We present a combined photoluminescence (PL) and photomodulated reflectivity (PMR) study of three GaN/InGaN multiquantum well samples. We reported previously that the change in carrier concentration (n) induced by the pump beam can be measured by lock-in techniques using a simple Drude model to calculate n from the change in reflectivity. Here we extend the work by simultansously measuring a thermal signal from the sample, we can thus measure the internal quantum efficiency ηi of samples as a function of carrier concentration. This yields an ηi vs n curve that is strikingly different to those reported previously by PL and electroluminescent techniques (EL), with a very rapid (in n) drop off due to the droop process.
We investigated alloy fluctuations at dislocations in III-Nitride alloys (InGaN and AlGaN). We found that in both alloys, atom segregation (In segregation in InGaN and Ga segregation in AlGaN) occurs in the tensile part of dislocations with an edge component. In InGaN, In atom segregation leads to an enhanced formation of In-N chains and atomic condensates which act as carrier localization centers. This feature results in a bright spot at the position of the dislocation in the CL images, suggesting that non-radiative recombination at dislocations is impaired. On the other hand, Ga atom segregation at dislocations in AlGaN does not seem to noticeably affect the intensity recorded by CL at the dislocation. This study sheds light on why InGaN-based devices are more resilient to dislocations than AlGaN-based devices. An interesting approach to hinder non-radiative recombination at dislocations may therefore be to dope AlGaN with In.
Graphene has been touted as an ideal material for GaN LED transparent conductive layers due its high optical transparency and high electron mobility. However, many issues exist with graphene-LED integration. These include contamination from metal catalysts and manual transfer; graphene material non-uniformities over large (wafer-scale) areas; incompatibility with LED device processing; and high manufacturing costs for large-areas of material. In this work, we demonstrate graphene as a transparent contact layer for GaN LEDs which solves all of these issues. Our results prove zero contamination, with excellent material uniformity and full LED processing compatibility. Thus, we have for the first time shown a graphene fabrication process suitable for industrial GaN LED integration.
We report on blue and green light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) grown on (11-22)-GaN templates. The templates were created
by overgrowth on structured r-plane sapphire substrates. Low defect density, 100 mm diameter GaN templates were
obtained by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy (VPE) and hydride VPE techniques. Chemical-mechanical polishing
was used to obtain smooth surfaces for the subsequent growth of LED structures. Ohmic contacts to the p-type GaN
were obtained despite the lower activated acceptor levels. The LEDs show excellent output power and fast carrier
dynamics. Freestanding LEDs have been obtained by use of laser-lift-off. The work is the result of collaboration under
the European Union funded ALIGHT project.
Core–shell indium gallium nitride (InGaN)/gallium nitride (GaN) structures are attractive as light emitters due to the large nonpolar surface of rod-like cores with their longitudinal axis aligned along the c-direction. These facets do not suffer from the quantum-confined Stark effect that limits the thickness of quantum wells and efficiency in conventional light-emitting devices. Understanding InGaN growth on these submicron three-dimensional structures is important to optimize optoelectronic device performance. In this work, the influence of reactor parameters was determined and compared. GaN nanorods (NRs) with both {11-20}a-plane and {10-10}m-plane nonpolar facets were prepared to investigate the impact of metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy reactor parameters on the characteristics of a thick (38 to 85 nm) overgrown InGaN shell. The morphology and optical emission properties of the InGaN layers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging. The study reveals that reactor pressure has an important impact on the InN mole fraction on the {10-10}m-plane facets, even at a reduced growth rate. The sample grown at 750°C and 100 mbar had an InN mole fraction of 25% on the {10-10} facets of the NRs.
The efficiency of the injection and recombination processes in InGaN/GaN LEDs is governed by the properties of the active region of the devices, which strongly depend on the conditions used for the growth of the epitaxial material. To improve device quality, it is very important to understand how the high temperatures used during the growth process can modify the quality of the epitaxial material. With this paper we present a study of the modifications in the properties of InGaN/GaN LED structures induced by high temperature annealing: thermal stress tests were carried out at 900 °C, in nitrogen atmosphere, on selected samples. The efficiency and the recombination dynamics were evaluated by photoluminescence measurements (both integrated and time-resolved), while the properties of the epitaxial material were studied by Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) and Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) channeling measurements. Results indicate that exposure to high temperatures may lead to: (i) a significant increase in the photoluminescence efficiency of the devices; (ii) a decrease in the parasitic emission bands located between 380 nm and 400 nm; (iii) an increase in carrier lifetime, as detected by time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. The increase in device efficiency is tentatively ascribed to an improvement in the crystallographic quality of the samples.
D. Zhu, C. McAleese, K. K. McLaughlin, M. Häberlen, C. O. Salcianu, E. J. Thrush, M. J. Kappers, W. A. Phillips, P. Lane, D. J. Wallis, T. Martin, M. Astles, S. Thomas, A. Pakes, M. Heuken, C. J. Humphreys
The issues and challenges of growing GaN-based structures on large area Si substrates have been studied. These include
Si slip resulting from large temperature non-uniformities and cracking due to differential thermal expansion. Using an
AlN nucleation layer in conjunction with an AlGaN buffer layer for stress management, and together with the interactive
use of real time in-situ optical monitoring it was possible to realise flat, crack-free and uniform GaN and LED structures
on 6-inch Si (111) substrates. The EL performance of processed LED devices was also studied on-wafer, giving good EL
characteristics including a forward bias voltage of ~3.5 V at 20 mA from a 500 μm x 500 μm device.
The performance of a series of near-UV (~385 nm) emitting LEDs, consisting of high efficiency InGaN/AlInGaN QWs in the active region, was investigated. Significantly reduced roll-over of efficiency at high current density was found compared to InGaN/GaN LEDs emitting at a similar wavelength. The importance of optical cavity effects in flip-chip geometry devices has also been investigated. The light output was enhanced by more than a factor of 2 when the light-emitting region was located at an anti-node position with respect to a high reflectivity current injection mirror. A power of 0.49 mW into a numerical aperture of 0.5 was obtained for a junction area of 50 micrometers in diameter and a current of 30 mA, corresponding to a radiance of 30 W/cm2/str.
Robert Taylor, James Robinson, James Rice, Kwan Lee, Anas Jarjour, Jong Na, Shazia Yasin, Rachel Oliver, Menno Kappers, Colin Humphreys, G. Andrew Briggs, David Williams, Eoin O'Reilly, Aleksey Andreev, Yasuhiko Arakawa
We present measurements of microphotoluminescence decay dynamics for single InGaN quantum dots. The recombination is shown to be characterized by a single exponential decay, in contrast to the non-exponential recombination dynamics seen in the two-dimensional wetting layer. The lifetimes of single dots in the temperature range 4 K to 60 K decrease with increasing temperature. Microphotoluminescence measurements of exciton complexes in single MOVPE-grown InGaN quantum dots are also reported. We find the exciton-biexciton and exciton-charged exciton splitting energies to be 25 meV and 10 meV to the higher-energy side of the exciton ground state, respectively. Assignments of the ground state exciton, biexciton and charged exciton are supported by theoretical calculations. These measurements have been extended to investigate the time-resolved dynamics of biexciton transitions in the quantum dots. The measurements yield a radiative recombination lifetime of 1.0 ns for the exciton and 1.4 ns for the biexciton. The data can be fitted to a coupled differential equation rate equation model, confirming that the exciton state is refilled as biexcitons undergo radiative decay.
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