Theoretical analysis of semi/non-polar In GaN/GaN light-emitting diodes grown on silicon substrates

A theoretical study of polar and semi/non-polar In Ga N/Ga N light-emitting diodes(LEDs) with different internal surface polarization charges, which can be grown on Si substrates, is conducted by using APSYS software. In comparison with polar structure LEDs, the semi-polar structure exhibits a higher concentration of electrons and holes and radiative recombination rate, and its reduced built-in polarization field weakens the extent of band bending which causes the shift of peak emission wavelength. So the efficiency droop of semi-polar In Ga N/Ga N LEDs declines obviously and the optical power is significantly improved. In comparison with non-polar structure LEDs, although the concentration of holes and electrons as well as the radiative recombination rate of the semi-polar structure are better in the last two quantum wells(QWs) approaching the p-Ga N side, the uniformity of distribution of carriers and radiative recombination rate for the nonpolar structure is better. So the theoretical analysis indicates that the removal of the internal polarization field in the MQWs active regions for non-polar structure LEDs contributes to the uniform distribution of electrons and holes, and decreases the electron leakage. Thus it enhances the radiative recombination rate, and further improves the IQEs and optical powers, and shows the best photoelectric properties among these three structures.     

多量子势垒双阻挡层结构对AlGaN 基深紫外激光二极管的性能优化

为提高AlGaN基深紫外激光二极管(Deep Ultraviolet Laser Diodes,DUV-LD)有源区内载流子浓度,减少载流子泄露,提出一种DUV-LD双阻挡层结构,相对于传统的单一电子阻挡层(Electron Blocking Layer, EBL)结构,又引入一空穴阻挡层(Hole Blocking Layer, HBL),仿真结果证明空穴阻挡层的应用能很好地减少空穴泄漏.同时又对双阻挡层改用五周期Al_0.98Ga_0.02N/Al_0.9Ga_0.1N多量子势垒层结构,结果显示与矩形EBL和HBL激光二极管相比,多量子势垒EBL和HBL激光二极管有更好的斜率效率,并且有源区内电子和空穴载流子浓度以及辐射复合速率都有效提高,其中多量子势垒EBL在阻挡电子泄露方面效果更显著.     

Enhanced carrier injection in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells LED with polarization-induced electron blocking barrier

In this report, we designed a light emitting diode (LED) structure in which an N-polar p-GaN layer is grown on top of Ga-polar In_0.1Ga_0.9N/GaN quantum wells (QWs) on an n-GaN layer. Numerical simulation reveals that the large polarization field at the polarity inversion interface induces a potential barrier in the conduction band, which can block electron overflow out of the QWs. Compared with a conventional LED structure with an Al_0.2Ga_0.8N electron blocking layer (EBL), the proposed LED structure shows much lower electron current leakage, higher hole injection, and a significant improvement in the internal quantum efficiency (IQE). These results suggest that the polarization induced barrier (PIB) is more effective than the AlGaN EBL in suppressing electron overflow and improving hole transport in GaN-based LEDs.     

Fang–Howard wave function modelling of electron mobility in AlInGaN/AlN/InGaN/GaN double heterostructures

To study the electron transport properties in InGaN channel-based heterostructures,a revised Fang-Howard wave function is proposed by combining the effect of GaN back barrier.Various scattering mechanisms,such as dislocation impurity(DIS) scattering,polar optical phonon(POP) scattering,piezoelectric field(PE) scattering,interface roughness(IFR) scattering,deformation potential(DP) scattering,alloy disorder(ADO) scattering from InGaN channel layer,and temperature-dependent energy bandgaps are considered in the calculation model.A contrast of AlInGaN/AlN/InGaN/GaN double heterostructure(DH) to the theoretical AlInGaN/AlN/InGaN single heterostructure(SH) is made and analyzed with a full range of barrier alloy composition.The effect of channel alloy composition on InGaN channel-based DH with technologically important Al(In,Ga)N barrier is estimated and optimal indium mole fraction is 0.04 for higher mobility in DH with Al_(0.4)In_(0.07)Ga_(0.53)N barrier.Finally,the temperature-dependent two-dimensional electron gas(2 DEG) density and mobility in InGaN channel-based DH with Al_(0.83)In_(0.13)Ga_(0.0)4 N and Al_(0.4)In_(0.07)Ga_(0.53)N barrier are investigated.Our results are expected to conduce to the practical application of InGaN channel-based heterostructures.     

