Investigation of optical properties of InGaN-InN-InGaN/GaN quantum-well in the green spectral regime

The optical properties of the InGaN/GaN quantum well with insertion of ultrathin InN layer is investigated by using the effective mass theory taking into account the valence band mixing effects. The total spontaneous emission radiation recombination rate can be optimized by modulating the position of InN layer in the InGaN QW. Meanwhile, it is observed that the difference of the spontaneous emission rate becomes smaller with increasing the sheet carrier density. Then, the influences of intermixing effect at the interface between InN and InGaN layers on the optical gain are analyzed. It shows the emission intensity is reduced as compared to the ideal QW structure while peak wavelength is red-shifted by ∼10 nm in the investigation range of L_sn. Finally, the influence of partial strain relaxation on the lasing wavelength is discussed, which shows a blue shift of ∼27 nm in the case with residual strain of 50% in comparison to the no strain relaxation case.     

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.     

Crystal orientation effects on electronic and optical properties of wurtzite ZnO/MgZnO quantum well lasers

Crystal orientation effects on electronic and optical properties of ZnO/MgZnO QW structures are investigated by taking into account the non-Markovian gain model with many-body effects. These results are compared with those for GaN-based QW structures. In a range of small crystal angles, ZnO/MgZnO QW structures have a lower internal field than GaN/AlGaN and InGaN/GaN QW structures. However, ZnO/MgZnO QW structures show a larger internal field than GaN-based QW structures at crystal angles near ${\theta =50^{\circ}}$ . The WZ ZnO/MgZnO QW structures are shown to have much larger optical gain than the GaN-based QW structures for small crystal angles. This is because WZ ZnO/MgZnO QW structures have larger matrix element and smaller effective masses than InGaN/GaN QW structures near the (0001) crystal orientation. On the other hand, in the case of the (10 ${\bar{1}}$ 0) crystal orientation, the optical gain of ZnO/MgZnO QW structures becomes smaller than that of InGaN/GaN QW structures due to the increase of the effective mass. In addition, the ZnO/MgZnO QW structures have a maximum in the optical gain near ${\theta =50^{\circ}}$ , which can be explained by the fact that the average hole effective mass increases although the matrix element at high carrier density is improved with increasing crystal angle.     

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

Strain-compensated InGaN quantum well (QW) active region employing tensile AlGaN barrier is analyzed. Its spectral stability and efficiency droop for dual-blue light-emitting diode (LED) are improved compared with those of the conventional InGaN/GaN QW dual-blue LED based on stacking structure of two In_0.18Ga_0.82N/GaN QWs and two In_0.12Ga_0.88N/GaN QWs on the same sapphire substrate. It is found that the optimal performance is achieved when the Al composition of 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 that can provide a better carrier confinement and effectively reduce leakage current.     

GaNAs/GaAs量子阱的激子局域化以及退局域化

我们利用光荧光(PL)以及时间分辨光谱(TRPL)研究了用MBE生长在GaAs衬底上的GaNAs/GaAs量子阱的激子局域化以及退局域化.研究发现,在低温下用连续光(Cw)激发,由于GaNAs中势振荡所产生的局域激子发光是所测量到光谱的主要发光来源.然而在脉冲激发下,情况完全不同.在高载流子密度激发或者高温下GaNAs/GaAs量子阱中例外,一个高能端的PL峰成为了主要的发光来源.通过研究,我们将这个新的发光峰指认为量子阱中非局域激子复合的PL峰.这个发光峰在温度和激发强度的变化过程中与局域激子相互竞争.我们相信这一过程也是许多文献所报道的在InGaN和AlGaN等氮化物中经常观测到的发光峰位随温度"S"形变化的主要根源.     

具有三角形InGaN/GaN多量子阱的高内量子效率的蓝光LED(英文)

对InGaN量子阱LED的内量子效率进行了优化研究。分别对发光光谱、量子阱中的载流子浓度、能带分布、静电场和内量子效应进行了理论分析。对具有不同量子阱数量的InGaN/GaN LED进行了理论数值比对研究。研究结果表明,对于传统结构的LED而言,2个量子阱的结构相对于5个和7个量子阱具有更好的光学性能。同时还研究了具有三角形量子阱结构的LED,研究结果显示,三角形多量子阱结构具有较高的电致发光强度、更高的内量子效率和更好的发光效率,所有的优点都归因于较高的电子-空穴波函数重叠率和低的Stark效应所产生的较高的载流子输入效率和复合发光效率。     

