Kinetics and inhomogeneous carrier injection in InGaN nanolayers

The electrical and optical properties of light-emitting devices with an active region containing several layers of InGaN/GaN quantum dots (QDs) separated by GaN spacers are studied. It is shown that the overgrowth of the QD layer with an InGaN layer that has a reduced In content at higher temperatures raises the confinement energy of carriers in QDs. Furthermore, inhomogeneous carrier injection, predominantly into regions with higher confinement energy, is observed. The electrical and optical properties of p-n junctions and the effect of the inhomogeneities on these properties are studied in detail. It is shown that the shifts of photoluminescence and electroluminescence lines, which are observed when changing the experimental conditions, are related to these properties of the inhomogeneities in the p-n junction.     

Exciton states in wurtzite and zinc-blende InGaN/GaN coupled quantum dots

Based on the effective-mass approximation, exciton states in wurtzite (WZ) and zinc-blende (ZB) InGaN/GaN coupled quantum dots (QDs) are studied by means of a variational method. Numerical results show clearly that both the sizes and In content of QDs have a significant influence on exciton states in WZ and ZB InGaN/GaN coupled QDs. Moreover, the ground-state exciton binding energy decreases when the interdot barrier layer thickness increases in the WZ InGaN/GaN coupled QDs. However, the ground-state exciton binding energy has a minimum if the interdot barrier layer thickness increases in the ZB InGaN/GaN coupled QDs.     

Formation of composite InGaN/GaN/InAlN quantum dots

Composite InGaN/GaN/InAlN quantum dots (QDs) have been formed and studied. The structural properties of thin InAlN layers overgrown with GaN have been analyzed, and it is shown that 3D islands with lateral sizes of ∼(20–30) nm are formed in structures of this kind. It is demonstrated that deposition of a thin InGaN layer onto the surface of InAlN islands overgrown with a thin GaN layer leads to transformation of the continuous InGaN layer to an array of isolated QDs with lateral sizes of 20–30 nm and heights of 2–3 nm. The position of these QDs in the growth direction correlates with that of InAlN islands.     

The Use of Spatial Analysis Techniques in Defect and Nanostructure Studies

Spatial analysis techniques were used to investigate defects and nanostructures in the III-nitride system. Dislocations in GaN films were distributed nonrandomly, forming both short-scale and large-scale linear arrays aligned along \( \langle 11\bar{2}0\rangle . \) Both low-density InGaN/GaN quantum dots (QDs) and In droplets on the surface of InAlN films were in spatially random positions and showed no spatial autocorrelation, but high-density InGaN/GaN QDs showed a tendency toward short-range ordering and all features showed a nonrandom size distribution. The spatial arrangements of defects and nanostructures relate to their generation processes and may also affect device properties.     

A study of carrier statistics in InGaN/Gan LED structures

The carrier statistics in LED structures with ultrathin multilayer InGaN insertions in a GaN matrix was studied. The optical data obtained indicate that an array of quantum dots (QDs) is formed in these structures. The QDs are scattered in size, which leads to an inhomogeneous broadening of the energy spectrum of carriers localized in the QDs. It is shown that, despite the suppressed transport of carriers between QDs, carriers are distributed among the levels of the QD array quasi-statistically at temperatures of about room temperature and higher. This makes it possible to describe the carrier injection and recombination in the device structures studied in terms of quasi-Fermi levels for electrons and holes.     

Ⅲ族氮化物量子点研究进展

综述了 族氮化物量子点材料及其器件应用研究现状。主要涉及了 Ga N,In N和 In Ga N量子点材料的形貌结构特征、实现工艺方法、外延生长机理、光学特性和器件应用等内容。同时对该领域的未来研究趋势也进行了讨论。     

The use of short-period InGaN/GaN superlattices in blue-region light-emitting diodes

Optical and light-emitting diode structures with an active InGaN region containing short-period InGaN/GaN superlattices are studied. It is shown that short-period superlattices are thin two-dimensional layers with a relatively low In content that contain inclusions with a high In content 1–3 nm thick. Inclusions manifest themselves from the point of view of optical properties as a nonuniform array of quantum dots involved in a residual quantum well. The use of short-period superlattices in light-emitting diode structures allows one to decrease the concentration of nonradiative centers, as well as to increase the injection of carriers in the active region due to an increase in the effective height of the AlGaN barrier, which in general leads to an increase in the quantum efficiency of light-emitting diodes.     

