Origin of the efficient light emission from inversion domain boundaries in GaN

Intentionally-produced inversion domain boundaries in GaN have been reported to be highly efficient recombination centers. Here I report a rationale for this phenomenon based on ab initio density-functional calculations. I also propose a model, based on the existence of polarization in GaN, of the observation that a domain boundary acts as a rectifying junction under voltage applied between the two opposite-polarity surfaces.