Jinwei Yang

Visible light-emitting diodes using a-plane GaN–InGaN multiple quantum wells over r-plane sapphire

We report blue-purple pn-junction light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a-plane GaN–InGaN multiple quantum well active region. The LEDs were grown over r-plane sapphire substrates. Our study has shown the low pump intensity photoluminencence and electroluminescence to be dominated by emission from the band-tail states which then saturates rapidly giving rise to band-edge emission.

AlGaN Deep-Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes with External Quantum Efficiency above 10%

Improvements of the internal quantum efficiency by reduction of the threading dislocation density and of the light extraction by using UV transparent p-type cladding and contact layers, UV reflecting ohmic contact, and chip encapsulation with optimized shape and refractive index allowed us to obtain the external quantum efficiency of 10.4% at 20 mA CW current with the output power up to 9.3 mW at 278 nm for AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes grown on sapphire substrates.

Anisotropic structural characteristics of (112̄0) GaN templates and coalesced epitaxial lateral overgrown films deposited on (101̄2) sapphire

a-plane GaN templates and coalesced epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELOG) films on r-plane sapphire substrates were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The a-plane GaN templates were found to have [0001]-oriented stripe-features, which is related to anisotropic mosaicity. For the mosaic blocks, the mosaicity reached the largest and the smallest values along the [1100] and the [0001] directions. The ELOG procedure with the SiO2 mask stripes perpendicular to the [0001] direction limits the preferable growth along this direction, and thereby enhances the [1100] growth. This leads to large-area, featureless, a-plane GaN films for which the wing tilt and not the fine mosaic block size becomes the major XRD line-broadening mechanism.

AlN/AlGaN superlattices as dislocation filter for low-threading-dislocation thick AlGaN layers on sapphire

We report on an approach of using AlN/AlGaN superlattices (SLs) for threading-dislocation-density reduction to grow high quality thick AlGaN on sapphire. Using x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and etch pits counting by atomic force microscopy, we show that the insertion of AlN/AlGaN SLs suppresses the material mosaicity and decreases the threading dislocation density by two orders of magnitude, and then eliminates cracking. Dislocation densities deduced from the XRD results and those from chemical etching are in a good agreement.

AlGaN/InGaN/GaN Double Heterostructure Field-Effect Transistor

Novel, current collapse free, double heterostructure AlGaN/InGaN/GaN field effect transistors (DHFETs) are fabricated on the insulating SiC substrates. The simulations show that a combined effect of the bandgap offsets and polarization charges provides an excellent 2D carrier confinement. These devices demonstrate output RF powers as high as 4.3 W/mm in CW mode and 6.3 W/mm in the pulsed mode, with the gain compression as low as 4 dB.

Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes Using Non-Polar a-Plane GaN-AlGaN Multiple Quantum Wells

We report a pn-junction ultraviolet light-emitting diode (LED) with peak emission at 363 nm using a-plane GaN-AlGaN multiple quantum wells over r-plane sapphire. The peak emission wavelength does not shift with increasing pump currents-therefore establishing the feasibility of high-efficiency non-polar light emitting devices.

Thermal management of AlGaN-GaN HFETs on sapphire using flip-chip bonding with epoxy underfill

Self-heating imposes the major limitation on the output power of GaN-based HFETs on sapphire or SiC. SiC substrates allow for a simple device thermal management scheme; however, they are about a factor 20-100 higher in cost than sapphire. Sapphire substrates of diameters exceeding 4 in are easily available but the heat removal through the substrate is inefficient due to its low thermal conductivity. The authors demonstrate that the thermal impedance of GaN based HFETs over sapphire substrates can be significantly reduced by implementing flip-chip bonding with thermal conductive epoxy underfill. They also show that in sapphire-based flip-chip mounted devices the heat spread from the active region under the gate along the GaN buffer and the substrate is the key contributor to the overall thermal impedance.

Low-loss high power RF switching using multifinger AlGaN/GaN MOSHFETs

We demonstrate a novel RF switch based on a multifinger AlGaN/GaN MOSHFET. Record high saturation current and breakdown voltage, extremely low gate leakage current and low gate capacitance of the III-N MOSHFETs make them excellent active elements for RF switching. Using a single element test circuit with 1-mm wide multifinger MOSHFET we achieved 0.27 dB insertion loss and more than 40 dB isolation. These parameters can be further improved by impedance matching and by using submicron gate devices. The maximum switching power extrapolated from the results for 1A/mm 100 /spl mu/m wide device exceeds 40 W for a 1-mm wide 2-A/mm MOSHFET.

Insulating gate III-N heterostructure field-effect transistors for high-power microwave and switching applications

Describes the properties of novel III-N-based insulating gate heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs). For the gate isolation, these devices use either SiO/sub 2/ layer (in metal-oxide-semiconductor HFET (MOSHFET) structures) or Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ layer (in metal-insulator-semiconductor HFET structures). These insulating gate HFETs have the gate-leakage currents 4-6 orders of magnitude lower than HFETs, even at elevated temperatures up to 300/spl deg/C. A double-heterostructure MOSHFET with SiO/sub 2/ gate isolation exhibits current collapse-free performance with extremely low gate-leakage current. Insulating gate devices, including large periphery multigate structures, demonstrate high-power stable operation and might find applications in high-performance power amplifiers and microwave and high-power switches with operating temperatures up to 300/spl deg/C or even higher.

Double-Scaled Potential Profile in a Group-III Nitride Alloy Revealed by Monte Carlo Simulation of Exciton Hopping

The temperature dependences of the peak position and width of the photoluminescence band in Al0.1In0.01Ga0.89N layers were explained by Monte Carlo simulation of exciton localization and hopping. The introduction of a doubled-scaled potential profile due to inhomogeneous distribution of indium allowed obtaining a good quantitative fit of the experimental data. Hopping of excitons was assumed to occur through localized states distributed on a 16 meV energy scale within the In-rich clusters with the average energy in these clusters dispersed on a larger (42 meV) scale.