A series of InGaAsN/GaAs single-quantum wells (SQWs) with N contents varied from 0% to 5.3% were grown by molecular-beam epitaxy using a solid As and a nitrogen plasma sources. The impact of nitrogen concentration on the optical properties, as determined by the temperature dependence of photoluminescence (PL), of a 6 nm SQW was investigated. In the low-temperature region, a pronounced temperature-dependent S-shaped peak position was observed in PL spectra while increasing the nitrogen concentration. Quenching behavior reveals that the defect-related nonradiative processes might be enhanced in the highly nitrogen incorporated samples and thus influence the recombination dynamics. In addition, the evolution of the peak position of the InGaAsN/GaAs samples was in agreement with the empirical Varshni model in the high-temperature region. A significant reduction in the temperature dependence of the emission peak position is analyzed as well, and further confirms the prediction of proposed band anticrossing model of the electronic structure of III-N-V alloys. (c) 2006 American Vacuum Society.