A dual-blue light-emitting diode based on strain-compensated InGaN-AlGaN/GaN quantum wells

A strain-compensated InGaN quantum well(QW) active region employing a tensile AlGaN barrier is analyzed.Its spectral stability and efficiency droop for a dual-blue light-emitting diode(LED) are improved compared with those of the conventional InGaN/GaN QW dual-blue LEDs based on a stacking structure of two In0.18Ga0.82N/GaN QWs and two In0.12Ga0.88N/GaN QWs on the same sapphire substrate.It is found that the optimal performance is achieved when the Al composition of the strain-compensated AlGaN layer is 0.12 in blue QW and 0.21 in blue-violet QW.The improvement performance can be attributed to the strain-compensated InGaN-AlGaN/GaN QW,which can provide a better carrier confinement and effectively reduce leakage current.     

Alloy disorder scattering limited mobility of two-dimensional electron gas in the quaternary AlInGaN/GaN heterojunctions

Nitride heterojunction field effect transistors (HFETs) with quaternary AlInGaN barrier layers have achieved remarkable successes in recent years based on highly improved mobility of the two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) and greatly changed AlInGaN compositions. To investigate the influence of the AlInGaN composition on the 2DEG mobility, the quaternary alloy disorder (ADO) scattering to 2DEGs in AlInGaN/GaN heterojunctions is modeled using virtual crystal approximation. The calculated mobility as a function of AlInGaN alloy composition is shown to be a triangular-scarf-like curved surface for both cases of fixed thickness of AlInGaN layer and fixed 2DEG density. Though the two mobility surfaces are quite different in shape, both of them manifest the smooth transition of the strength of ADO scattering from quaternary AlInGaN to ternary AlGaN or AlInN. Some useful principles to estimate the mobility change with the Al(In,Ga)N composition in Al(In,Ga)N/GaN heterojunctions with a fixed 2DEG density are given. The comparison between some highest Hall mobility data reported for Al_xGa_1−xN/GaN heterojunctions (x=0.06~0.2) at very low temperature (0.3~13 K) and the calculated 2DEG mobility considering ADO scattering and interface roughness scattering verifies the influence of ADO scattering. Moreover, the room temperature Hall mobility data of Al(In,Ga)N/AlN/GaN heterojunctions with ADO scattering eliminated are summarized from literatures. The data show continuous dependence on Hall electron density but independence of the Al(In,Ga)N composition, which also supports our theoretical results. The feasibility of quaternary AlInGaN barrier layer in high conductivity nitride HFET structures is demonstrated.     

Improved efficiency droop characteristics in an InGaN/GaN light-emitting diode with a novel designed last barrier structure

<正>In this study,the characteristics of nitride-based light-emitting diodes with different last barrier structures are analysed numerically.The energy band diagrams,electrostatic field near the last quantum barrier,carrier concentration in the quantum well,internal quantum efficiency,and light output power are systematically investigated.The simulation results show that the efficiency droop is markedly improved and the output power is greatly enhanced when the conventional GaN last barrier is replaced by an AlGaN barrier with Al composition graded linearly from 0 to 15% in the growth direction.These improvements are attributed to enhanced efficiencies of electron confinement and hole injection caused by the lower polarization effect at the last-barrier/electron blocking layer interface when the graded Al composition last barrier is used.     

Effectiveness of inserting an In Ga N interlayer to improve the performances of In Ga N-based blue-violet laser diodes

Electron leakage still needs to be solved for In Ga N-based blue-violet laser diodes(LDs), despite the presence of the electron blocking layer(EBL). To reduce further electron leakage, a new structure of In Ga N-based LDs with an In Ga N interlayer between the EBL and p-type waveguide layer is designed. The optical and electrical characteristics of these LDs are simulated, and it is found that the adjusted energy band profile in the new structure can improve carrier injection and enhance the effective energy barrier against electron leakage when the In composition of the In Ga N interlayer is properly chosen. As a result, the device performances of the LDs are improved.     

