Donor-related cathodoluminescence of p -Al0.11 Ga0.89 N electron blocking layer (EBL) embedded in a laser structure was investigated by low-energy e-beam scanning along the ridge of a vertical taper both at 82 and 300 K. When e-beam probed the close vicinity of multiquantum well from p -side, an emission at 3.313 eV only appeared at 82 K and represented a prominent increase in intensity with a blueshift up to 23 meV. Besides, its intensity exhibited a linear dependence on quantum well (QW) emission intensity at low QW excitation and a sublinear dependence at high QW excitation. Combined with the annealing behaviors of the emission at elevated temperatures, these results were ascribed to the EBL capture of the holes tunneling from neighboring QW under built-in junction field and the subsequent donor-acceptor pairs transition involving a donor level of 116 meV below conduction band, which was presumably related to nitrogen vacancy (VN). © 2009 American Institute of Physics.