Dong-Ming Yeh

Surface plasmon coupling effect in an InGaN∕GaN single-quantum-well light-emitting diode

The authors demonstrate the coupling effects between the quantum well (QW) and surface plasmon (SP) generated nearby on the p-type side in an InGaN∕GaN single-QW light-emitting diode (LED). The QW-SP coupling leads to the enhancement of the electroluminescence (EL) intensity in the LED sample designed for QW-SP coupling and reduced SP energy leakage, when compared to a LED sample of weak QW-SP coupling or significant SP energy loss. In the LED samples of significant QW-SP coupling, the blueshifts of the photoluminescence and EL emission spectra are observed, indicating one of the important features of such a coupling process. The device performance can be improved by using the n-type side for SP generation such that the device resistance can be reduced and the QW-SP coupling effect can be enhanced (by further decreasing the distance between the QW and metal) because of the higher carrier concentration in the n-type layer.

Strain relaxation and quantum confinement in InGaN/GaN nanoposts

Nanoposts of 10?40?nm top diameter on an InGaN/GaN quantum well structure were fabricated using electron-beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching. Significant blue shifts up to 130?meV in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum were observed. The blue-shift range increases with decreasing post diameter. For nanoposts with significant strain relaxation, the PL spectral peak position becomes less sensitive to carrier screening. On the basis of the temperature-dependent PL and time-resolved PL measurements and a numerical calculation of the effect of quantum confinement, we conclude that the optical behaviours of the nanoposts are mainly controlled by the combined effect of 3D quantum confinement and strain relaxation.

White light generation with CdSe-ZnS nanocrystals coated on an InGaN-GaN quantum-well blue/Green two-wavelength light-emitting diode

We grew and processed a blue/green two-wavelength light-emitting diode (LED) based on the mixture of two kinds of quantum wells (QW) in epitaxial growth. The X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements indicated that the crystalline structure and the basic optical property of individual kinds of QW are not significantly changed in the mixed growth. The relative electroluminescence (EL) intensity of the two colors depends on the injection current level, which controls the hole concentration distribution among the QWs. At low injection levels, the top green-emitting QW dominates in EL. As the injection current increases, the blue-emitting QWs beneath become dominating. We also coated CdSe-ZnS nanocrystals on the top of the two-wavelength LED for converting blue photons into red light. With the coating of such nanocrystals, the device emits blue, green, and red lights for white light generation

Dependence of resonant coupling between surface plasmons and an InGaN quantum well on metallic structure

The authors demonstrate the metallic-structure dependent surface plasmon (SP) coupling behaviors with a blue-emitting InGaN∕GaN quantum well (QW), which is 10nm away from the metallic structures. The SP-QW coupling behaviors in the areas of semiconductor surface coated with silver thin film and silver nanoparticles are compared. It is found that both the suppression of photoluminescence (PL) intensity and the reduction of time-resolved PL (TRPL) decay time strongly depend on the metallic morphology. A phenomenological model of carrier relaxation in the SP-QW coupling process is built to fit the TRPL decay profiles for calibrating the reasonable decay time constants of carrier and SP.

Temperature dependence of the surface plasmon coupling with an InGaN∕GaN quantum well

The authors demonstrate the temperature-dependent behavior of the surface plasmon (SP) coupling with two InGaN∕GaN quantum-well (QW) structures of different internal quantum efficiencies. The SP modes are generated at the interface between the QW structures and Ag thin films coated on their tops. It is observed that the SP-QW coupling rate increases with temperature. Such a trend may rely on several factors, including the availability of carriers with sufficient momenta for transferring the energy and momentum into the SP modes and possibly the variation of the SP density of state with temperature. Although the required momentum matching condition only needs the thermal energy corresponding to a few tens of Kelvins, the carrier delocalization process results in a significantly higher probability of SP-carrier momentum matching and hence SP-QW coupling.

Formation of various metal nanostructures with thermal annealing to control the effective coupling energy between a surface plasmon and an InGaN/GaN quantum well

We demonstrate the variations of the photoluminescence (PL) spectral peak position and intensity through the surface plasmon (SP) coupling with an InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) by forming Ag nanostructures of different scale sizes on the QW structure with thermal annealing. By transferring an Ag thin film into a nanoisland structure, we can not only enhance the PL intensity, but also adjust the SP dispersion relation and hence red-shift the effective QW emission wavelength. Such an emission spectrum control can be realized by initially coating Ag films of different thicknesses. Although the screening process of the quantum-confined Stark effect, which can result in PL spectrum blue-shift and intensity enhancement, also contributes to the variations of the emission behaviour, it is found that the SP-QW coupling process dominates in the observed phenomena.

