Determination of the spontaneous polarization of wurtzite (Mg,Zn)O

We report on the experimental determination of the spontaneous polarization of wurtzite-(Mg,Zn)O by examination of the recombination dynamics of polar ZnO/(Mg,Zn)O quantum wells (QWs). The thickness-dependent decay time of the unscreened single-exciton states inside the QWs was modeled by a self-consistent solution of Schrödinger- and Poisson-equation to deduce the total polarization across the QW for different Mg-contents inside the barriers. By the separation of the piezoelectric components of the polarization, a linear increase in spontaneous polarization with increasing Mg-content x of P/x = (0.151 ± 0.015) C/m2 was determined for Mgx Zn 1-x O.