J. Mickevičius

Excitation power dynamics of photoluminescence in InGaN/GaN quantum wells with enhanced carrier localization

Excitation-power dynamics of near-band-edge photoluminescence (PL) peak position in InxGa1−xN∕GaN multiple quantum wells (x∼0.15) was analyzed as a function of well width. The analysis was based on energy reference provided by photoreflectance (PR) spectra. The difference in spectral position of the PR feature and low-excitation PL band (the Stokes Shift) revealed carrier localization energy, which exhibited a remarkable sensitivity to the well width, increasing from 75meV in 2nm wells to about 250meV in 4nm wells. Meanwhile collating of the PR data with the flat-band model for the optical transition energy in quantum wells rendered a relatively weak (0.5MV∕cm) built-in piezoelectric field. The blueshift of the PL peak position with increasing photoexcitation power density was shown to be in qualitative agreement with the model of filling of the band-tail states with some contribution from screening of built-in field in the thickest (4nm) wells. Increased incident photon energy resulted in an additional b...

Correlation between carrier localization and efficiency droop in AlGaN epilayers

Photoluminescence studies of carrier dynamics in AlGaN epilayers with different degrees of carrier localization and densities of nonradiative recombination centers show that the prevailing droop mechanism in AlGaN epilayers with strong carrier localization and comparatively high density of nonradiative recombination centers is enhanced nonradiative recombination due to the carrier delocalization at elevated carrier density. The photoluminescence was investigated under quasi-steady-state excitation in the temperature range from 8 to 300 K. The results proved that the onset of this droop effect is below the threshold for the droop due to high-density effects in the epilayers, such as carrier heating, phase space filling, nonradiative Auger recombination, and stimulated emission.

Internal quantum efficiency in AlGaN with strong carrier localization

The emission efficiency droop and internal quantum efficiency (IQE) in AlGaN epilayers and heterostructures were investigated by studying photoluminescence intensity dependence on excitation power density at different temperatures in the range from 8 to 300 K in three AlGaN samples with similar Al content (33%-35%) and different strength of carrier localization: an epilayer and multiple quantum wells with well widths of 5.0 and 2.5 nm. It is shown that the phenomena leading to the efficiency droop strongly influence the photoluminescence intensity dependence on temperature and, therefore, affect the estimation of IQE based on this dependence. A procedure to optimize the determination of IQE is proposed.

Well-width-dependent carrier lifetime in AlGaN∕AlGaN quantum wells

A set of Al0.35Ga0.65N∕Al0.49Ga0.51N multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with fixed barrier width and well widths varying from 1.65to5.0nm has been grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Carrier dynamics in the MQWs were studied using time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and light-induced transient grating (four wave mixing) technique. The authors observed that the lifetime of nonequilibrium carriers (excitons) increases with decreasing well width and interpreted the effect by stronger localization preventing their migration to nonradiative recombination centers. Meanwhile the radiative decay time is also influenced by screening of the built-in electric field, which spatially separates the electrons and holes. It is shown that this effect affects the initial part of PL intensity decay after pulsed excitation. It becomes more pronounced with increase in the initial carrier density but saturates when the carrier density is high enough to completely screen the built-in electric field. The s...

Stimulated emission in AlGaN/AlGaN quantum wells with different Al content

Stimulated emission (SE) is studied in AlGaN/AlGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with different Al content grown on sapphire substrate. The spectra of spontaneous and stimulated emission and their transformations with increasing temperature as well as stimulated emission thresholds were measured in the temperature range from 8 to 300 K. Phonon-assisted band broadening in low-Al-content MQWs and double-scaled potential profile in high-Al-content MQWs were observed in the samples and linked with carrier localization conditions. The temperature dependence of the stimulated emission threshold was similar in the samples where the stimulated transitions occur between extended states and in the samples where the transitions occur in localized states. The stimulated emission threshold depends predominantly on the density of nonradiative recombination centers.

Influence of carrier localization on high-carrier-density effects in AlGaN quantum wells

The influence of carrier localization on photoluminescence efficiency droop and stimulated emission is studied in AlGaN multiple quantum wells with different strength of carrier localization. We observe that carrier delocalization at low temperatures predominantly enhances the nonradiative recombination and causes the droop, while the main effect of the delocalization at elevated temperatures is enhancement of PL efficiency due to increasing contribution of bimolecular recombination of free carriers. When the carrier thermal energy exceeds the dispersion of the potential fluctuations causing the carrier localization, the droop is caused by stimulated carrier recombination.