Surface plasmon coupling with radiating dipole for enhancing the emission efficiency of a light-emitting diode.

The experimental demonstrations of light-emitting diode (LED) fabrication with surface plasmon (SP) coupling with the radiating dipoles in its quantum wells are first reviewed. The SP coupling with a radiating dipole can create an alternative emission channel through SP radiation for enhancing the effective internal quantum efficiency when the intrinsic non-radiative recombination rate is high, reducing the external quantum efficiency droop effect at high current injection levels, and producing partially polarized LED output by inducing polarization-sensitive SP for coupling. Then, we report the theoretical and numerical study results of SP-dipole coupling based on a simple coupling model between a radiating dipole and the SP induced on a nearby Ag nanoparticle (NP). To include the dipole strength variation effect caused by the field distribution built in the coupling system (the feedback effect), the radiating dipole is represented by a saturable two-level system. The spectral and dipole-NP distance dependencies of dipole strength variation and total radiated power enhancement of the coupling system are demonstrated and interpreted. The results show that the dipole-SP coupling can enhance the total radiated power. The enhancement is particularly effective when the feedback effect is included and hence the dipole strength is increased.

Influence of the quantum-confined Stark effect in an InGaN∕GaN quantum well on its coupling with surface plasmon for light emission enhancement

The authors analyze the contribution of the screening of the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) to the emission enhancement behavior in the process of surface plasmon (SP) coupling with an InGaN∕GaN quantum well (QW), which is 20nm away from a Ag thin film that supports the SP. From the measurements of excitation power dependent photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopy, and the fitting to the TRPL data based on a rate-equation model, it is found that when the excitation level is high, the QCSE screening effect not only contributes significantly to the emission enhancement but also increases the SP coupling rate because of the blueshift of emission spectrum caused by the screening effect. Therefore, the emission strength from SP radiation, relative to that from QW radiative recombination, increases with the excited carrier density. Also, a saturation behavior of SP-QW coupling is observed from the fitting procedure.

White-light light-emitting device based on surface plasmon-enhanced CdSe∕ZnS nanocrystal wavelength conversion on a blue/green two-color light-emitting diode

The authors demonstrate the implementation of a white-light device by spin-coating CdSe∕ZnS nanocrystals (NCs) on the top of a blue/green two-color InGaN∕GaN quantum-well light-emitting diode for converting blue and green emissions into red light through the absorption/reemission process. Meanwhile, Au nanoparticles are mixed with CdSe∕ZnS NCs for generating localized surface plasmon (LSP) modes to couple with the CdSe∕ZnS NCs. The LSP modes can absorb green emission and effectively transfer the energy into the CdSe∕ZnS NCs through the coupling process for enhancing red emission. With the LSP coupling process, the conversion efficiency from the blue/green range into red light can be increased by around 30%. The conversion quantum efficiency can reach 52.8%.

A GaN photonic crystal membrane laser

The implementation of a series of optically pumped GaN photonic crystal (PhC) membrane lasers is demonstrated at room temperature. The photonic crystal is composed of a scalene-triangular arrangement of circular holes in GaN. Three defect structures are fabricated for comparing their lasing characteristics with those of perfect PhC. It is observed that all the lasing defect modes have lasing wavelengths very close to the band-edge modes in the perfect PhC structure. Although those lasing modes, including band-edge and defect modes, have different optical pump thresholds, different lasing spectral widths, different quality factors (Q factors), and different polarization ratios, all their polarization distributions show maxima in the directions around one of the hole arrangement axes. The similar lasing characteristics between the band-edge and defect modes are attributed to the existence of extremely narrow partial band gaps for forming the defect modes. Also, the oriented polarization properties are due to the scalene-triangle PhC structure. In one of the defect lasing modes, the lasing threshold is as low as 0.82 mJ cm(-2), the cavity Q factor is as large as 1743, and the polarization ratio is as large as 25.4. Such output parameters represent generally superior lasing behaviors when compared with previously reported implementations of similar laser structures.