A study of indium incorporation in In-rich InGaN grown by MOVPE

InGaN/GaN heterostructures have been deposited onto (0 0 0 1) sapphire by our home-made low pressure MOVPE with different growth parameters. It has been noted that the indium incorporation depends by a complex way on a number of factors. In this work, the effect of substrate temperature, trimethylindium input flow and V/III ratio on the indium incorporation has been investigated. Finally, by optimizing the growth parameters, we made a series of single-phase InGaN samples with indium content from 10% up to 45%.     

高质量InGaN的等离子体辅助分子束外延生长和In的反常并入行为

采用射频等离子体辅助分子束外延技术生长得到了In组分精确可控且高质量的In_xGa_1-xN (x ≤ 0.2) 外延薄膜. 生长温度为580 ℃的In_0.19Ga_0.81N薄膜(10.2) 面非对称衍射峰的半高宽只有587弧秒, 背景电子浓度为3.96× 10¹⁸/cm³. 在富金属生长区域, Ga束流超过N的等效束流时, In组分不为零, 即Ga并没有全部并入外延层; 另外, 稍微增加In束流会降低InGaN的晶体质量. 关键词： InGaN 外延薄膜 射频等离子体辅助分子束外延 In 并入 晶体质量     

Interface characterization and indium content of indium-rich quantum dots in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

We report on the interface characterization of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells with indium aggregation grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The interface related microstructure was analyzed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution X-ray diffraction and high angle annular dark field. Luminescence measurements were carried out by micro-photoluminescence measurement. In addition, quantitative determination of the indium concentration inside the ultra-small dots was attempted. We demonstrate that the quantum dots are coherent and the interfaces remain sharp. The In content inside ∼2 nm InGaN dots is about 65% determined by spectrum imaging in energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy combined with multiple linear least squares fitting, which is slighter higher than the value obtained either from HRTEM or theoretical calculations. This discrepancy is briefly discussed but demands further studies for complete understanding.     

Evaluation of both composition and strain distributions in InGaN epitaxial film using x-ray diffraction techniques

The composition and stain distributions in the InGaN epitaxial films are jointly measured by employing various x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques, including out-of-plane XRD at special planes, in-plane grazing incidence XRD, and reciprocal space mapping (RSM). It is confirmed that the measurement of (204) reflection allows a rapid access to estimate the composition without considering the influence of biaxial strain. The two-dimensional RSM checks composition and degree of strain relaxation jointly, revealing an inhomogeneous strain distribution profile along the growth direction. As the film thickness increases from 100 nm to 450 nm, the strain status of InGaN films gradually transfers from almost fully strained to fully relaxed state and then more In atoms incorporate into the film, while the near-interface region of InGaN films remains pseudomorphic to GaN.     

晶格匹配InAlN/GaN和InAlN/AlN/GaN材料二维电子气输运特性研究

文章研究了InAlN/GaN和引入AlN界面插入层形成的InAlN/AlN/GaN材料的输运性质. 样品均在蓝宝石上以脉冲金属有机物化学气相淀积法生长,霍尔迁移率变温特性具有典型的二维电子气(2DEG)特征. 综合各种散射机理包括声学形变势散射、压电散射、极性光学声子散射、位错散射、合金无序散射和界面粗糙度散射,理论分析了温度对迁移率的影响,发现室温下两种材料中2DEG支配性的散射机理都是极性光学波散射和界面粗糙度散射;AlN插入层对InAlN/GaN材料迁移率的改善作用一方面是免除2DEG的合金无序散射,另外还显著改善异质界面,抑制了界面粗糙度散射. 考虑到2DEG密度也是影响其迁移率的重要因素,结合实验数据给出了晶格匹配InAlN/GaN和InAlN/AlN/GaN材料的2DEG迁移率随电子密度变化的理论上限. 关键词： InAlN/GaN 二维电子气 迁移率     

Influence of Si doping on the structural and optical properties of InGaN epilayers

Influences of the Si doping on the structural and optical properties of the InGaN epilayers are investigated in detail by means of high-resolution X-ray diffraction （HRXRD）, photolumimescence （PL）, scanning electron microscope （SEM）, and atomic force microscopy （AFM）. It is found that the Si doping may improve the surface morphology and crystal quality of the InGaN film and meanwhile it can also enhance the emission efficiency by increasing the electron concentration in the InGaN and suppressing tile formation of V-defects, which act as nonradiative recombination centers in the InGaN, and it is proposed that the former plays a more important role in enhancing the emission efficiency in the InGaN.     

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.     

