Effects of 5 MeV electron irradiation on deep traps and electroluminescence from near-UV InGaN/GaN single quantum well light-emitting diodes with and without InAlN superlattice underlayer

The electrical properties, electroluminescence (EL) power output and deep trap spectra were studied before and after 5 MeV electron irradiation of near-UV single-quantum-well (SQW) light-emitting diodes (LED) structures differing by the presence or absence of InAlN superlattice underlayers (InAlN SL UL). The presence of the underlayer is found to remarkably increase the EL output power and the radiation tolerance of LEDs, which correlates with a much lower and more slowly changing density of deep traps in the QW region with radiation dose, and the higher lifetime of charge carriers, manifested by higher short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage in current–voltage characteristics under …

Lattice-Matched GaN–InAlN Waveguides at $\lambda=1.55\ \mu$m Grown by Metal–Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy

We report on the demonstration of low-loss, single-mode GaN-InAlN ridge waveguides (WGs) at fiber-optics telecommunication wavelengths. The structure grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy contains AlInN cladding layers lattice-matched to GaN. For slab-like WGs propagation losses are below 3 dB/mm and independent of light polarization. For 2.6-mum-wide WGs the propagation losses in the 1.5- to 1.58-mum spectral region are as low as 1.8 and 4.9 dB/mm for transverse-electric- and transverse-magnetic-polarization, respectively. The losses are attributed to the sidewall roughness and can be further reduced by the optimization of the etching process.

Microcavity Light Emitting Diodes Based on GaN membranes Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy on Silicon

Resonant-cavity InGaN/GaN quantum well light emitting diodes have been fabricated. Nitride layers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si (111). We fabricated the structures using a combination of Si substrate etching, GaN etching and dielectric (Ta2O5/SiO2) mirror deposition. The electroluminescence spectra show that the emission within the distributed Bragg reflector stop band is enhanced in the membrane microcavity. The cavity modes are broadened by some cavity length non-uniformity that is introduced when the GaN is back etched to adjust the cavity length. This process does not need any transfer on an intermediate host substrate and is fully compatible with large area semiconductor p…

Suppression of leakage currents in GaN-based LEDs induced by reactive-ion etching damages

Forward and reverse leakage currents in GaN/InGaN multi-quantum well light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are caused by reactive-ion etching (RIE) damages during device patterning. A method to recover the damaged surfaces, based on a chemical etch in KOH: ethylene-glycol is described. Leakage currents decrease of more than a factor of 10 and are completely suppressed in most of devices.

InAlN underlayer for near ultraviolet InGaN based light emitting diodes

We report on InAlN underlayer (UL) to improve the efficiency of near ultraviolet (NUV) light emitting diodes (LEDs). While InGaN UL is commonly used in high-efficiency blue LEDs it may absorb light for shorter wavelengths. InAlN lattice-matched to GaN exhibits a bandgap of 4.6 eV. This allows alleviating absorption issues in NUV LEDs. We demonstrate that the internal quantum efficiency of 405 nm single InGaN/GaN quantum well LEDs with InAlN UL is similar to 70% compared to less than 10% for LEDs without UL. Excellent I-V characteristics are achieved thanks to polarization charge screening with high doping level at the InAlN/GaN interface. (C) 2019 The Japan Society of Applied Physics

Blue lasing at room temperature in high quality factor GaN/AlInN microdisks with InGaN quantum wells

The authors report on the achievement of optically pumped III-V nitride blue microdisk lasers operating at room temperature. Controlled wet chemical etching of an AlInN interlayer lattice matched to GaN allows forming inverted cone pedestals. Whispering gallery modes are observed in the photoluminescence spectra of InGaN/GaN quantum wells embedded in the GaN microdisks. Typical quality factors of several thousands are found (Q>4000). Laser action at similar to 420 nm is achieved under pulsed excitation at room temperature for a peak power density of 400 kW/cm(2). The lasing emission linewidth is down to 0.033 nm.

