Optical studies on a coherent InGaN/GaN layer

Photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and selective excitation (SE-PL) studies were performed in an attempt to identify the origin of the emission bands in a pseudomorphic In_0.05Ga_0.95N/GaN film. Besides the InGaN near-band-edge PL emission centred at 3.25 eV an additional blue band centred at 2.74 eV was observed. The lower energy PL peak is characterized by an energy separation between absorption and emission–the Stokes’ shift–(500 meV) much larger than expected. A systematic PLE and selective excitation analysis has shown that the PL peak at 2.74 eV is related to an absorption band observed below the InGaN band gap. We propose the blue emission and its related absorption band are associated to defect levels, which can be formed inside either the InGaN or GaN band gap.     

Two-photon absorption from single InGaN/GaN quantum dots

We present a study of the time-integrated and time-resolved photoluminescence properties of single-InGaN/GaN quantum dots (QDs) using two-photon spectroscopy. Two samples containing QDs produced by different growth techniques are examined. We find that two-photon excitation results in the suppression of the emission from the underlying quantum well to which the QDs are coupled and yet relatively strong QD emission is observed. This effect is explained in terms of the enhancement of two-photon absorption in QDs due to the full confinement of carriers. Furthermore, evidence of the presence of excited states is revealed from the two-photon photoluminescence excitation spectra presented in the study.     

Investigation of electron energy states in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Blue light emitting diodes (LED) consisting of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) have been grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on sapphire. The width of the quantum wells (InGaN) was maintained in the range of 3–5 nm with a barrier of 10–15 nm of GaN. Various diagnostic techniques were employed for the characterization of the InGaN/GaN heterostructure. Carrier concentration depth profile from C–V measurements demonstrated the presence of MQWs. The higher value of built-in voltage (15 V) determined from C⁻²–V plot also supported the presence of MQWs as assumed to alter the space-charge region width and hence the intercept voltage. Arrhenius plots due to DLTS spectra from the device revealed at least four energy states (eV) 0.1, 0.12, 0.15 and 0.17, respectively in the quantum wells, with respect to the barrier. Further the photoluminescence spectrum showed an InGaN-based broad band centered at 2.9 eV and the GaN peak at 3.4 eV. A comparison of the PL spectrum with the literature helped to estimate the indium content in the QW (InGaN) and its width to be ∼13% and ∼3 nm, respectively. The results were consistent with the DLTS findings.     

Gradual variation method for thick GaN heteroepitaxy by hydride vapour phase epitaxy

Two strain-state samples of GaN, labelled the strain-relief sample and the quality-improved sample, were grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy (HVPE), and then characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence and optical microscopy. Two strain states of GaN in HVPE, like 3D and 2D growth modes in metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), provide an effective way to solve the heteroepitaxial problems of both strain relief and quality improvement. The gradual variation method (GVM), developed based on the two strain states, is characterized by growth parameters' gradual variation alternating between the strain-relief growth conditions and the quality-improved growth conditions. In GVM, the introduction of the strain-relief amplitude, which is defined by the range from the quality-improved growth conditions to the strain-relief growth conditions, makes the strain-relief control concise and effective. The 300-μm thick bright and crack-free GaN film grown on a two-inch sapphire proves the effectiveness of GVM.     

Influence of p-GaN annealing on the optical and electrical properties of InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs

Optical and electrical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) light emitting diodes (LEDs) annealed in pure O₂ ambient (500 °C) and pure N₂ ambient (800 °C) were systematically investigated. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements showed that high-temperature thermal annealing in N₂ ambient can induce indium clusters in InGaN MQWs. Although the deep traps induced by indium clusters can act as localized centers for carriers, there are many more dislocations out of the trap centers due to high-temperature annealing. As a result, the radiative efficiency of the sample annealed in N₂ ambient was lower than that annealed in O₂ ambient at room temperature. Electrical measurements demonstrated that the LEDs annealed in O₂ ambient were featured by a lower forward voltage and there was an increase of ~41% in wall-plug efficiency at 20 mA in comparison with the LEDs annealed in N₂ ambient. It is thus concluded that activation of the Mg-doped p-GaN layer should be carried out at a low-temperature O₂ ambient so as to obtain LEDs with better performance.     

Improved carrier injection and confinement in InGaN light-emitting diodes containing GaN/AlGaN/GaN triangular barriers

In this study, an InGaN lighting-emitting diode(LED) containing GaN/AlGaN/GaN triangular barriers is proposed and investigated numerically. The simulation results of output performance, carrier concentration, and radiative recombination rate indicate that the proposed LED has a higher output power and an internal quantum efficiency, and a lower efficiency droop than the LED containing conventional GaN or AlGaN barriers. These improvements mainly arise from the modified energy bands, which is evidenced by analyzing the LED energy band diagram and electrostatic field near the active region.The modified energy bands effectively improve carrier injection and confinement, which significantly reduces electron leakage and increases the rate of radiative recombination in the quantum wells.     

