The m-plane InN (1100) epilayers have been grown on a LiAlO2 (100) substrate by a two-step growth method using a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system. The low temperature InN buffer layer (LT-InN) is introduced to overcome the drawbacks of thermal instability of LiAlO2 (LAO) and to relieve the strains due to a large thermal mismatch between LAO and InN. Then the high temperature m-plane InN (1100) epilayers (HT-InN) were grown. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) suggest that the m-plane InN (1100) epilayer is a single crystal. The X-ray rocking curves (scans) (XRC) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicate that the m-plane InN (1100) epilayer has anisotropic crystallographic properties. The PL studies of the materials reveal a remarkable energy band gap structure around 0.70 eV at 15 K.
The quest for higher modulation speed and lower energy consumption has inevitably promoted the rapid development of semiconductor-based solid lighting devices in recent years. GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have emerged as promising candidates for achieving high efficiency and high intensity, and have received increasing attention among many researchers in this field. In this paper, we use a self-assembled array-patterned mask to fabricate InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well (MQW) LEDs with the intention of enhancing the light-emitting efficiency. By utilizing inductively coupled plasma etching with a self-assembled Ni cluster as the mask, nanopillar arrays are formed on the surface of the InGaN/GaN MQWs. We then observe the structure of the nanopillars and find that the V-defects on the surface of the conventional structure and the negative effects of threading dislocation are effectively reduced. Simultaneously, we make a comparison of the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum between the conventional structure and the nanopillar arrays, achieved under an experimental set-up with an excitation wavelength of 325 mm. The analysis demonstrates that MQW-LEDs with nanopillar arrays achieve a PL intensity 2.7 times that of conventional LEDs. In response to the PL spectrum, some reasons are proposed for the enhancement in the light-emitting efficiency as follows: 1) the improvement in crystal quality, namely the reduction in V-defects; 2) the roughened surface effect on the expansion of the critical angle and the attenuated total reflection; and 3) the enhancement of the light-extraction efficiency due to forward scattering by surface plasmon polariton modes in Ni particles deposited above the p-type GaN layer at the top of the nanopillars.
Effect of the V/III ratio during buffer layer growth on the yellow and blue luminescence in undoped GaN epilayer has been studied by means of photoluminescence spectroscopy and high resolution X-ray diffraction.It is found that the densities of screw and edge threading dislocations increase with the V/III ratio of the buffer layer,and the intensities of the yellow luminescence(YL) and blue luminescence(BL) emissions also increase dramatically.However,the density ratio of the edge threading dislocation to the screw threading dislocation remains invariant,as well as the intensity ratio of YL emission to BL emission.It can be concluded from these phenomena that the edge threading dislocation and screw threading dislocation can enhance the YL and BL emissions,respectively.
The influence of dry etching damage on the internal quantum efficiency of InGaN/GaN nanorod multiple quantum wells (MQWs) is studied.The samples were etched by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching via a selfassembled nickel nanomask,and examined by room-temperature photoluminescence measurement.The key parameters in the etching process are rf power and ICP power.The internal quantum efficiency of nanorod MQWs shows a 5.6 times decrease substantially with the rf power increasing from 3W to 100W.However,it is slightly influenced by the ICP power,which shows 30% variation over a wide ICP power range between 30W and 600W.Under the optimized etching condition,the internal quantum efficiency of nanorod MQWs can be 40% that of the as-grown MQW sample,and the external quantum efficiency of nanorod MQWs can be about 4 times that of the as-grown one.
We develop a model for the effect of thermal annealing on forming In-N clusters in GaInNP according to thermodynamics.The average energy variation for forming an In-N bond in the model is estimated according to the theoretical calculation.Using the model,the added number of In-N bonds per mol of InGaNP,the added number of nearest-neighbor In atoms per N atom and the average number of nearest-neighbor In atoms per N atom after annealing are calculated.The different function of In-N clusters in InGaNP and InGaN is also discussed,which is due to the different environments around the In-N clusters.
In our experiments,the PL spectra of several In x Ga 1 x N alloy samples with In contents x=0.1,0.15 and 0.25 were measured as a function of temperature ranging from 10 K to 300 K.S-shaped temperature dependencies were observed in all InGaN samples and a sharp decrease in the full width at half maximum occurred with decreasing temperature in the moderate temperature region.It was found that both phenomena are relative to localization effects.In addition,the degree of localization effects in three samples was investigated using the band-tail model.Our findings are presented in this paper.
Wide spectral white light emitting diodes have been designed and grown on a sapphire substrate by using a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition system.Three quantum wells with blue-light-emitting,green-light-emitting and red-light-emitting structures were grown according to the design.The surface morphology of the film was observed by using atomic force microscopy.The films were characterized by their photoluminescence measurements.X-ray diffractionθ/2θscan spectroscopy was carried out on the multi-quantum wells.The secondary fringes of the symmetricω/2θX-ray diffraction scan peaks indicate that the thicknesses and the alloy compositions of the individual quantum wells are repeatable throughout the active region.The room temperature photoluminescence spectra of the structures indicate that the white light emission of the multi-quantum wells is obtained.The light spectrum covers 400-700 nm, which is almost the whole visible light spectrum.