Comparison of electrical characteristic between AIN/GaN and AIGaN/GaN heterostructure Schottky diodes

Ni/Au Schottky contacts on A1N/GaN and A1GaN/GaN heterostructures are fabricated. Based on the measured current-voltage and capacitance-voltage curves, the electrical characteristics of AlN/GaN Schottky diode, such as Schottky barrier height, turn-on voltage, reverse breakdown voltage, ideal factor, and the current-transport mechanism, are analyzed and then compared with those of an A1GaN/GaN diode by self-consistently solving Schrodinger＇s and Poisson＇s equations. It is found that the dislocation-governed tunneling is dominant for both AlN/GaN and AlGaN/GaN Schottky diodes. However, more dislocation defects and a thinner barrier layer for AlN/GaN heterostrncture results in a larger tunneling probability, and causes a larger leakage current and lower reverse breakdown voltage, even though the Schottky barrier height of AlN/GaN Schottky diode is calculated to be higher that of an A1GaN/GaN diode.     

Simulation study of InAlN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor with AlInN back barrier

In this work, we use a 3-nm-thick Al_(0.64)In_(0.36)N back-barrier layer in In_(0.17)Al_(0.83) N/Ga N high-electron mobility transistor(HEMT) to enhance electron confinement. Based on two-dimensional device simulations, the influences of Al_(0.64)In_(0.36) N back-barrier on the direct-current(DC) and radio-frequency(RF) characteristics of In AlN/GaN HEMT are investigated, theoretically. It is shown that an effective conduction band discontinuity of approximately 0.5 eV is created by the 3-nm-thick Al_(0.64)In_(0.36) N back-barrier and no parasitic electron channel is formed. Comparing with the conventional In AlN/GaN HEMT, the electron confinement of the back-barrier HEMT is significantly improved, which allows a good immunity to short-channel effect(SCE) for gate length decreasing down to 60 nm(9-nm top barrier). For a 70-nm gate length, the peak current gain cut-off frequency( f_T) and power gain cut-off frequency( f_(max)) of the back-barrier HEMT are172 GHz and 217 GHz, respectively, which are higher than those of the conventional HEMT with the same gate length.     

Ionized Acceptor Bound Exciton States in Wurtzite GaN/Al_xGa(1-x)N Cylindrical Quantum Dot

Based on the framework of the effective-mass approximation,the ionized acceptor bound exciton(A-,X) binding energy and the emission wavelength are investigated for a cylindrical wurtzite(WZ) GaN/Al x Ga1-x N quantum dot(QD) with finite potential barriers by means of a variational method.Numerical results show that the binding energy and the emission wavelength highly depend on the QD size,the position of the ionized acceptor and the Al composition x of the barrier material Al x Ga1-x N.The binding energy and the emission wavelength are larger when the acceptor is located in the vicinity of the left interface of the QD.In particular,the binding energy of(A-,X) complex is insensitive to the dot height when the acceptor is located at the left boundary of the QD.The ionized acceptor bound exciton binding energy and the emission wavelength are both increased if Al composition x is increased.     

Investigation of high sensitivity radio-frequency readout circuit based on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor

An Al Ga N/Ga N high electron mobility transistor(HEMT) device is prepared by using a semiconductor nanofabrication process. A reflective radio-frequency(RF) readout circuit is designed and the HEMT device is assembled in an RF circuit through a coplanar waveguide transmission line. A gate capacitor of the HEMT and a surface-mounted inductor on the transmission line are formed to generate LC resonance. By tuning the gate voltage V g, the variations of gate capacitance and conductance of the HEMT are reflected sensitively from the resonance frequency and the magnitude of the RF reflection signal. The aim of the designed RF readout setup is to develop a highly sensitive HEMT-based detector.     

Enhanced performance of AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with linearly graded AlGaN inserting layer in electron blocking layer

The conventional stationary Al content Al GaN electron blocking layer(EBL) in ultraviolet light-emitting diode(UV LED) is optimized by employing a linearly graded Al Ga N inserting layer which is 2.0 nm Al_(0.3) Ga_(0.7) N/5.0 nm Alx Ga_(1-x) N/8.0 nm Al_(0.3) Ga_(0.7) N with decreasing value of x. The results indicate that the internal quantum efficiency is significantly improved and the efficiency droop is mitigated by using the proposed structure. These improvements are attributed to the increase of the effective barrier height for electrons and the reduction of the effective barrier height for holes,which result in an increased hole injection efficiency and a decreased electron leakage into the p-type region. In addition,the linearly graded AlGaN inserting layer can generate more holes in EBL due to the polarization-induced hole doping and a tunneling effect probably occurs to enhance the hole transportation to the active regions, which will be beneficial to the radiative recombination.     