量子阱结构对含V形坑InGaN/GaN蓝光LED效率衰减的影响

使用MOCVD在图形化Si衬底上生长了含V形坑的InGaN/GaN蓝光LED。通过改变生长温度,生长了禁带宽度稍大的载流子限制阱和禁带宽度稍小的发光阱,研究了两类量子阱组合对含V形坑InG aN/GaN基蓝光LED效率衰减的影响。使用高分辨率X射线衍射仪和LED电致发光测试系统对LED外延结构和LED光电性能进行了表征。结果表明:限制阱靠近n层、发光阱靠近p层的新型量子阱结构,在室温75 A/cm~2时的外量子效率相对于其最高点仅衰减12.7%,明显优于其他量子阱结构的16.3%、16.0%、28.4%效率衰减,且只有这种结构在低温时(T≤150 K)未出现内量子效率随电流增大而剧烈衰减的现象。结果表明,合理的量子阱结构设计能够显著提高电子空穴在含V形坑量子阱中的有效交叠,促进载流子在阱间交互,提高载流子匹配度,抑制电子泄漏,从而减缓效率衰减、提升器件光电性能。     

GaNAs/GaAs量子阱的激子局域化以及退局域化

我们利用光荧光(PL)以及时间分辨光谱(TRPL)研究了用MBE生长在GaAs衬底上的GaNAs/GaAs量子阱的激子局域化以及退局域化。研究发现,在低温下用连续光(CW)激发,由于GaNAs中势振荡所产生的局域激子发光是所测量到光谱的主要发光来源。然而在脉冲激发下,情况完全不同。在高载流子密度激发或者高温下GaNAs/GaAs量子阱中例外,一个高能端的PL峰成为了主要的发光来源。通过研究,我们将这个新的发光峰指认为量子阱中非局域激子复合的PL峰。这个发光峰在温度和激发强度的变化过程中与局域激子相互竞争。我们相信这一过程也是许多文献所报道的在InGaN和AlGaN等氮化物中经常观测到的发光峰位随温度“S”形变化的主要根源。     

量子阱数量变化对InGaN/AlGaN LED的影响

采用软件理论分析的方法分析了InGaN/AlGaN量子阱数量变化对发光二极管内量子效率、电子空穴浓度分布、载流子溢出产生的影响。分析结果表明:量子阱的个数不是越多越好,LED的光学性质和量子阱的个数并不成线性关系。量子阱个数太少时,电流溢出现象较明显;而当量子阱个数太多时,极化现象明显,且会造成材料浪费。因此应根据工作电流选择合适的量子阱个数。     

Efficiency enhancement of InGaN based blue light emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers

The advantages of InGaN based light-emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers are studied.It is found that the structure with InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers shows improved light output power,lower current leakage,and less efficiency droop over its conventional InGaN/GaN counterparts.Based on the numerical simulation and analysis,these improvements on the electrical and the optical characteristics are mainly attributed to the alleviation of the electrostatic field in the quantum wells(QWs) when the InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers are used.     

Fabrication of InGaN/GaN stripe structure on (1 1 1)Si and stimulated emission under photo-excitation

InGaN/GaN QW laser structure was investigated on a GaN trapezoid grown on (1 1 1)Si substrate by selective MOVPE. The dislocation density in the active layer was reduced by a two-step growth method adopting facet controlled epitaxial lateral overgrowth (FACELO). A sample with 350 μm long cavity length showed narrowing of the spectral peak under optical excitation. The compositional non-uniformity originating from the ridge growth on the trapezoid is removed by adopting re-evaporation phenomenon under heat treatment during the growth process.     

Strong quantum confinement and high carrier concentration in AlGaN/InGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors

In this letter, we investigate the carrier features in AlGaN/InGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors. A study of charge control in the AlGaN/InGaN/GaN structure is performed by self-consistently solving Schrödingers equation in conjunction with Poissons equation. The results indicate that the concentration of two-dimensional electron gas can be largely increased with the incorporation of an InGaN layer. Both carrier density and quantum confinement are very sensitive to the strain in the InGaN channel layer. These novel features are attributed to the strong polarization effect in the AlGaN/InGaN and InGaN/GaN interfaces. PACS 85.30.De; 85.30.Tv; 77.65.Ly; 85.35.Be; 02.60.Cb     

Performance improvement of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well visible-light photodiodes by optimizing TEGa flow

The performance of an InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well(MQW) based visible-light Schottky photodiode(PD)is improved by optimizing the source flow of TEGa during In Ga N QW growth. The samples with five-pair InGaN/GaN MQWs are grown on sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. From the fabricated Schottky-barrier PDs, it is found that the smaller the TEGa flow, the lower the reverse-bias leakage is. The photocurrent can also be enhanced by depositing the In GaN QWs with using lower TEGa flow. A high responsivity of 1.94 A/W is obtained at 470 nm and -3-V bias in the PD grown with optimized TEGa flow. Analysis results show that the lower TEGa flow used for depositing In Ga N may lead to superior crystalline quality with improved InGaN/GaN interface, and less structural defects related non-radiative recombination centers formed in the MQWs.     

