Cheul-Ro Lee

Evolution of stress relaxation and yellow luminescence in GaN/sapphire by Si incorporation

We report a systematic study accomplished with a series of undoped and Si-doped GaN epilayers grown on sapphire (0001) with the carrier concentration of 4.0×1017−1.6×1019 cm−3 in order to investigate the evolution of stress relaxation and yellow luminescence by Si incorporation. As the Si doping becomes higher, the bound exciton peaks are gradually shifted to lower energy due to relaxation of the thermal residual stress with the linear coefficient of ΔE/Δσ∥=42 meV/GPa. The present results show that both the full width at half maximum of double-crystal x-ray diffractometry and the photoluminescence intensity ratio of the yellow luminescence to edge emission gradually increase as the Si incorporation becomes heavier. We suggest that the Si doping in GaN epilayers induces overall defects and gives rise to stress relaxation during the cool-down process, and the yellow luminescence may be originated from a complex of VGa and the Si-induced defect.

Coaxial InxGa1–xN/GaN Multiple Quantum Well Nanowire Arrays on Si(111) Substrate for High-Performance Light-Emitting Diodes

We report the growth of high-quality nonpolar (m-plane) and semipolar (r-plane) multiple quantum well (MQW) nanowires (NWs) for high internal quantum efficiency light emitting diodes (LEDs) without polarization. Highly aligned and uniform In(x)Ga(1-x)N/GaN MQW layers are grown coaxially on the {1-100} sidewalls of hexagonal c-axis n-GaN NWs on Si(111) substrates by a pulsed flow metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. The photoluminescence (PL) measurements reveal that the wavelength and intensity of an MQW structure with various pairs (2-20) are very stable and possess composition-dependent emission ranging from 369 to 600 nm. The cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrum of individual In(x)Ga(1-x)N/GaN MQW NW is dominated by band-edge emission at 369 and 440 nm with a relatively homogeneous profile of parallel alignment. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) studies of coaxial InxGa1-xN/GaN MQW NWs measured along the [0001] and [2-1-10] zone axes reveal that the grown NWs are uniform with six nonpolar m-plane facets without any dislocations and stacking faults. The p-GaN/In(x)Ga(1-x)N/GaN MQW/n-GaN NW coaxial LEDs show a current rectification with a sharp onset voltage at 2.65 V in the forward bias. The linear enhancement of power output could be attributed to the elimination of piezoelectric fields in the In(x)Ga(1-x)N/GaN MQW active region. The superior performance of coaxial NW LEDs is observed in comparison with that of thin film LEDs. Overall, the feasibility of obtaining low defect and strain free m-plane coaxial NWs using pulsed MOCVD can be utilized for the realization of high-power LEDs without an efficiency droop. These kinds of coaxial NWs are viable high surface area MQW structures which can be used to enhance the efficiency of LEDs.

Stress relaxation in Si-doped GaN studied by Raman spectroscopy

We report the Si-doping-induced relaxation of residual stress in GaN epitaxial layers grown on (0001) sapphire substrate by the metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy technique. Micro-Raman spectroscopy is used to assess stress situation in the films with systematically modulated doping concentration from 4.0×1017 up to 1.6×1019 cm−3. As the Si-doping concentration increases, a monotonic decrease of the E2 phonon frequency is observed, which signifies gradual relaxation of the stress in the film. The layers are fully relaxed when electron concentration exceeds 1.6×1019 cm−3. The linear coefficient of shift in Raman frequency (ω) induced by the in-plane biaxial compressive stress (σ∥) is estimated to be Δω/Δσ∥=7.7 cm−1/GPa. We suggest that Si doping increases density of misfit dislocation, judging from linewidth of x-ray rocking curve.

Single Nanowire Light-Emitting Diodes Using Uniaxial and Coaxial InGaN/GaN Multiple Quantum Wells Synthesized by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition

We report the controlled synthesis of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) uniaxial (c-plane) and coaxial (m-plane) nanowire (NW) heterostructures by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Two kinds of heterostructure NW light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been fabricated: (1) 10 pairs of InGaN/GaN MQW layers in the c-plane on the top of n-GaN NWs where Mg-doped p-GaN NW is axially grown (2) p-GaN/10 pairs of InGaN/GaN shell structure were surrounded by n-GaN core. Here, we discuss a comparative analysis based on the m-plane and the c-plane oriented InGaN/GaN MQW NW arrays. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that the barrier and the well structures of MQW were observed to be substantially clear with regular intervals while the interface regions were extremely sharp. The c-plane and m-plane oriented MQW single NW was utilized for the parallel assembly fabrication of the LEDs via a focused ion beam. The polarization induced effects on the c-plane and m-plane oriented MQW NWs were precisely compared via power dependence electroluminescence. The electrical properties of m-plane NWs exhibited superior characteristics than that of c-plane NWs owing to the absence of piezoelectric polarization fields. According to this study, high-quality m-plane coaxial NWs can be utilized for the realization of high-brightness LEDs.