Stimulated emission due to localized and delocalized carriers in Al0.35Ga0.65N/Al0.49Ga0.51N quantum wells

The effect of carrier localization on stimulated emission (SE) in Al0.35Ga0.65N/Al0.49Ga0.51N quantum wells (QWs) on sapphire substrate was studied under photoexcitation in the edge emission configuration in the temperature range from 8 K to 300 K. The band potential profile responsible for carrier localization was modulated by the variation of QW width and monitored using fitting the experimental temperature dependence of the spontaneous luminescence band width to that obtained by the Monte Carlo simulation of exciton hopping. A faster increase of SE threshold with increasing temperature was observed in narrow QWs and was attributed to deeper carrier localization due to the modulation of quantum confinement energy by well width fluctuations. Meanwhile, delocalized carriers were shown to contribute to the filling of states at the mobility edge, where SE occurs. These results imply that the deep ultraviolet AlGaN/AlGaN laser structures can be optimized in terms of carrier localization effect through the selection of appropriate QW width.The effect of carrier localization on stimulated emission (SE) in Al0.35Ga0.65N/Al0.49Ga0.51N quantum wells (QWs) on sapphire substrate was studied under photoexcitation in the edge emission configuration in the temperature range from 8 K to 300 K. The band potential profile responsible for carrier localization was modulated by the variation of QW width and monitored using fitting the experimental temperature dependence of the spontaneous luminescence band width to that obtained by the Monte Carlo simulation of exciton hopping. A faster increase of SE threshold with increasing temperature was observed in narrow QWs and was attributed to deeper carrier localization due to the modulation of quantum confinement energy by well width fluctuations. Meanwhile, delocalized carriers were shown to contribute to the filling of states at the mobility edge, where SE occurs. These results imply that the deep ultraviolet AlGaN/AlGaN laser structures can be optimized in terms of carrier localization effect through the se...

Confocal spectroscopy of InGaN LED structures

Photoluminescence of InGaN structures for green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with multiple quantum wells as an active medium was studied with spatial and spectral resolution using confocal microscopy. Bright spots of ~200 nm diameter were observed. Emission from these bright areas was up to 8 times more intense than from the rest of the sample surface and the band peak position in these areas was blueshifted with respect to the band position in the background surface of lower photoluminescence intensity. The data on emission properties in bright and dark areas and the dependence of these properties on the excitation power density were interpreted by assuming inhomogeneous distribution of defects acting as nonradiative recombination centres.

Optical and structural properties of BGaN layers grown on different substrates

Growth of BGaN epitaxial layers by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using triethylboron (TEB) as a boron source was studied on 6H-SiC substrate and on GaN and AlN templates on sapphire. X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy were exploited to characterize the structural quality, surface morphology, luminescence efficiency, and boron content. Silicon carbide was shown to be slightly superior to AlN/sapphire and considerably better than GaN/sapphire as the most favorable substrate to incorporate a possibly higher boron content. Increasing TEB flow rate at correspondingly optimized growth temperature and V/III ratio enabled us to achieve the boron content of up to 5.5%, though at the expense of structural quality. We showed that the band gap bowing parameter is similar for the epilayers deposited on all the three templates/substrates under study and is approximately equal to 4 eV, substantially lower than reported before.

Growth of InN and In-Rich InGaN Layers on GaN Templates by Pulsed Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition

InN and In-rich InGaN layers have been grown on GaN templates using the pulsed metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique and compared with analogous layers grown by conventional MOCVD. Structural investigations were performed using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Surface morphology was studied using atomic force microscopy. Electrical and optical properties were studied using Hall measurements and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. All layers were free of metal droplets. InN grown using pulsed MOCVD showed fairly low background electron concentration (ne = 8 × 1018 cm−3 to 9 × 1018 cm−3) and high electron mobility (μe = 644 cm2 V−1 s−1). Structural studies revealed increase of size (from 100 nm to 500 nm) and decrease of density of InN islands at higher growth temperatures. For In-rich InGaN layers (In content 68% and 80%) the density of islands was similar to that in InN, while the diameter varied from 50 nm to 150 nm. Inhomogeneities of In and Ga distribution in the layers resulting in broadened XRD lines and PL bands are discussed.