Defects in III-N LEDs: experimental identification and impact on electro-optical characteristics

III-N light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) are subject of intense investigations, thanks to their high efficiency and great reliability. The quality of the semiconductor material has a significant impact on the electro-optical performance of LEDs: for this reason, a detailed characterization of defect properties and the modeling of the impact of defects on device performance are of fundamental importance. This presentation addresses this issue, by discussing a set of recent case studies on the topic; specifically, we focus on the experimental characterization of defects, and on the modeling of their impact on the electro-optical characteristics of the devices.

Defect incorporation in In-containing layers and quantum wells: Experimental analysis via deep level profiling and optical spectroscopy

Abstract Recent studies demonstrated that the performance of InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be significantly improved through the insertion of an InGaN underlayer (UL). The current working hypothesis is that the presence of the UL reduces the density of non-radiative recombination centers (NRCs) in the QW itself: during the growth of the UL, surface defects are effectively buried in the UL, without propagating towards the QW region. Despite the importance of this hypothesis, the concentration profile of defects in the quantum wells of LEDs with and without the UL was never investigated in detail. This paper uses combined capacitance-voltage and steady-state pho…

Room temperature polariton luminescence from a GaN∕AlGaN quantum well microcavity

The authors report on the demonstration of strong light-matter coupling at room temperature using a crack-free UV microcavity containing GaN/AlGaN quantum wells (QWs). Lattice-matched AlInN/AlGaN distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) with a maximum peak reflectivity of 99.5% and SiO2/Si3N4 DBRs were used to form high finesse hybrid microcavities. State-of-the-art GaN/Al0.2Ga0.8N QWs emitting at 3.62 eV with a linewidth of 45 meV at 300 K were inserted in these structures. For a 3 lambda/2 microcavity containing six QWs, the interaction between cavity photons and QW excitons is sufficiently large to reach the strong coupling regime. A polariton luminescence is observed with a vacuum field Rabi…

Indium surfactant effect on AlN/GaN heterostructures grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy: Applications to intersubband transitions

We report on a dramatic improvement of the optical and structural properties of AlN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy using indium as a surfactant. This improvement is observed using photoluminescence as well as x-ray diffraction. Atomic force microscopy shows different surface morphologies between samples grown with and without In. This is ascribed to a modified relaxation mechanism induced by different surface kinetics. These improved MQWs exhibit intersubband absorption at short wavelength (2 mu m). The absorption linewidth is as low as 65 meV and the absorption coefficient is increased by 85%.

Deep traps in InGaN/GaN single quantum well structures grown with and without InGaN underlayers

The electrical properties and deep trap spectra were compared for near-UV GaN/InGaN quantum well (QW) structures grown on free-standing GaN substrates. The structures differed by the presence or absence of a thin (110 nm) InGaN layer inserted between the high temperature GaN buffer and the QW region. Capacitance-voltage profiling with monochromatic illumination showed that in the InGaN underlayer (UL), the density of deep traps with optical threshold near 1.5 eV was much higher than in the QW and higher than for structures without InGaN. Irradiation with 5 MeV electrons strongly increased the concentration of these 1.5 eV traps in the QWs, with the increase more pronounced for samples witho…

Low-temperature growth of n ++-GaN by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition to achieve low-resistivity tunnel junctions on blue light emitting diodes

We report on low-resistivity GaN tunnel junctions (TJ) on blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Si-doped n ++-GaN layers are grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition directly on LED epiwafers. Low growth temperature (<800 °C) was used to hinder Mg-passivation by hydrogen in the p ++-GaN top surface. This allows achieving low-resistivity TJs without the need for post-growth Mg activation. TJs are further improved by inserting a 5 nm thick In0.15Ga0.85N interlayer (IL) within the GaN TJ thanks to piezoelectric polarization induced band bending. Eventually, the impact of InGaN IL on the internal quantum efficiency of blue LEDs is discussed.

