Synthesis and characterization of gallium nitride (GaN) thin films via microwave plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (MPALD) is reported in this research. The GaN thin films grown by this technique were amorphous or nanocrystalline as it was demonstrated by electron microscopy. The optical response of these GaN thin films showed a broad peak between 400 nm and 750 nm wavelengths due mostly to carbon and oxygen impurities as has been demonstrated by XPS. That emission from these GaN thin films is located at the border of white and yellow-green emission according to CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram with coordinates, x = 0.3491 and y = 0.4312.

In this work, hybrid structures formed by nanostructured layers, which contain materials, such as porous silicon (PSi), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene oxide (GO), and silicon-rich oxide (SRO), were studied. The PSi layers were obtained by electrochemical etching over which CNTs and GO were deposited by spin coating. In addition, SRO layers, in which silicon nanocrystals are embedded, were obtained by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) technique. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra were obtained from the hybrid structures with which a comparative analysis was completed among different PL ones. The SRO layers were used to confine the CNTs and GO. The main purpose of making these hybrid structures is to modulate their PL response and obtain different emission energy regions in the PL response. It was found that the PL spectra of the CNTs/SRO and GO/SRO structures exhibit a shift towards high energies compared to those obtained from the PSi layers; likewise, the PSi/CNTs/SRO and PSi/GO/SRO structures show a similar behavior. To identify the different emission mechanisms originated by PSi, GO, CNTs, and SRO, the PL spectra were deconvolved. It was found that the Psi/CNTs/SRO and Psi/GO/SRO structures exhibit a PL shift in respect to the PSi layers, for this reason, the modulation of the PL emission of the structures makes these hybrid structures promising candidates to be applied in the field of photonic and electroluminescent devices.