结构参数对p-i-n结构InGaN太阳能电池性能的影响及机理

研究了器件结构参数对p-i-n结构InGaN单结太阳能电池性能的影响及物理机制. 模拟结果发现: 随着InGaN禁带宽度的增加, InGaN电池的短路电流减小, 但同时开路电压增加, 当InGaN层的禁带宽度为1.5 eV左右时, 同质p-i-n结InGaN电池的效率最高, 并计算了不同厚度的i层对InGaN电池效率的影响. 进一步的计算表明, 适当采用带宽更大的p-InGaN层形成异质p-i-n结InGaN电池可以获得更高效率, 但是p-InGaN层带宽过大也会导致电池的效率急剧下降. 研究还发现, 采用禁带宽度更大的n-InGaN层可以形成背电场, 从而增加p-i-n结InGaN太阳电池的效率. 研究结果表明, 适当选择p-InGaN和n-InGaN禁带宽度形成异质p-i-n结可以提高InGaN太阳能电池效率.     

Indium distribution and light emission in wurtzite InGaN alloys: Several-atom In-N clusters

Considering various In distributions, we investigate electronic structures and light emission of wurtzite In_xGa_1 − xN (0?x?1) alloys. We find In_xGa_1 − xN forms a random alloy, in which many several-atom In-N clusters and short In-N- chains can exist. Small In-N clusters, especially in-plane ones, strongly localize valence electrons and dominate light emission in Ga-rich In_xGa_1 − xN alloys, which is consistent with experiments.     

有机源载气对MOCVD生长InGaN薄膜的影响研究

彩MOCVD技术以Al2O3为衬底在GaN膜上生长了InxGa1-xN薄膜。以卢瑟福背散射／沟道技术和光致发光技术对InxGa1-xN/GaN/Al2O3样品进行了测试。获得了合金层的组分，厚度，结晶品质及发光性能等信息。研究表明：在以N2作主载气的情况下，有机源的载气对InxGa1-xN膜的In组分和生长速率影响很大，生长温度为760℃时，以70ml/min的N2作有机源载气得到的InxGa1-xN膜的In组分为0．10，生长速率为6．0nm/min,而以70ml/min的H2作有机源载气得到的InxGa1-xN薄膜的In组分为0．06，生长速率为10．6nm/min.本文首次报导了载气中含有少量H2能增大InxGa1-xN薄膜的生长速率的现象。     

InAlN/GaN异质结二维电子气波函数的变分法研究

使用变分法推导了InAlN/GaN异质结二维电子气波函数和基态能级的解析表达式,并讨论了InAlN/GaN异质结结构参数对二维电子气电学特性的影响.在假设二维电子气来源于表面态的前提下,使用了一个包含两个变分参数的尝试波函数推导电子总能量期望值,并通过寻找能量期望极小值确定变分参数.计算结果显示,二维电子气面密度随InAlN厚度的增大而增大,且理论结果与实验结果一致.二维电子气面密度增大抬高了基态能级与费米能级,并保持二者之差增大以容纳更多电子.InAlN/GaN界面处的极化强度失配随着In组分增大而减弱,二维电子气面密度随之减小,并导致基态能级与费米能级减小.所建立的模型能够解释InAlN/GaN异质结二维电子气的部分电学行为,并为电子输运与光学跃迁的研究提供了解析表达式.     

Influence of barrier thickness on the structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

The structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells(MQWs) with different barrier thicknesses are studied by means of high resolution X-ray diffraction(HRXRD), a cross-sectional transmission electron microscope(TEM), and temperature-dependent photoluminescence(PL) measurements. HRXRD and cross-sectional TEM measurements show that the interfaces between wells and barriers are abrupt and the entire MQW region has good periodicity for all three samples. As the barrier thickness is increased, the temperature of the turning point from blueshift to redshift of the S-shaped temperature-dependent PL peak energy increases monotonously, which indicates that the localization potentials due to In-rich clusters is deeper. From the Arrhenius plot of the normalized integrated PL intensity, it is found that there are two kinds of nonradiative recombination processes accounting for the thermal quenching of photoluminescence,and the corresponding activation energy(or the localization potential) increases with the increase of the barrier thickness.The dependence on barrier thickness is attributed to the redistribution of In-rich clusters during the growth of barrier layers,i.e., clusters with lower In contents aggregate into clusters with higher In contents.     

Influence of injection current and temperature on electroluminescence in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Electroluminescence (EL) spectra of blue InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well light-emitting diode (LED) have been investigated over a wide range of injection current (0.001–200 mA) and at various temperatures (6–300 K). Surprisingly, with increasing the injection current the EL peak energy shows an initial blueshift accompanied by a broadening of the EL linewidth at low temperatures (below 30 K). This trend differs from the usual photoluminescence (PL) measurement results, which have shown that with increasing the optical excitation power the PL peak energy gave an initial blueshift accompanied by a narrowing of the PL linewidth at low temperatures. The anomalous current behavior of the EL spectra may be attributed to electron leakage results in the failure of Coulomb screening effect and the relative enhancement of the low-energetic localized state filling at low temperatures and low currents. The electron leakage for the LED is further confirmed by both the current dependence of the EL intensity and the temperature dependence of the EL efficiency.     

