Duncan W. E. Allsopp

Broadband moth-eye antireflection coatings fabricated by low-cost nanoimprinting

Subwavelength scale antireflection moth-eye structures in silicon were fabricated by a wafer-scale nanoimprint technique and demonstrated an average reflection of 1% in the spectral range from 400 to 1000 nm at normal incidence. An excellent antireflection property out to large incident angles is shown with the average reflection below 8% at 60°. Pyramid array gave an almost constant average reflection of about 10% for an incident angle up to 45° and concave-wall column array produced an approximately linear relation between the average reflection and the incident angles. The technique is promising for improving conversion efficiencies of silicon solar cells.

High-resolution cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging of nitride nanostructures

Hyperspectral cathodoluminescence imaging provides spectrally and spatially resolved information on luminescent materials within a single dataset. Pushing the technique toward its ultimate nanoscale spatial limit, while at the same time spectrally dispersing the collected light before detection, increases the challenge of generating low-noise images. This article describes aspects of the instrumentation, and in particular data treatment methods, which address this problem. The methods are demonstrated by applying them to the analysis of nanoscale defect features and fabricated nanostructures in III-nitride-based materials.

Light emission from InGaN quantum wells grown on the facets of closely spaced GaN nano-pyramids formed by nano-imprinting

InxGa1-xN/GaN quantum wells have been grown on the {1011} facets of dense arrays of self-assembled GaN nano-pyramids formed by selective area growth and characterised by high spatial resolution cathodoluminescence. The pyramids are shown to have significantly reduced defect (green-yellow) band emission and the quantum well luminescence is correspondingly intense. The peak energy of this luminescence is shown to blue-shift as the sampled region is moved up the pyramid facets, revealing that InN incorporation in such closely spaced epitaxial nanostructures differs from that in widely spaced micron-size pyramidal structures decreasing rather than increasing towards the nano-pyramid tips.

Enhanced Light Extraction by Photonic Quasi-Crystals in GaN Blue LEDs

The far-field profile of photonic quasi-crystal patterned and unpatterned LEDs, fabricated from commercial epitaxial substrates by electron beam lithography, has been measured prior to lapping and dicing. Emission enhancements reach a maximum of 62%, and are strongly dependent on the filling factor. Qualitative agreement is achieved between 2-D finite-difference time-domain calculations and the experimental data.

Modelling Wafer Bow in Silicon -Polycrystalline CVD Diamond Substrates for GaN -based Devices

Composite silicon?polycrystalline chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond wafers are potential substrates for GaN-based devices for use in harsh environments due to their high thermal conductivity and chemical stability. When cooled from a typical diamond deposition temperature of approximately 800 to 25??C wafer bowing arises from a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion of silicon and polycrystalline diamond. In this paper 100?mm diameter silicon?polycrystalline diamond wafers have been modelled using ANSYS finite element software to investigate their bowing behaviour as a function of temperature and geometry. The maximum bow of a wafer occurred where the thicknesses of both the silicon and polycrystalline diamond layers was almost identical; this has been confirmed using analytical methods. Strategies are discussed for reducing wafer bow.

Intersubband absorption modulation in coupled double quantum wells by external bias

The scope for using intersubband absorption for electroabsorption modulation has been investigated by a detailed self-consistent solution of the coupled Schrodinger–Poisson equations. Rapid changes in intersubband absorption coefficient with electric field are predicted for modulation-doped In0.53Ga0.47As/AlAs deep coupled quantum wells arising from a combination of Stark effect, field-induced changes in the optical matrix elements and quantum well occupancy. Extensive simulations reveal that controlling the density of electrons in the quantum wells is potentially the most robust process for prospective high-speed modulation by intersubband electroabsorption.

The fabrication of mono-domain highly ordered nanoporous alumina on a wafer scale by a guided electric field

This paper describes the formation of mono-domain highly ordered nanoporous alumina on the scale of a 2 inch diameter silicon wafer by anodization of aluminium evaporated on a patterned SiO(2) mask on a silicon substrate. The position of the ordered pores correlates with holes in the SiO(2) mask, which guide the electric field during anodization and initiates pore nucleation. The technique is suitable for the production of ordered nanoporous alumina on a wafer scale and overcomes the time, cost and scale limitations of existing processes.

Electroabsorption in narrow coupled double quantum wells: Coulombic coupling effects

The effects of Coulombic coupling between different subband pairs on the electroabsorption spectra of narrow coupled double quantum wells (QWs) have been studied. It is shown via detailed comparison between electroabsorption spectra calculated using a full excitonic Greens function method, a decoupled excitonic Greens function method, a variational method, and experimental data that inclusion of the Coulombic coupling between different subband pairs is required for correct prediction of electroabsorption in the narrow well system. It is also shown that, due to Coulombic coupling, it is necessary to include unbound QW states, above the QW edge, in the simulation of electroabsorption and electrorefraction. These results are of particular significance for the accurate calculation of electrorefraction, by Kramers-Kronig transformation of QW electroabsorption spectra, in coupled QW structures containing narrow QWs.

Investigation of indium gallium nitride facet-dependent nonpolar growth rates and composition for core–shell light-emitting diodes

Abstract. Core–shell indium gallium nitride (InGaN)/gallium nitride (GaN) structures are attractive as light emitters due to the large nonpolar surface of rod-like cores with their longitudinal axis aligned along the c-direction. These facets do not suffer from the quantum-confined Stark effect that limits the thickness of quantum wells and efficiency in conventional light-emitting devices. Understanding InGaN growth on these submicron three-dimensional structures is important to optimize optoelectronic device performance. In this work, the influence of reactor parameters was determined and compared. GaN nanorods (NRs) with both {11-20} a-plane and {10-10} m-plane nonpolar facets were prepared to investigate the impact of metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy reactor parameters on the characteristics of a thick (38 to 85 nm) overgrown InGaN shell. The morphology and optical emission properties of the InGaN layers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging. The study reveals that reactor pressure has an important impact on the InN mole fraction on the {10-10} m-plane facets, even at a reduced growth rate. The sample grown at 750°C and 100 mbar had an InN mole fraction of 25% on the {10-10} facets of the NRs.

Enhanced light extraction in nitride light-emitting diodes by epitaxially grown photonic-crystal nanopyramid arrays

A photonic crystal has been created on the p-layer of an InGaN light-emitting diode wafer by selective area growth, thus avoiding the etch processes that are detrimental to the active region. Nanopyramid arrays with either hexagonal or Archimedian lattices were grown in apertures defined by nanoimprint lithography. Electroluminescence measurements show that the pyramids improve the on-axis light output by up to 1.9–2.0 times. This technique could be extended to higher aspect ratio nanostructures that will have stronger coupling between the guided modes and the photonic crystal.