Optical properties of InGaN/GaN double quantum wells with varying well thickness

The optical properties and recombination kinetics of the InGaN/GaN double quantum well (DQW) structures with different well thickness (L_w) have been studied by means of photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved PL, and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. With increasing quantum well thickness up to 4 nm, the PL emission energy decreases and the blueshift of the PL emission energy increases with increasing excitation density. On the other hand, the PL emission energy of the DQWs with L_w=16 nm is higher than that of the DQWs with L_w=4 nm, and is independent of the excitation density. With increasing L_w from 1 to 4 nm, the PL decay times increase. In contrast, the decay times of 16 nm DQWs are faster than those of 4 nm DQWs. These different results for 16 nm DQWs such as the blueshift of the emission energy, the decrease of the excitation density dependence, and the increase of recombination rate can be ascribed to the relaxation of the piezoelectric field. We also observed the inhomegeneity in the CL spectra of the DQWs with L_w=1 nm on 1 μm scale.     

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。     

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.     

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.     

Reversible Carriers Tunnelling in Asymmetric Coupled InGaN/GaN Quantum Wells

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence （PL） and time resolved photoluminescence （TRPL） are performed to study the PL characteristics and carrier transfer mechanism in asymmetric coupled InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells （AS-QWs）. Our results reveal that abnormal carrier tunnelling from the wide quantum well （WQW） to the narrow quantum well （NQW） is observed at temperature higher than about lOOK, while a normal carrier tunnelling from the NQW to the WQW is observed at temperature lower than 100 K. The reversible carrier tunnelling between the two Q Ws makes it possible to explore new types of temperature sensitive emission devices. It is shown that PL internal quantum efficiency （IQE） of the NQW is enhanced to about 46% due to the assistant of the abnormal carrier tunnelling.     

InGaAsN量子阱的光致发光谱研究(英文)

我们测量了低N组分的InGaAsN/InGaAs/GaAs量子阱材料的光致发光(PL)谱,测量温度范围从13K到300K。实验结果显示,InGaAsN的PL谱的主峰值的能量位置随温度的变化呈现出反常的S型温度依赖关系。用Varshni经验公式对实验数据进行拟合之后,发现在低温下InGaAsN量子阱中的载流子是处于局域态的。此外,我们还测量了样品在不同的温度、不同的能量位置的瞬态谱,结果进一步证实了:在低温下,InGaAsN的PL谱谱峰主要是局域态激子的复合发光占据主导地位,而且InGaAsN中的载流子局域态主要是由N等电子缺陷造成的涨落势引起的。     

The exciton-longitudinal-optical-phonon coupling in InGaN/GaN single quantum wells with various cap layer thicknesses

This paper studies the exciton-longitudinal-optical-phonon coupling in InGaN/GaN single quantum wells with various cap layer thicknesses by low temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements.With increasing cap layer thickness,the PL peak energy shifts to lower energy and the coupling strength between the exciton and longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon,described by Huang-Rhys factor,increases remarkably due to an enhancement of the internal electric field.With increasing excitation intensity,the zero-phonon peak shows a blueshift and the Huang-Rhys factor decreases.These results reveal that there is a large built-in electric field in the well layer and the exciton-LO-phonon coupling is strongly affected by the thickness of the cap layer.     

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectra of GaN epitaxial layer grown on Si(111) substrate

In this paper, the temperature-dependent photoluminescence(PL) properties of Ga N grown on Si(111) substrate are studied. The main emission peaks of Ga N films grown on Si(111) are investigated and compared with those grown on sapphire substrates. The positions of free and bound exciton luminescence peaks, i.e., FX A and D0 X peaks, of Ga N films grown on Si(111) substrates undergo red shifts compared with those grown on sapphire. This is attributed to the fact that the Ga N films grown on sapphire are under the action of compressive stress, while those grown on Si(111) substrate are subjected to tensile stress. Furthermore, the positions of these peaks may be additionally shifted due to different stress conditions in the real sample growth. The emission peaks due to stacking faults are found in Ga N films grown on Si(111) and an S-shaped temperature dependence of PL spectra can be observed, owing to the influence of the quantum well(QW) emission by the localized states near the conduction band gap edge and the temperature-dependent distribution of the photo-generated carriers.     

Growth and characterization of InGaN nanodots hybrid with InGaN/GaN quantum wells

Uniform InGaN nanodots were successfully grown on SiO₂ pretreated GaN surface. It was found that the InGaN nanodots were 20?nm in diameter and 5?nm in height, approximately. After the growth of two periods of InGaN/GaN quantum wells on the surface of InGaN nanodots, nanodot structure still formed in the InGaN well layer caused by the enhanced phase separation phenomenon. Dual-color emissions with different behavior were observed from photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of InGaN nanodots hybrid with InGaN/GaN quantum wells. A significant blueshift and a linewidth broadening were measured for the low-energy peak as the increase of PL excitation power, while a slight blueshift and a linewidth narrowing occurred for the high-energy peak. Accordingly, these two peaks were assigned to be from the In-rich nanodots and quantized state transition from the InGaN/GaN quantum wells with indium content, respectively.     

