Byung Oh Jung

Morphology development of GaN nanowires using a pulsed-mode MOCVD growth technique

In this paper, we demonstrate a scalable process for the precise position-controlled selective growth of GaN nanowire arrays by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using a pulsed-mode growth technique. The location, orientation, length, and diameter of each GaN nanowire are controlled via pulsed-mode growth parameters such as growth temperature and precursor injection and interruption durations. The diameter and length of each GaN nanowire are in the ranges of more than 240 nm and 250–1250 nm, respectively, with different vertical-to-lateral aspect ratios that depend on the growth temperature. Also, it is found that a higher growth temperature helps increase the vertical growth rate and reduces the lateral growth rate of GaN nanowire arrays. Furthermore, in the case of longer TMGa injection duration, the Ga-rich region allows the higher lateral growth rate of GaN nanostructures, which leads to a transition in the morphology from nanowires to a thin film, while in the case of longer NH3 injection duration, the surface morphology changes from nanowires to pyramidal structures. In addition, the surface structure can also be controlled by varying the precursor interruption duration. Finally, we report and discuss a growth model for GaN nanowire arrays under pulsed-mode MOCVD growth.

Dramatically enhanced ultraviolet photosensing mechanism in a n-ZnO nanowires/i-MgO/n-Si structure with highly dense nanowires and ultrathin MgO layers

This study reports that the visible-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetecting properties of ZnO nanowire based photodetectors were remarkably improved by introducing ultrathin insulating MgO layers between the ZnO nanowires and Si substrates. All layers were grown without pause by metal organic chemical vapor deposition and the density and vertical arrangement of the ZnO nanowires were strongly dependent on the thickness of the MgO layers. The sample in which an MgO layer with a thickness of 8 nm was inserted had high density nanowires with a vertical alignment and showed dramatically improved UV photosensing performance (photo-to-dark current ratio = 1344.5 and recovery time = 350 ms). The photoresponse spectrum revealed good visible-blind UV detectivity with a sharp cut off at 378 nm and a high UV/visible rejection ratio. A detailed discussion regarding the developed UV photosensing mechanism from the introduction of the i-MgO layers and highly dense nanowires in the n-ZnO nanowires/i-MgO/n-Si substrates structure is presented in this work.

Highly elongated vertical GaN nanorod arrays on Si substrates with an AlN seed layer by pulsed-mode metal–organic vapor deposition

To extend the availability of nanostructure-based optoelectronic applications, vertically elongated nanorods with precisely controlled morphology are required. For group III nitrides, pulsed-mode growth has recently been reported as an effective method for growing nanorod arrays with geometric precision. Here, we demonstrated the growth of arrays of highly elongated nanorods on Si substrates by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition using a pulsed-mode approach. Unlike the thick and high (or middle)-quality GaN templates normally used, nanorod growth was performed on an ultrathin and low-quality AlN/Si platform. Using kinetically controlled growth conditions and a patterning process, exceptionally long GaN nanorods were achieved with high geometric precision. The grown nanorods showed considerably improved optical and structural properties while remaining in uniform arrays. This approach can be used with a variety of materials to obtain nanorods with high quality, high uniformity, and high aspect ratio, and it can also serve as an effective fabrication method for InAlGaN-alloyed core/shell nanostructures for optoelectronic nanodevices with ultrahigh efficiency.

Emission Characteristics of InGaN/GaN Core-Shell Nanorods Embedded in a 3D Light-Emitting Diode

We report the selective-area growth of a gallium nitride (GaN)-nanorod-based InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well (MQW) core-shell structure embedded in a three-dimensional (3D) light-emitting diode (LED) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and its optical analysis. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) observation revealed the high quality of the GaN nanorods and the position dependence of the structural properties of the InGaN/GaN MQWs on multiple facets. The excitation and temperature dependences of photoluminescence (PL) revealed the m-plane emission behaviors of the InGaN/GaN core-shell nanorods. The electroluminescence (EL) of the InGaN/GaN core-shell-nanorod-embedded 3D LED changed color from green to blue with increasing injection current. This phenomenon was mainly due to the energy gradient and deep localization of the indium in the selectively grown InGaN/GaN core-shell MQWs on the 3D architecture.

Structural and optical study of core–shell InGaN layers of nanorod arrays with multiple stacks of InGaN/GaN superlattices for absorption of longer solar spectrum

We report on the material and optical properties of core?shell InGaN layers grown on GaN nanorod arrays. The core?shell InGaN layers were well grown on polarization-reduced surfaces such as semipolar pyramids and nonpolar sidewalls. In addition, to compensate the biaxial strain between GaN and InGaN layers, we grew interlayers underneath a thick InGaN layer. Here, the interlayers were composed of multiple superlattice structures. We could observe that the indium composition of core?shell InGaN structures increased with the number of interlayers. This indicates that the absorption energy band of InGaN alloys can be better matched to the spectral irradiance of the solar spectrum in nature. We also implemented a simulation of Ga-polar and nonpolar InGaN-based solar cells based on the indium composition obtained from the experiments. The result showed that nonpolar InGaN solar cells had a much higher efficiency than Ga-polar InGaN solar cells with the same thickness of the absorption layer.

Beyond blue LED

After reviewing the development of GaN-based blue light emitting diodes (LEDs), new GaN-on-Si technology and nanowires/nanorods technology are outlined. The fundamental growth technology as well as the application of these structures for laser diodes (LDs) and LEDs are discussed in detail.