Kohei Sugimoto

Controlling potential barrier height by changing V-shaped pit size and the effect on optical and electrical properties for InGaN/GaN based light-emitting diodes

The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with blue light emission was improved by inserting an InGaN/GaN superlattice (SL) beneath the MQWs. While the SL technique is useful for improving the light-emitting diode (LED) performance, its effectiveness from a multilateral point of view requires investigation. V-shaped pits (V-pits), which generate a potential barrier and screen the effect of the threading dislocation, are one of the candidates for increasing the light emission efficiency of LEDs exceptionally. In this research, we investigated the relationship between the V-pit and SL and revealed that the V-pit diameter is strongly correlated with the IQE by changing the number of SL periods. Using scanning near-field optical microscopy and photoluminescence measurements, we demonstrated the distinct presence of the potential barrier formed by the V-pits around the dislocations. The relationship between the V-pit and the number of SL periods resulted in changing the p...

Atomic-scale investigation of structural defects in GaN layer on c-plane sapphire substrate during initial growth stage

Structural defects in the initial growth stages of GaN on sapphire, including stacking faults (SFs), threading dislocations (TDs), and mosaic structure containing grain boundaries, are investigated at the atomic scale. Individual grains in the as-deposited low temperature-GaN buffer layer are found to have twists correlated with those of the adjacent grains. These grains have little similarity on the stacking sequences, and the atomic arrangement on each side of the grain boundaries may be rearranged by annealing to achieve higher similarity in the stacking sequence. The TD identified as a-type at the top of the SFs-rich interfacial region is thought to originate from Frank partial dislocations. The Frank partial dislocation produces a distorted wurtzite-type structure. At the intermediate region of the basal-plane stacking fault between Frank and Shockley partial dislocations, the TD relieves the distortion in the wurtzite-type structure. In the TD, the wurtzite structure slips relative to the surrounding wurtzite.

Direct observation of inclined a -type threading dislocation with a -type screw dislocation in GaN

We investigated both the atomic arrangements in the core structure of threading dislocations (TDs) and their behaviors in unintentionally doped c-plane-GaN layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy and hydride vapor phase epitaxy using high angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). The extra image contrast near the core was attributed to an extra displacement in a-type TDs in addition to the core structures revealed in previous reports; we used the notation “with displacement” to describe the new core structure. We found that TDs incline towards both the m- and a-directions from the c-direction. The transition of a-type TDs from the conventional core structure to the structure with displacement was deduced from its relationship to the TD inclination. We also found similarities between a-type screw dislocations and a-type TDs with displacement in the atomic-scale HAADF-STEM images. We concluded that a-type TDs could incline towards the a-direction via a-type sc...