Active region based on graded-gap InGaN/GaN superlattices for high-power 440- to 470-nm light-emitting diodes

The structural and optical properties of light-emitting diode structures with an active region based on ultrathin InGaN quantum wells limited by short-period InGaN/GaN superlattices from both sides have been investigated. The dependences of the external quantum efficiency on the active region design are analyzed. It is shown that the use of InGaN/GaN structures as limiting graded-gap short-period superlattices may significantly increase the quantum efficiency.     

耦合GaN/AlxGa1-xN量子点的非线性光学性质

在有效质量和偶极矩近似下,考虑了由于压电极化和自发极化所引起的内建电场和量子点的三维约束效应,对纤锌矿对称Al_xGa_(1-x)N/GaN/Al_xGa_(1-x)N/GaN/Al_xGa_(1-x)N圆柱型应变耦合量子点中激子非线性光学性质进行了研究。计算结果表明,内建电场使吸收光谱向低能方向移动,发生红移现象,并且使吸收峰强度大大减小。量子限制效应使光吸收峰强度随着量子点尺寸的减小而增强,并且随着量子点尺寸的减小,吸收光谱发生蓝移现象。     

InGaN nanoinclusions in an AlGaN matrix

GaN-based structures with InGaN quantum dots in the active region emitting in the near-ultraviolet region are studied. In this study, two types of structures, namely, with InGaN quantum dots in a GaN or AlGaN matrix, are compared. Photoluminescence spectra are obtained for both types of structures in a temperature range of 80–300 K and at various pumping densities, and electroluminescence spectra are obtained for light-emitting (LED) structures with various types of active region. It is shown that the structures with quantum dots in the AlGaN matrix are more stable thermally due to the larger localization energy compared with quantum dots in the GaN matrix. Due to this, the LED structures with quantum dots in an AlGaN matrix are more effective.     

InGaAs quantum dots formed in tetrahedral-shaped recesses on GaAs (111)B grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Novel semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), grown in tetrahedral-shaped recesses (TSRs) formed on a (111)B GaAs substrate, are described from both material science and device application points of view. After explaining the fabrication procedure for TSRs, growth of InGaAs QDs and their optical properties are explained. It is revealed that an InGaAs QD of indium-rich chemical composition is formed spontaneously at the bottom of each TSR. The mechanism of the QD formation is discussed in detail. It is proved from magneto-photoluminescence that the QDs actually have optical properties peculiar to zero-dimensional confinement. Several experimental results indicating excellent growth controllability of the QDs are presented. Finally, recent challenges to apply the QDs to electronic memory devices are reported. Two kinds of devices, where the position of individual QD is artificially controlled, are proposed for the first time and the preliminary experimental results are explained.     

InGaN/GaN多量子阱LED电致发光谱中双峰起源的研究

研究了MOCVD生长的具有双发射峰结构的InGaN/GaN多量子阱发光二极管(LED)的结构和发光特性.在透射电子显微镜(TEM)下可以发现量子阱的宽度不一致,电致发光谱(EL)发现了位于2.45eV的绿光发光峰和2.81eV处的蓝光发光峰.随着电流密度增加,双峰的峰位没有移动,直到注入电流密度达到2×104 mA/cm2时,绿光发光峰发生蓝移,而蓝光发光峰没有变化.单色的阴极荧光谱(CL)发现绿光发射对应的发光区包括絮状区域和发光点,而蓝光发射对应的发光区仅包含絮状区域.通过以上的结果,我们认为蓝光发射基本上源于InGaN量子阱发光,而绿光发射则起源于量子阱和量子点的发光.     

LED光电器件的性能调控

制备了具有高量子效率的发光二极管(LED)器件。对于LED光电器件提高辐射复合速率有利于缓解电子泄露,增加了LED的发光功率,缓解了LED在大电流下的效率下降问题。本文通过采用InGaN/GaN作为LED的垒层,减小由极化引起的静电场,增大电子和空穴波函数的交叠比,从而增大了辐射复合速率。     

Electrical and optical properties of self-assembled quantum dots

One of the main directions of contemporary semiconductor physics is the production and study of structures with a dimension less than two, i.e. quantum wires (QWi) and quantum dots (QDs), in order to realise novel devices that make use of low-dimensional confinement effects.One of the promising fabrication methods is to use self-organised three-dimensional (3D) structures, such as 3D coherent islands, which are often formed during the initial stage of heteroepitaxial growth in lattice-mismatched systems. Quantum dots, for example, are believed to provide a promising way for a new generation of optical light sources such as injection lasers. While quantum well structures are already widely used in optoelectronic devices, QWi and QDs appear to be much more difficult to fabricate for this purpose. Some of the electrical and optical properties of self-assembled QDs will be reported in this paper.     