Fast neutron irradiation effects in n-GaN

The electrical properties and deep level spectra in undoped n-GaN films irradiated by fast neutrons are reported. The electron removal rate was ∼5cm−1, and the dominant deep states introduced by neutron damage were electron traps with activation energy of 0.75eV. For high doses of 1.7×1017–1018cm−2 the material becomes semi-insulating n-type with the Fermi level pinned near Ec−0.85eV. Deep level spectra are dominated by electron traps with activation energy of 0.75eV, close to the energy of the Fermi level pinning in heavily irradiated material. Neutron irradiation also introduces a high density of centers giving rise to strong persistent photocapacitance. The observed phenomena are explained under the assumption that the dominant defects in neutron irradiated GaN are disordered regions produced by high-energy recoil atoms.

High-Quality Uniaxial InxGa1–xN/GaN Multiple Quantum Well (MQW) Nanowires (NWs) on Si(111) Grown by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Fabrication

This article describes the growth and device characteristics of vertically aligned high-quality uniaxial p-GaN/InxGa1-xN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQW)/n-GaN nanowires (NWs) on Si(111) substrates grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. The resultant nanowires (NWs), with a diameter of 200-250 nm, have an average length of 2 μm. The feasibility of growing high-quality NWs with well-controlled indium composition MQW structure is demonstrated. These resultant NWs grown on Si(111) substrates were utilized for fabricating vertical-type light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The steep and intense photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra are observed, based on the strain-free NWs on Si(111) substrates. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analysis revealed that the MQW NWs are grown along the c-plane with uniform thickness. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of these NWs exhibited typical p-n junction LEDs and showed a sharp onset voltage at 2.75 V in the forward bias. The output power is linearly increased with increasing current. The result indicates that the pulsed MOCVD technique is an effective method to grow uniaxial p-GaN/InxGa1-xN/GaN MQW/n-GaN NWs on Si(111), which is more advantageous than other growth techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy. These results suggest the uniaxial NWs are promising to allow flat-band quantum structures, which can enhance the efficiency of LEDs.

Fermi level pinning in heavily neutron-irradiated GaN

Undoped n-GaN grown by two different metallorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) techniques, standard MOCVD and epitaxial lateral overgrowth, and Mg-doped p-GaN prepared by hydride vapor phase epitaxy and molecular beam epitaxy were irradiated with fast reactor neutrons to the high fluence of 1018 cm−2. In such heavily irradiated samples the Fermi level is shown to be pinned in a narrow interval of Ec−(0.8−0.95) eV, irrespective of the starting sample properties. The Fermi level pinning position correlates with the measured Schottky barrier height in n-type GaN. The results are interpreted from the standpoint of the existence of the charge neutrality level in heavily disordered material. Based on published theoretical calculations and on deep level transient spectroscopy (measurements and lattice parameter measurements in irradiated material), it is proposed that the Fermi level could be pinned between the gallium-interstitial-related deep donors near Ec−0.8 eV and nitrogen-interstitial-related accept...

High-Brightness GaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes on Si Using Wafer Bonding Technology

GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on Si(111) substrates were fabricated with a vertical electrode method by using wafer bonding technology. The fabricated vertical LEDs showed a lower operating voltage and larger light output power than conventional LEDs due to enhancement in current spreading and reduction in tensile strain. The light output power of the vertical structured LEDs was 2.6 times higher than that of conventional LEDs, with an operating voltage at 20 mA reduced from 3.5 to 3.2 V.

Influence of SiN buffer layer in GaN epilayers

Abstract GaN epilayers were grown on GaN/SiN double buffer layers by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The GaN epilayers grown on the GaN/SiN buffer showed some improvement in structural and optical properties. The SiN buffer layers were found to be porous with many nanometer-sized holes. It was suggested that dislocations which were responsible for deep levels were reduced in the GaN on the porous SiN buffer layer.

High-quality GaN epilayer grown by newly designed horizontal counter-flow MOCVD reactor

We have fabricated a newly designed horizontal counter-flow reactor for growing high-quality III-V nitrides and characterized the GaN/sapphire(0 0 0 1) grown in it. The surface morphology of the film was featureless and smooth without any defects such as hillocks or truncated hexagonals. The measured background concentration and carrier mobility of the film 1.5 m thick are 4 × 1017/cm3 and 180 cm2/V s, respectively. The defect density measured by TEM is about 1 × 109/cm2 and the FWHM of DCX-ray curving is 336 arcsec, respectively. This crystallinity is similar to what was commonly obtained for GaN on sapphire until recently. The FWHM of the band-edge emission peak measured by PL at room temperature is typically around 14 and 4 meV for the main extonic peak(DBE) at 10 K. Except DBE at 3.490 eV, two minor structures are detected on the high-energy and low-energy shoulder of DBE at 3.498 eV(FE) and 3.483(ABE).