In组分对InGaN/GaN蓝光LED的发光性质的影响

利用扫描透射电子显微术(STEM)和变温光致发光光谱(PL)研究了In组分对InGaN/GaN蓝光LED的发光的影响.STEM发现两个样品量子阱结构相同,低温PL显示低In组分的样品的发光峰位随着温度的升高呈现出经典S(Red-Blue-Red)曲线.目前普遍认为蓝移是In组分分布不均匀造成的局域激子发光的主要原因,然...     

Influences of excitation power and temperature on photoluminescence in phase-separated InGaN quantum wells

The photoluminescence(PL) properties of a green and blue light-emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well structure with a strong phase separated into quasi-quantum dots(QDs) and an InGaN matrix in the InGaN epilayer are investigated.The excitation power dependences of QD-related green emissions(P_D) and matrix-related blue emissions(P_M) in the low excitation power range of the PL peak energy and line-width indicate that at 6 K both P_m and P_D are dominated by the combined action of Coulomb screening and localized state filling effect.However,at 300 K,P_m is dominated by the non-radiative recombination of the carriers in the InGaN matrix,while P_D is influenced by the carriers transferred from the shallower QDs to deeper QDs by tunnelling.This is consistent with the excitation power dependence of the PL efficiency for the emission.     

极化效应对InGaN/GaN多量子阱结构光电特性的影响

通过求解修正的基于k·p方法的有效质量哈密顿方程并与泊松方程进行自洽,得到在极化效应影响下InGaN/GaN多量子阱的能带结构和自发辐射谱.计算结果表明,极化效应使InGaN/GaN多量子阱结构的带边由方形势变成三角形势,使导带和价带间的带隙宽度减小导致发光峰值波长红移,并使电子和空穴的分布产生空间分离从而减小发光效率...     

Influence of scattering on the anisotropy of relaxation time in indium alloys

The low field Hall effect in indium at low temperatures is very sensitive to the kind of scatterers introduced. In the presence of small angle dislocation scattering, the Hall coefficientR ₀ is positive, while diffuse scattering such as that caused by boundary scattering leads to a negative value forR ₀. Data taken on alloys of indium with Ga, Tl, Pb, Sn, Hg, Cd and Bi will be analyzed by comparing them with the dislocation and size effect and by interpreting the differential cross sections of these scatterers in term of their effect onR ₀. The behaviour ofR ₀ of these alloys in function of temperature is also described.     

AlGaN插入层对InAlN/AlGaN/GaN异质结散射机制的影响

InAlN/AlN/GaN异质结中,名义上的AlN插入层实为Ga含量很高的AlGaN层, Al, Ga摩尔百分比决定了电子波函数与隧穿几率,因此影响与InAlN/AlGaN势垒层有关的散射机制.本文通过求解薛定谔-泊松方程与输运方程,研究了AlGaN层Al摩尔百分含量对InAlN组分不均匀导致的子带能级波动散射、导带波动散射以及合金无序散射三种散射机制的影响.结果显示:当Al含量由0增大到1,子带能级波动散射强度与合金无序散射强度先增大后减小,导带波动散射强度单调减小;在Al含量为0.1附近的小组分范围内,合金无序散射是限制迁移率的主要散射机制,该组分范围之外,子带能级波动散射是限制迁移率的主要散射机制;当Al摩尔百分含量超过0.52,三种散射机制共同限制的迁移率超过无插入层结构的迁移率, AlGaN层显示出对迁移率的提升作用.     

Effects of a prestrained InGaN interlayer on the emission properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells in a laser diode structure

The electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with a prestrained InGaN interlayer in a laser diode structure are investigated. When the injection current increases from 5 mA to 50 mA, the blueshift of the EL emission peak is 1 meV for the prestrained sample and 23 meV for a control sample with the conventional structure. Also, the internal quantum efficiency and the EL intensity at the injection current of 20 mA are increased by 71% and 65% respectively by inserting the prestrained InGaN interlayer. The reduced blueshift and the enhanced emission are attributed mainly to the reduced quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) in the prestrained sample. Such attributions are supported by the theoretical simulation results, which reveal the smaller piezoelectric field and the enhanced overlap of electron and hole wave functions in the prestrained sample. Therefore, the prestrained InGaN interlayer contributes to strain relaxation in the MQW layer and enhancement of light emission due to the reduction of QCSE.     

Effect of annealing on photoluminescence and microstructures of InGaN／GaN multi-quantum well with Mg-doped p-type GaN

InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well structure with Mg-doped p-type GaN was grown by low-pressure metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy. After rapid-thermal-annealing at 700 and 900${^\circ}$C, both the red-shift and the blue-shift of the photoluminescence (PL) peak, the decreased and the enhancement of the PL intensity were observed. The transmission electron microscopic images showed that InGaN multi-quantum-dots-like (MQD-like) structures with dimensions less than 5$\tm$10nm were formed in InGaN wells. The changes of PL spectra could be tentatively attributed to the competition between the red-shift mechanism of the quantum-confined Stark effect and the blue-shift mechanism of the quantum size effect due to MQD-like structures.