Quantum confined carrier transition in a GaN/InGaN/GaN single quantum well bounded by AlGaN barriers

We investigated the carrier transition properties of the GaN/InGaN/GaN single quantum well bounded by AlGaN barriers. In order to confirm the carrier transition coming from the single quantum well, the single quantum well layer was etched by reactive ion etching method. The structural property of the samples was characterized by high resolution X-ray diffraction measurements. In micro-photoluminescence measurements, it is clearly shown that the donor bound exciton transition of the single quantum well sample was redshifted compared to the etched one due to strain. Moreover, a lot of peaks were observed below the GaN band gap energy due to carrier localization in the InGaN/GaN single quantum well, including carrier localization center and quantum confined states. The excitation power dependence and time resolved photoluminescence spectra were investigated to characterize the optical transition of the single quantum well.     

InGaN/GaN多量子阱热退火的拉曼光谱和荧光光谱

通过拉曼光谱及荧光光谱测量研究了采用低压金属有机化学沉积(MOCVD)方法生长的InGaN／GaN多量子阱高温快速热退火处理对量子阱光学性质的影响。观测到退火后InGaN／GaN量子阱的拉曼光谱E2,A1(LO)模式的峰位置出现了红移,而且该振动峰的半高宽也有微小变化。温度升高退火效果更明显。退火使量子阱内应力部分消除,同时In,Ga原子扩散出现相分离使拉曼谱表现出变化。在常温和低温下的光荧光谱表明,退火处理的量子阱发光主峰都出现了红移;而且低温退火出现红移,退火温度升高相对低温退火出现蓝移;同时在低温荧光光谱里看到经过退火处理后原发光峰中主峰旁边弱的峰消失了。讨论了退火对多量子阱光学性质的影响。     

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     

Double-dielectric-mirror InGaN/GaN microcavities formed using selective removal of an AlInN layer

We describe the fabrication and optical properties of a 3λ/2 InGaN/GaN-based microcavity using “upper” and “lower” silica/zirconia mirrors. The fabrication of this structure involved selective removal of an AlInN layer following multistep thinning of a free-standing GaN substrate. Photoluminescence spectra show a narrowing of the excitonic emission from InGaN/GaN quantum wells in the microcavity, giving a cavity quality factor Q exceeding 400.     

Anomalous disorder-related phenomena in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well heterosystems

The influences of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) heterostructures with InGaN/GaN and GaN barriers on carrier confinement were investigated. The degree of disordering over a broad range of temperatures from 20 to 300 K was considered. The optical and electrical properties were strongly influenced by structural and compositional disordering of the InGaN/GaN MQW heterostructures. To compare the degree of disordering we examined the temperature dependence of the luminescence spectra and electrical conductance contingent on the Berthelot-type mechanisms in the InGaN/GaN MQW heterostructures. We further considered carrier transport in the InGaN/GaN disordered systems, probability of carrier tunneling, and activation energy of the transport mechanism for devices with InGaN/GaN and GaN barriers. The optical properties of InGaN/GaN disordered heterosystems can be interpreted from the features of the absorption spectra. The anomalous temperature-dependent characteristics of the disordered InGaN/GaN MQW structures were attributable to the enhancement of the exciton confinement.     

Lateral carrier confinement in InGaN quantum-well nanorods

We review our studies on lateral carrier diffusion in micro-fabricated samples of InGaN nanorods and their parent quantum wells. The carrier diffusion is observed to be strongly confined in nanorods, as manifested by the reduction in the delayed-rise component of time-resolved photoluminescence traces. We further argue that the confinement of carrier diffusion can be applied to suppress the efficiency droop related to defect state recombination and to assist in the energy transfer between InGaN nanorods and nanocrystal phosphors for color conversion.     

Correlation between pit formation and phase separation in thick InGaN film on a Si substrate

We demonstrate improved surface pit and phase separation in thick InGaN grown on a GaN/Si (111) substrate, using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy with an indium modulation technique. The formation of surface pit and compositional inhomogeneity in the InGaN epilayer are investigated using atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and temperature-dependent photoluminescence. Indium elemental mapping directly reveals that poor compositional homogeneity occurs near the pits. The indium-modulation epitaxy of InGaN minimizes the surface indium segregation, leading to the reduction in pit density and size. The phase separation in InGaN with a higher pit density is significantly suppressed, suggesting that the pit formation and the phase separation are correlated. We propose an indium migration model for the correlation between surface pit and phase separation in InGaN.     