Optical, structural, and morphological characterisation of epitaxial ZnO films grown by pulsed-laser deposition

We report on ZnO epitaxial growth by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) on different substrates, such as quartz, sapphire, and GaN template. Approximately 1 mu m-thick films were grown under different substrate temperatures and background oxygen conditions. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated preferential growth along the c-axis direction with a full-width at half maximum(FWHM) of the rocking curve as narrow as 230 arcs in the case of the GaN template. Low-temperature photoluminescence showed A-excitonic emission near 3.36 eV and a FWHM of (DXA)-X-0 emission as small as 2.89 meV at 9 K. Atomic force microscope measurements showed that roughness as low as 18 nm could be obtained. These results p…

AlInN based Microcavities

Room-temperature polariton luminescence from a bulk GaN microcavity

We report strong exciton-photon coupling at room temperature in a hybrid high quality bulk 3 lambda/2 GaN cavity with a bottom lattice-matched AlInN/AlGaN distributed Bragg reflector through angle-resolved polarized photoluminescence (PL). Coupling of the optically active free excitons (X-A, X-B, and X-C) to the cavity mode is demonstrated, with their contribution to the PL spectra varying with polarization. Under TE polarization, exciton oscillator strengths for X-A and X-B are about one order of magnitude larger than in bulk GaAs. Photoluminescence exhibits a strong bottleneck effect despite its thermal lineshape.

Solar blind AlGaN photodetectors with a very high spectral selectivity

Solar blind detectors based on AlGaN heterostructures grown on sapphire by Molecular Beam Epitaxy and with a dielectric interference filter deposited on the back side are demonstrated to provide record spectral selectivity. Rejection ratios of 2 x 10(4), and better than 5 x 10(4), measured between 280 and 320 nm, are achieved in Metal Semiconductor Metal detectors and Schottky diodes respectively. The whole detector process is fully compatible with low cost array fabrication.

Solar blind detectors based on AlGaN grown on sapphire

Solar blind detectors have been fabricated based on AlGaN heterostructures grown on sapphire by molecular beam epitaxy or chemical vapour deposition. MSM and Schottky detectors were investigated. High performance devices have been obtained thanks to an optimization of the material crystalline quality (including the suppression of cracks) and of the process. We show that the spectral limitations of MSM detectors are dictated by intrinsic phenomena that are analysed in details while the responsivity and detectivity also depends on the technological process with a special emphasis on the geometry of finger and contact pads. One and two dimensional arrays have been fabricated and preliminary re…

Internal photoemission in solar blind AlGaN Schottky barrier photodiodes

We have analyzed the photoresponse of solar blind AlGaN Schottky barrier photodiodes below the alloy band gap energy, in the 3.5-4.5 eV range, and we show that it is dominated by internal photoemission. The n-type Schottky barrier height is shown to increase linearly with the band gap energy of the AlGaN alloy. The amplitude of the internal photoemission signal is about 20 times smaller than the value given by the Fowler theory based on a free electron model. We explain this result by taking into account the interband transitions and the ballistic transport of photoexcited electrons in the metal. This low value of internal photoemission allows us to achieve a spectral rejection ratio betwee…

Effects of InAlN underlayer on deep traps detected in near-UV InGaN/GaN single quantum well light-emitting diodes

Two types of near-UV light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an InGaN/GaN single quantum well (QW) differing only in the presence or absence of an underlayer (UL) consisting of an InAlN/GaN superlattice (SL) were examined. The InAlN-based ULs were previously shown to dramatically improve internal quantum efficiency of near-UV LEDs, via a decrease in the density of deep traps responsible for nonradiative recombination in the QW region. The main differences between samples with and without UL were (a) a higher compensation of Mg acceptors in the p-GaN:Mg contact layer of the sample without UL, which correlates with the presence of traps with an activation energy of 0.06 eV in the QW region, (b) the…

Current status of AlInN layers lattice-matched to GaN for photonics and electronics