Study on GaN-based light emitting diode with InGaN/GaN/InGaN multi-layer barrier

The current study investigates GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with InGaN/GaN/InGaN multi-layer barrier (MLB). Simulation results show that GaN-based LEDs with MLB have better performance than conventional GaN-based LEDs with only one GaN barrier because of the enhancement in hole injection into the quantum well and decrease in electron leakage current.     

Improvement in electroluminescence performance of n-ZnO/Ga_2O_3 /p-GaN heterojunction light-emitting diodes

n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction light-emitting diodes with and without a Ga2O3 interlayer are fabricated. The electroluminescence （EL） spectrum of the n-ZnO/p-GaN displays a single blue emission at 430 nm originating from GaN, while the n-ZnO/Ga2O3/p-GaN exhibits a broad emission peak from ultraviolet to visible. The broadened EL spectra of n-ZnO/Ga2O3/p-GaN are probably ascribed to the radiative recombination in both the p-GaN and n-ZnO, due to the larger electron barrier （ΔEC=1.85 eV） at n-ZnO/Ga2O3 interface and the much smaller hole barrier （ΔEV=0.20 eV） at Ga2O3/p-GaN interface.     

Phonon Spectrum of Led InGaN/GaN Heterostructure with Quantum Wells

Russian Physics Journal - The measurements of the phonon spectrum of a LED heterostructure based on the In0.12Ga0.88N/GaN barrier showed the presence of four phonon radiation peaks with energies of...     

Enhanced performance of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN superlattice barriers

GaN-based multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes （LEDs） with conventional and superlattice barriers have been investigated numerically. Simulation results demonstrate using InGaN/GaN superlattices as barriers can effectively enhance performances of the GaN-Based LEDs, mainly owing to the improvement of hole injection and transport among the MQW active region. Meanwhile, the improved electron capture decreases the electron leakage and alleviates the efficiency droop. The weak polarization field induced by the superlattice structure strengthens the intensity of the emission spectrum and leads to a blue-shift relative to the conventional one.     

表面钝化前后Al0.22Ga0.78N/GaN异质结势垒层应变的高温特性

用高分辨X射线衍射仪(HRXRD)研究了表面钝化前后Al_0.22Ga_0.78N/ GaN异质结势垒层应变的高温特性，温度变化范围从室温到813K.结果表明，对未钝化的异质 结，当测试温度高于523K时，Al_0.22Ga_0.78N势垒层开始出现应变 弛豫；钝化后，在Al_0.22Ga_0.78N势垒层中会产生一个附加的平面 拉伸应变，并随着温度的增加，势垒层中的平面拉伸应变会呈现出一个初始的增加，接着应 变将减小，对100nm厚的Al_0.22Ga_0.78N势垒层，应变只是轻微地减 小，但对于50nm厚的Al_0.22Ga_0.78N势垒层，则出现了严重的应变 弛豫现象. 关键词： 0.22Ga_0.78N/GaN异质结')" href="#">Al_0.22Ga_0.78N/GaN异质结 应变 3 N₄钝化')" href="#">Si₃ N₄钝化 高温XRD     

Droop improvement in blue InGaN light-emitting diodes with GaN/InGaN superlattice barriers

GaN/InGaN superlattice barriers are used in InGaN-based light-emitting diodes （LEDs）. The electrostatic field in the quantum wells, electron hole wavefunction overlap, carrier concentration, spontaneous emission spectrum, light-current performance curve, and internal quantum efficiency are numerically investigated using the APSYS simulation software. It is found that the structure with GaN/InGaN superlattice barriers shows improved light output power, and lower current leakage and efficiency droop. According to our numerical simulation and analysis, these improvements in the electrical and optical characteristics are mainly attributed to the alleviation of the electrostatic field in the active region.     

不同掺杂类型的GaN间隔层和量子阱垒层对双波长LED作用的研究

采用软件理论分析的方法对不同掺杂类型的GaN间隔层和量子阱垒层在InGaN/GaN多量子阱双波长发光二极管中对发光光强、内量子效率、电子空穴浓度分布、溢出电流等作用进行模拟分析. 分析结果表明,p型掺杂的GaN间隔层与量子阱垒层的引入同不掺杂和n型掺杂两种类型比较,可以大大减少溢出电子流,极大地提高各量子阱内空穴浓度,提高双波长发光二极管的发光强度,极大的改善内量子效率随电流增大而下降问题. 关键词： GaN 掺杂类型 数值模拟 双波长发光二极管