  We studied the persistent photoconductivity (PPC) effect in AlGaN/AlN/GaN
heterostructures with two different Al-compositions (x=0.15 and x=0.25). The
two-dimensional electron gas formed at the AlN/GaN heterointerface was
characterized by Shubnikov-de Haas and Hall measurements. Using optical
illumination, we were able to increase the carrier density of the
Al0.15Ga0.85N/AlN/GaN sample from 1.6x10^{12} cm^{-2} to 5.9x1012 cm^{-2},
while the electron mobility was enhanced from 9540 cm2/Vs to 21400 cm2/Vs at T
= 1.6 K. The persistent photocurrent in both samples exhibited a strong
dependence on illumination wavelength, being highest close to the bandgap and
decreasing at longer wavelengths. The PPC effect became fairly weak for
illumination wavelengths longer than 530 nm and showed a more complex response
with an initial negative photoconductivity in the infrared region of the
spectrum (>700 nm). The maximum PPC-efficiency for 390 nm illumination was
0.011% and 0.005% for Al0.25Ga0.75N/AlN/GaN and Al0.15Ga0.85N/AlN/GaN samples,
respectively. After illumination, the carrier density could be reduced by
annealing the sample. Annealing characteristics of the PPC effect were studied
in the 20-280 K temperature range. We found that annealing at 280 K was not
sufficient for full recovery of the carrier density. In fact, the PPC effect
occurs in these samples even at room temperature. Comparing the measurement
results of two samples, the Al0.25Ga0.75N/AlN/GaN sample had a larger response
to illumination and displayed a smaller recovery with thermal annealing. This
result suggests that the energy scales of the defect configuration-coordinate
diagrams for these samples are different, depending on their Al-composition.