We report on the current properties of Al1-x InxN (x approximate to 0.18) layers lattice- matched ( LM) to GaN and their specific use to realize nearly strain- free structures for photonic and electronic applications. Following a literature survey of the general properties of AlInN layers, structural and optical properties of thin state- of- the- art AlInN layers LM to GaN are described showing that despite improved structural properties these layers are still characterized by a typical background donor concentration of ( 1 - 5) x 10(18) cm(-3) and a large Stokes shift (similar to 800 meV) between luminescence and absorption edge. The use of these AlInN layers LM to GaN is then exemplified …

Nitride-based heterostructures grown by MOCVD for near- and mid-infrared intersubband transitions

Intersubband (lSB) optical absorption in different nitride-based heterostructures grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) is reported. The role of indium in AlInN/GaN multi-quantum wells (MQWs) is investigated. At high concentration (15%) AlInN is quasi lattice-matched to GaN and no cracks appear in the structure. At very low indium concentration (similar to 2%) the material quality is improved without decreasing the ISB transition wavelength with respect to the case of indium-free structures. Different mechanisms of strain relaxation in pure and 2% indium-doped AlN/GaN MQW structures are also investigated. ISB transition wavelengths of 2 urn for AlN/GaN MQWs, and 3 mu n f…

Study and optimization of near UV InGaN/GaN based Light Emitting Diodes at low injection current regimes

How does an In-containing underlayer prevent the propagation of defects in InGaN QW LEDs?: identification of SRH centers and modeling of trap profile

Recent reports indicated that the use of an InAlN underlayer (UL) can significantly improve the efficiency of InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) LEDs. Currently, this result is explained by considering that the UL reduces the density of nonradiative recombination centers in the QWs. However, an experimental proof of the reduction of defects in the QWs is not straightforward. In this paper, we use combined electrical (I-V), optical (L-I), capacitance (C-V), steady-state photocapacitance (SSPC) and light-assisted capacitance-voltage (LCV) measurements to explain why devices with UL have a much higher efficiency than identical LEDs without UL. Specifically, we demonstrated an improvement in both elec…

High Performance Solar Blind Detectors based on AlGaN grown by MBE and MOCVD

ABSTRACTSolar blind detectors based on AlGaN grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy have been fabricated and characterized. Metal Semiconductor Metal (MSM) detectors and vertical Schottky detectors have been realized, with a design that allows back side illumination. The growth was optimized in order to improve the layer quality, avoid crack formation, and provide the best detector performance. The technological process was also optimized in order to reduce the dark currents and improve the spectral rejection ratio, which is a key factor for solar blind detection. As a result, a rejection ratio of 5 decades between the UV (below 300 nm) and 400 nm, and a steep…

Mid-infrared intersubband absorption in lattice-matched AlInN/GaN multiple-quantum wells

We report the observation of midinfrared intersubband (ISB) absorption in nearly lattice-matched AlInNGaN multiple-quantum-wells. A clear absorption peak is observed around 3 μm involving transitions from the conduction band ground state to the first excited state. In addition to ISB absorption, photoluminescence experiments were carried out on lattice- matched AlInNGaN single quantum wells in order to determine the spontaneous polarization discontinuity between GaN and Al0.82 In0.18 N compounds. The experimental value is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Our results demonstrate that the AlInNGaN system is very promising to achieve crack-free and low dislocation density struct…

Multilayer (Al,Ga)N Structures for Solar-Blind Detection

We report on solar-blind metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) detectors fabricated on stacks of (Al,Ga)N layers with different Al mole fraction. These structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on sapphire substrates to allow backside illumination and a low-temperature GaN buffer layer. They consist of a 0.3-0.4-/spl mu/m active layer grown on a thick (Al,Ga)N window layer (/spl ap/1 /spl mu/m) that is transparent at the wavelength of interest. Different Al contents were used in the window layer. We observed that, in general, samples with a high Al content were cracked, which is explained in terms of mechanical strain. MSM photodetectors fabricated on these samples showed large leakage curr…