Properties of InGaN/GaN quantum wells and blue light emitting diodes

We have reported the effects of growth interruption time on the optical and structural properties of high indium content In_xGa_1−xN/GaN (x>0.2) multilayer quantum wells (QWs). The InGaN/GaN QWs were grown on c-plane sapphire by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The interruption was carried out by closing the group-III metal organic sources before and after the growth of the InGaN QW layers. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that with increasing interruption time, the quantum-dot-like region and well thickness decreases due to indium reevaporation or the thermal etching effect. As a result the photoluminescence (PL) peak position was blue-shifted and the intensity was reduced. The sizes and number of V-defects did not differ with the interruption time. The interruption time is not directly related to the formation of defects. The V-defect originates at threading dislocations and inversion domain boundaries due to higher misfit strain. Temperature dependent PL spectra support the results of TEM measurements. Also, the electroluminescence spectra of light-emitting diode show that dominant mechanism in InGaN/GaN QWs is a localized effect in the quantum-dot-like regions.     

Two dimensional electron gas in a hybrid GaN/InGaN/ZnO heterostructure with ultrathin InGaN channel layer

We investigated the influence of an ultrathin InGaN channel layer on two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) properties in a newly proposed hybrid GaN/In_xGa_1−xN/ZnO heterostructure using numerical methods. We found that 2DEG carriers were confined at InGaN/ZnO and GaN/InGaN interfaces. Our calculations show that the probability densities of 2DEG carriers at these interfaces are highly influenced by the In mole fraction of the InGaN channel layer. Therefore, 2DEG carrier confinement can be adjustable by using the In mole fraction of the InGaN channel layer. The influence of an ultrathin InGaN channel layer on 2DEG carrier mobility is also discussed. Usage of an ultrathin InGaN channel layer with a low indium mole fraction in these heterostructures can help to reduce the short-channel effects by improvements such as providing 2DEG with higher sheet carrier density which is close to the surface and has better carrier confinement.     

具有超晶格应力调制结构的绿光InGaN/GaN多量子阱的发光特性

研究了具有InGaN/GaN超晶格(SL)插入结构的绿光InGaN/GaN多量子阱(MQW)的发光特性。结构测试表明,SL插入结构并没有引起MQW中平均In组份的增加,而是改变了In组份的分布,形成了高In组份的量子点和低In组份量子阱。其电致发光(EL)谱和光致发光(PL)谱均出现了双发光峰。我们认为这两个 峰分别来自于量子点和量子阱,且存在着载流子从阱向点转移的输运机制。最后变温PL积分强度的Arrhenius 拟合表明,SL插入结构并没有在MQW中引入新的缺陷,使其发光效率下降。     

Optical gain analysis of strain-compensated InGaN–AlGaN quantum well active regions for lasers emitting at 420–500 nm

Strain-compensated InGaN quantum wells with tensile AlGaN barriers are analyzed as improved gain media for laser diodes emitting at 420–500 nm. The band structure is calculated using the 6-band k ·p formalism, taking into account valence band mixing, strain effect, and spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. The optical gain analysis exhibits significant improvement in the peak optical gain and differential gain for the strain-compensated structures. The calculation also shows a significant reduction of threshold carrier density and current density for diode lasers employing the strain-compensated InGaN–AlGaN QW active regions.     

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.     

High-efficiency InGaN/AlInGaN multiple quantum wells with lattice-matched AlInGaN superlattices barrier

A new approach to fabricating high-quality AlInGaN film as a lattice-matched barrier layer in multiple quantum wells(MQWs) is presented. The high-quality AlInGaN film is realized by growing the AlGaN/InGaN short period superlattices through metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, and then being used as a barrier in the MQWs. The crystalline quality of the MQWs with the lattice-matched AlInGaN barrier and that of the conventional InGaN/GaN MQWs are characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The photoluminescence(PL) properties of the InGaN/AlInGa N MQWs are investigated by varying the excitation power density and temperature through comparing with those of the InGaN/GaN MQWs. The integral PL intensity of InGaN/AlInGaN MQWs is over 3 times higher than that of InGaN/GaN MQWs at room temperature under the highest excitation power. Temperature-dependent PL further demonstrates that the internal quantum efficiency of InGaN/AlInGaN MQWs(76.1%) is much higher than that of InGaN/GaN MQWs(21%).The improved luminescence performance of InGaN/AlInGaN MQWs can be attributed to the distinct reduction of the barrier-well lattice mismatch and the strain-induced non-radiative recombination centers.     

引入n型InGaN/GaN超晶格层提高量子阱特性研究

利用金属有机物化学气相淀积技术在蓝宝石衬底上生长了InGaN/GaN量子阱结构. 研究了引入n型InGaN薄层或InGaN/GaN超晶格层的量子阱特性,结果表明通过引入n型InGaN薄层或InGaN/GaN超晶格层缓解了量子阱有源区中的应力,改善了多量子阱表面形貌,减少了V型缺陷密度,而且提高了多量子阱的光致发光强度,从而也改进了LED的发光效率. 关键词： InGaN/GaN多量子阱 原子力显微镜 X射线双晶衍射 光致发光