Tilt of InGaN layers on miscut GaN substrates

We report on the crystallographic orientation of InGaN layers grown on GaN substrates with a miscut with respect to c ‐planes up to 2.5°. The samples were examined using high‐resolution X‐ray diffraction (HRXRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Because of the large (up to about 2% in this study) lattice mismatch between InGaN and GaN, an additional tilt between the c lattice planes of InGaN and GaN was observed and explained by using the Nagai model [J. Appl. Phys. 45 , 3789 (1974)]. We observed that for part of the samples, this tilt is about 10% smaller compared to the one predicted by the model. The experimental data are important for understanding the microstructure of InGaN layers grown on substrates of non‐perfect morphology. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Influence of laser annealing on defect-related luminescence of InGaN epilayers

InGaN epilayers exhibiting strong defect-related sub-bandgap emission, which is undesirable in epilayers and quantum well structures designed for light-emitting diodes and laser diodes, have been studied by confocal photoluminescence spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Inhomogeneous spatial distribution of band-edge luminescence intensity and comparatively homogenous distribution of defect-related emission are demonstrated. It is shown that laser annealing at power densities causing the increase of the temperature at the epilayer surface high enough for indium atoms to move to the surface results in suppression of the defect-related emission.     

氢化物气相外延生长的GaN膜中的应力分析

对在c面蓝宝石上用氢化物气相外延法(HVPE)生长的六方相纤锌矿结构的GaN膜中的应力进行了分析。高分辨X射线衍射(002)面和(102)面摇摆曲线扫描(半高宽数值分别为317和358角秒)表明生长的GaN膜具有较好的晶体质量。利用高分辨X射线衍射技术准确测量了制备的GaN膜的晶格常数,并计算得到GaN膜中面内双轴应变和面外双轴应变分别为3.37×10-4和-8.52×10-4,等静压应变为-7.61×10-5。拉曼光谱和激光光致发光谱测试表明HVPE-GaN外延膜具有较好的光学特性,利用拉曼光谱的E₂模式特征峰和激光光致发光谱中近带边发射峰的频移定量计算了外延膜中的面内双轴压应力和等静压应力。两种方法得到的面内双轴压应力较为相符。     

Parameters-dependent nonlinear absorptions in InGaN/GaN MQW and GaN film

The optical nonlinearities of an InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) and a GaN film were experimentally investigated by using femtosecond Z-scan method in this paper. It was observed that the InGaN/GaN MQW displays a nonlinear saturable absorption (SA) effect and the nonlinear absorption coefficient β was determined to be ; and the GaN film shows a reverse saturable absorption (RSA) effect and the β is . It is also found that the absorption cross sections and quantum confinement effect (QCE) give an influence on the SA of the InGaN/GaN MQW structure.     

The effects of InGaN layer thickness on the performance of InGaN/GaN p-i-n solar cells

InGaN/GaN p-i-n solar cells, each with an undoped In0.12Ga0.88N absorption layer, are grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The effects of the thickness and dislocation density of the absorp- tion layer on the collection efficiency of InGaN-based solar cells are analyzed, and the experimental results demonstrate that the thickness of the InGaN layer and the dislocation density significantly affect the performance. An optimized InGaN- based solar cell with a peak external quantum efficiency of 57% at a wavelength of 371 nm is reported. The full width at half maximum of the rocking curve of the （0002） InGaN layer is 180 arcsec.     

局域表面等离激元对InGaN/GaN多量子阱发光效率的影响

Ag纳米粒子的形貌对InGaN/Ga N多量子阱(MQWs)的光致发光(PL)效率有着显著影响。本文采用离子束沉积(IBD)技术将Ag沉积在InGaN/Ga N MQWs上,然后通过快速热退火处理制备Ag纳米粒子。通过改变Ag的沉积时间获得了具有不同Ag纳米粒子形貌的样品。用原子力显微镜对各样品的Ag纳米粒子形貌和尺寸进行了表征,并且测试了吸收谱、室温和变温PL谱及时间分辨光致发光(TRPL)谱。结果表明:随着Ag沉积时间的延长,所得Ag纳米粒子粒径增大,粒子纵横比先增大后减小且吸收谱峰红移。由于不同形貌的Ag纳米粒子在入射光作用下产生的局域表面等离激元(LSPs)与MQWs中激子耦合强度不同,光发射能力也不同,与没有Ag纳米粒子的样品相比,沉积时间为15 s的样品室温PL积分强度被抑制6.74倍,沉积时间为25 s和35 s的样品室温PL积分强度分别增强1.55和1.72倍且峰位发生红移,沉积时间为45 s的样品室温PL积分强度基本没有变化。TRPL与变温PL的测试结果证明,室温PL积分强度的改变是由于LSPs与MQWs中的激子耦合作用引起的。纵横比大且吸收谱与MQWs的PL谱交叠大的Ag纳米粒子能够更好地增强InGaN/Ga N MQWs的发光。     

蓝光激光器结构中InGaN/GaN多量子阱界面效应的精细光致发光光谱研究

金属有机化学气相沉积(MOCVD)方法制备InGaN/GaN多量子阱结构时,在GaN势垒层生长的N2载气中引入适量H2,能够有效改善阱/垒界面质量从而提升发光效率.本工作利用光致发光(PL)光谱技术,对蓝光激光器结构中的InGaN/GaN多量子阱的发光性能进行了精细的光谱学测量与表征,研究了通H2生长对量子阱界面的调控...