Mechanism for photoluminescence in an ${\mathbf{In}}_{\mathit{y}}{\mathbf{As}}_{1-\mathit{y}}{\mathbf{N}/\mathbf{I}\mathbf{n}}_{\mathit{x}}{\mathbf{Ga}}_{1-\mathit{x}}\mathbf{As}$ single quantum well

Photoluminescence (PL) has been observed in an ${\mathrm{In}}_y{\mathrm{As}}_{1-y}{\mathrm{N}/\mathrm{I}\mathrm{n}}_x{\mathrm{Ga}}_{1-x}\mathrm{As}$ single quantum well on InP grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy at room temperature. The PL spectroscopies show redshift as the nitrogen content increases. Through a detailed study of the dependence of PL spectra on temperature, pumping intensity, and nitrogen content, we point out that the occurrence of PL arises from the localized states due to potential fluctuations induced by the incorporation of nitrogen in InAs. Further evidence is supported by the comparison between the photoconductivity and photoluminescence spectra, which show that the Stokes shift increases with nitrogen content.