Quantum light source devices of In(Ga)As semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots

A brief introduction of semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) applied in single-photon sources is given. Single QDs in confined quantum optical microcavity systems are reviewed along with their optical properties and coupling characteristics. Subsequently, the recent progresses in In(Ga)As QDs systems are summarized including the preparation of quantum light sources, multiple methods for embedding single QDs into different microcavities and the scalability of single-photon emitting wavelength. Particularly, several In(Ga)As QD single-photon devices are surveyed including In(Ga)As QDs coupling with nanowires, InAs QDs coupling with distributed Bragg reflection microcavity and the In(Ga)As QDs coupling with micropillar microcavities. Furthermore, applications in the field of single QDs technology are illustrated, such as the entangled photon emission by spontaneous parametric down conversion, the single-photon quantum storage, the chip preparation of single-photon sources as well as the single-photon resonance-fluorescence measurements.     

Growth of ternary InAlP and InGaP self-assembled quantum dots by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We report the characteristics of ternary InAlP and InGaP self-assembled quantum dots grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The structural and optical properties of these ternary quantum dots are compared with the characteristics of binary InP quantum dots grown under similar conditions. Because these ternary quantum dots have different bandgaps, strain, and composition compared to binary InP quantum dots, the ternary quantum-dot optical and physical properties are markedly different. The quantum-dot structures are grown uncapped (exposed QDs) and capped (embedded QDs) and characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL). InAlP quantum dots have higher densities and smaller sizes and InGaP quantum dots have smaller densities, as compared with InP quantum dots grown under similar conditions. Also, a random and broad size distribution is observed for InGaP quantum dots and the luminescence from InGaP dots is broader than for InP quantum dots.     

Diversity of Properties of Device Structures Based on Group-III Nitrides,Related to Modification of the Fractal-Percolation System

A fractal-percolation system that includes extended defects and random fluctuations in the alloy composition is formed during the growth of device structures based on Group-III nitrides. It is established that the specific features of this system are determined not only by the growth conditions. It is shown that the diversity of the electrical and optical properties of InGaN/GaN LEDs (light-emitting diodes) emitting at wavelengths of 450–460 and 519–530 nm, as well as that of the electrical properties of AlGaN/GaN HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistor) structures, is due to modification of the properties of the fractal-percolation system both during the growth process and under the action of the injection current and irradiation. The influence exerted by these specific features on the service life of light-emitting devices and on the reliability of AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures is discussed.

     

Blue laser diodes including lattice-matched Al0.83In0.17N bottom cladding layer

A report is presented on InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well laser diodes, grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy on c-plane sapphire substrates, including an Al_0.83In_0.17N cladding layer lattice- matched to GaN. Lasing action is demonstrated for gain-guided devices at room temperature under pulsed current injection conditions. Direct comparison with structures including only a standard Al_0.07Ga_0.93N bottom cladding shows an improved optical confinement. This is exemplified by a decreased threshold current density.     

Light-emitting diodes based on colloidal silicon quantum dots

Colloidal silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) hold great promise for the development of printed Si electronics. Given their novel electronic and optical properties, colloidal Si QDs have been intensively investigated for optoelectronic applications. Among all kinds of optoelectronic devices based on colloidal Si QDs, QD light-emitting diodes (LEDs) play an important role. It is encouraging that the performance of LEDs based on colloidal Si QDs has been significantly increasing in the past decade. In this review, we discuss the effects of the QD size, QD surface and device structure on the performance of colloidal Si-QD LEDs. The outlook on the further optimization of the device performance is presented at the end.     

Tuning the spectrometric properties of white light by surface plasmon effect using Ag nanoparticles in a colour converting light-emitting diode

We report on the spectral tunability of white light by localized surface plasmon (LSP) effect in a colour converting hybrid device made of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) integrated on InGaN/GaN blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) are mixed with QDs for generating LSP effect. When the plasmon absorption of Ag NPs is synchronized to the QW emission at 448 nm, the NPs selectively absorb the blue light and subsequently enhance the QD emission. Using this energy transfer scheme, the (x, y) chromaticity coordinates of the hybrid white LED was tuned from (0.32, 0.17) to (0.43, 0.26), and thereby generated warm white light emission with correlated colour temperature (CCT) around 1800 K. Moreover, a 47% enhancement in the external quantum efficiency (EQE) was realized.