5 eV. Simultaneously, a persistent electron spin resonance signal is observed with an isotropic g factor of 1.9885 due to an effective mass donor state, while no spin resonance signal is detectable after cooling the sample in the dark. Both observations show that Si undergoes a (Formula presented)-like metastability in this material. Based on the experimental findings, a detailed configuration diagram is proposed.