图形化蓝宝石衬底上InGaN/GaN多量子阱发光二极管的光谱特性研究

运用电致发光(EL)和光致发光(PL)实验,分析了图形化蓝宝石衬底(PSSLEDs)和常规平面蓝宝石衬底(C-LEDs)InGaN/GaN多量子阱发光二极管的光谱特性。对比EL谱,发现PSSLEDs拥有更强的光功率和更窄的半峰宽(FWHM),说明PSSLEDs具有较高的晶体质量。其次,PSSLEDs的EL谱半峰宽随电流增加出现了更快的展宽,而这两种LED样品的PL谱半峰宽随激光功率增加呈现了基本相同的展宽变化,说明在相同电流下,PSSLEDs量子阱中载流子浓度更高,能带填充效应更强。另外,随着电流的增加,PSSLEDs和C-LEDs的峰值波长都发生蓝移,且前者的蓝移程度较小,结合半峰宽的对比分析,说明PSSLEDs量子阱中的极化电场较小。最后,对比了PSSLEDs和C-LEDs的外量子效率随电流的变化,发现PSSLEDs拥有更严重的efficiency droop,说明量子阱中极化电场不是导致efficiency droop的主要原因。     

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.     

Luminescence study of Si/Ge quantum dots

We present a photoluminescence (PL) study of Ge quantum dots embedded in Si. Two different types of recombination processes related to the Ge quantum dots are observed in temperature-dependent PL measurements. The Ge dot-related luminescence peak near 0.80 eV is ascribed to the spatially indirect recombination in the type-II band lineup, while a high-energy peak near 0.85 eV has its origin in the spatially direct recombination. A transition from the spatially indirect to the spatially direct recombination is observed as the temperature is increased. The PL dependence of the excitation power shows an upshift of the Ge quantum dot emission energy with increasing excitation power density. The blueshift is ascribed to band bending at the type-II Si/Ge interface at high carrier densities. Comparison is made with results derived from measurements on uncapped samples. For these uncapped samples, no energy shifts due to excitation power or temperatures are observed in contrast to the capped samples.     

Dynamics of dense spin ensemble excited in a barrier layer and detected in a well

Photoluminescence (PL) polarization of a spin ensemble was examined over a wide excitation wavelength range from 520 nm to 700 nm and a temperature range from 3.5 K to 300 K after it transfers from a (AlGa)As barrier layer and eventually quenches irradiatively in a GaAs quantum well (QW).A highest PL circular polarization of 30% can be kept at temperatures up to 120 K,while its room temperature value reaches about 17%.It is found that the main features of the optical spin orientation in bulk Al 0.27 Ga 0.73...     

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.     

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.     

Emission and strain in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells with InAs quantum dots obtained at different temperatures

The photoluminescence (PL), its temperature dependence and X ray diffraction (XRD) have been studied in the symmetric In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) with embedded InAs quantum dots (QDs), obtained with the variation of QD growth temperatures (470–535 °C). The increase of QD growth temperatures is accompanied by the enlargement of QD lateral sizes (from 12 up to 28 nm) and by the shift non monotonously of PL peak positions. The fitting procedure has been applied for the analysis of the temperature dependence of PL peaks. The obtained fitting parameters testify that in studied QD structures the process of In/Ga interdiffusion between QDs and capping/buffer layers takes place partially. However this process cannot explain the difference in PL peak positions.     

Quantum dots fabricated by twofold cleaved edge overgrowth

Cleaved edge overgrowth (CEO) has proven to be a powerful technique for the fabrication of atomic scale T-shaped quantum wires (QWRs) which form at the intersection of two quantum wells (QWs). Here we report on the first experimental demonstration of quantum dots (QDs) which result when three QWs intersect each other at right angles. Optical emission from zero-dimensional (0D) states in these QDs which were fabricated by a twofold CEO technique is clearly identified by means of micro-photoluminescence ( PL) and PL excitation ( PLE) spectroscopy. In contrast to the inhomogeneously broadened QW and QWR signals originating from the complex sample structure, the QD response, which is characterised by sharp lines (FWHM 70 eV), is strongly spatially localised at a position where the QWs meet.     

Combined effects of carrier scattering and Coulomb screening on photoluminescence in InGaN/GaN quantum well structure with high In content

Photoluminescence(PL) spectra of two different green InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well(MQW) samples S1 and S2,respectively with a higher growth temperature and a lower growth temperature of InGaN well layers are analyzed over a wide temperature range of 6 K-3 30 K and an excitation power range of 0.001 mW-75 mW.The excitation power-dependent PL peak energy and linewidth at 6 K show that in an initial excitation power range,the emission process of the MQW is dominated simultaneously by the combined effects of the carrier scattering and Coulomb screening for both the samples,and both the carrier scattering effect and the Coulomb screening effect are stronger for S2 than those for S1;in the highest excitation power range,the emission process of the MQWs is dominated by the filling effect of the high-energy localized states for S1,and by the Coulomb screening effect for S2.The behaviors can be attributed to the fact that sample S2 should have a higher amount of In content in the InGaN well layers than S1 because of the lower growth temperature,and this results in a stronger component fluctuation-induced potential fluctuation and a stronger well/barrier lattice mismatchinduced quantum-confined Stark effect.This explanation is also supported by other relevant measurements of the samples,such as temperature-dependent peak energy and excitation-power-dependent internal quantum efficiency.     

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.     

Analysis of localization effect in blue-violet light emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells with different well widths

Four blue-violet light emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well(MQW) structures with different well widths are grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. The carrier localization effect in these samples is investigated mainly by temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements. It is found that the localization effect is enhanced as the well width increases from 1.8 nm to 3.6 nm in our experiments. The temperature induced PL peak blueshift and linewidth variation increase with increasing well width, implying that a greater amplitude of potential fluctuation as well as more localization states exist in wider wells. In addition, it is noted that the broadening of the PL spectra always occurs mainly on the low-energy side of the PL spectra due to the temperature-induced band-gap shrinkage, while in the case of the widest well, a large extension of the spectral curve also occurs in the high energy sides due to the existence of more shallow localized centers.