Jumpei Kamimura

Near-Infrared InGaN Nanocolumn Light-Emitting Diodes Operated at 1.46 µm

We grew a heterojunction combination of Mg-doped Ga-rich InGaN cladding and In-rich InGaN active layers on top of Si-doped GaN nanocolumns with a diameter of ~300 nm; the uniformly arranged and dislocation-free GaN nanocolumns contributed to the high crystalline quality of In-rich InGaN, which led to the longest-wavelength (1.46 µm) operation of InGaN light emitting diodes. The In content of the active layer estimated from the emission peak wavelength was 0.86. The selected-area diffraction analysis in the transmission electron microscope for the InGaN layers evinced that the In contents of the Ga-rich and In-rich InGaN layers were approximately 0.3 and 0.85, respectively.

Photoelectrochemical Properties of (In,Ga)N Nanowires for Water Splitting Investigated by in Situ Electrochemical Mass Spectroscopy

We investigated the photoelectrochemical properties of both n- and p-type (In,Ga)N nanowires (NWs) for water splitting by in situ electrochemical mass spectroscopy (EMS). All NWs were prepared by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Under illumination, the n-(In,Ga)N NWs exhibited an anodic photocurrent, however, no O2 but only N2 evolution was detected by EMS, indicating that the photocurrent was related to photocorrosion rather than water oxidation. In contrast, the p-(In,Ga)N NWs showed a cathodic photocurrent under illumination which was correlated with the evolution of H2. After photodeposition of Pt on such NWs, the photocurrent density was significantly enhanced to 5 mA/cm(2) at a potential of -0.5 V/NHE under visible light irradiation of ∼40 mW/cm(2). Also, incident photon-to-current conversion efficiencies of around 40% were obtained at -0.45 V/NHE across the entire visible spectral region. The stability of the NW photocathodes for at least 60 min was verified by EMS. These results suggest that p-(In,Ga)N NWs are a promising basis for solar hydrogen production.

Lattice parameters, deviations from Vegard’s rule, and E2 phonons in InAlN

The lattice parameters of InxAl1-xN in the whole compositional range are studied using first-principle calculations. Deviations from Vegards rule are obtained via the bowing parameters, delta(a)=0. ...

Dislocation reduction via selective-area growth of InN accompanied by lateral growth by rf-plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy

We investigated the selective-area growth (SAG) of InN by rf-plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy using molybdenum (Mo)-mask-patterned sapphire (0001) substrates, which resulted in the formation of regularly arranged N-polar InN microcrystals. Transmission electron microscopy observation confirmed that the laterally grown side areas were nearly dislocation-free, although many threading dislocations (10{sup 9}-10{sup 10} cm{sup -2}) were generated at the InN/sapphire interface and propagated into the center of the InN microcrystals along the crystal c-axis. The laterally grown InN microcrystals exhibited narrow near-IR emission spectra with a peak photon energy of 0.627 eV and a linewidth of 39 meV at room temperature.

Radial Stark Effect in (In,Ga)N Nanowires

We study the luminescence of unintentionally doped and Si-doped InxGa1-xN nanowires with a low In content (x < 0.2) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si substrates. The emission band observed at 300 K from the unintentionally doped samples is centered at much lower energies (800 meV) than expected from the In content measured by X-ray diffractometry and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. This discrepancy arises from the pinning of the Fermi level at the sidewalls of the nanowires, which gives rise to strong radial built-in electric fields. The combination of the built-in electric fields with the compositional fluctuations inherent to (In,Ga)N alloys induces a competition between spatially direct and indirect recombination channels. At elevated temperatures, electrons at the core of the nanowire recombine with holes close to the surface, and the emission from unintentionally doped nanowires exhibits a Stark shift of several hundreds of meV. The competition between spatially direct and indirect transitions is analyzed as a function of temperature for samples with various Si concentrations. We propose that the radial Stark effect is responsible for the broadband absorption of (In,Ga)N nanowires across the entire visible range, which makes these nanostructures a promising platform for solar energy applications.

Growth of very large InN microcrystals by molecular beam epitaxy using epitaxial lateral overgrowth

Very thick InN (∼40 μm) was grown by molecular beam epitaxy using the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) technique. In some regions, the ELO of InN was observed as expected, indicating an important step toward fabricating quasi-bulk InN substrates. Interestingly, most parts of the sample consist of large flat-topped microcrystals and well-faceted microstructures. This is likely due to local growth condition variations during ELO, which is supported by an experiment where ELO of InN was performed on a substrate with various stripe mask patterns. TEM characterization of a flat top InN microcrystal revealed few stacking faults and only related threading dislocations. Defect-free small faceted microcrystals were also observed. The thick InN crystals show a narrow photoluminescence spectrum with a peak at 0.679 eV and linewidth of 16.8 meV at 4 K.

p-Type Doping of GaN Nanowires Characterized by Photoelectrochemical Measurements

GaN nanowires (NWs) doped with Mg as a p-type impurity were grown on Si(111) substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. In a systematic series of experiments, the amount of Mg supplied during NW growth was varied. The incorporation of Mg into the NWs was confirmed by the observation of donor-acceptor pairs and acceptor-bound excitons in low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy. Quantitative information about the Mg concentrations was deduced from Raman scattering by local vibrational modes related to Mg. In order to study the type and density of charge carriers present in the NWs, we employed two photoelectrochemical techniques, open-circuit potential and Mott-Schottky measurements. Both methods showed the expected transition from n-type to p-type conductivity with increasing Mg doping level, and the latter characterization technique allowed us to quantify the charge carrier concentration. Beyond the quantitative information obtained for Mg doping of GaN NWs, our systematic and comprehensive investigation demonstrates the benefit of photoelectrochemical methods for the analysis of doping in semiconductor NWs in general.

Epitaxial lateral overgrowth of InN by rf-plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy

The orientation-dependent lateral growth of InN was studied and the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of InN by rf-plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy was demonstrated for the first time using stripe molybdenum (Mo)-mask-patterned sapphire (0001) substrates. Transmission electron microscopy observation revealed a high dislocation density of ∼5x10-9 cm-2 in the window region. By contrast, very few threading dislocations were observed in the wing region. In particular, there were no threading dislocations in the superficial layer of up to 3 μm width. An InN ELO sample exhibited narrow near-IR emission with a peak photon energy of 0.677 eV and a linewidth of 16.7 meV at 4 K.

Si doping effects on (In,Ga)N nanowires

Si doped (In,Ga)N nanowires (In content up to 0.4) are grown on Si(111) substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. By increasing the Si doping level, coalescence between nanowires is reduced and a more uniform morphology is obtained. The Raman spectra from highly doped samples show a characteristic broad band in the optical phonon frequency range, which became more prominent at higher doping levels. This Raman band can be explained by plasmon-phonon scattering from a free electron gas with strong wave-vector nonconservation, providing evidence for successful n-type doping. The measured plasmon-phonon modes are explained by lineshape simulations taking into account the simultaneous contribution of both the charge-density fluctuation and the impurity induced Frohlich scattering mechanisms. The according lineshape analysis allows for an estimate of the carrier concentration.

Fundamental optical properties of InN grown by epitaxial lateral overgrowth method

Optical properties of InN grown by the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) method have been studied using photoluminescence (PL) and excitation-correlation (EC) measurements. The PL spectrum is analyzed by free-electron recombination band (FERB) model, which shows that the ELO sample has a very low background carrier concentration (n=5.5*1016[cm−3]). EC measurements show that the dependences of the band gap renormalization and Auger effect on the carrier concentrations are similar in spite of the different physical origins.