Minggang Liu

Crack-free InGaN multiple quantum wells light-emitting diodes structures transferred from Si (111) substrate onto electroplating copper submount with embedded electrodes

Crack-free InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) light-emitting diodes with embedded electrode structures (EE-LEDs) were transferred from Si (111) substrate onto the electroplating copper submount. Crystalline quality was investigated by the high resolution x-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) measurement, in which no obvious deteriorations were found in the MQWs structure after the LEDs transferred from silicon substrate onto copper except for a partial residual strain relaxation in the film. The strain relaxation after silicon removal leads to a reduction in quantum confined stark effect (QCSE), which results in the enhancement of internal quantum efficiency (IQE). In comparison to the conventional LEDs on silicon substrate, the light output of the EE-LEDs on copper was enhanced by 122% at an injection current of 350 mA. Besides the enhancement of IQE, the improvement is also attributed to the following factors: the removal of the absorptive substrate, the inserting of the metal reflector between the EE-LEDs struct...

Investigations of leakage current properties in semi-insulating GaN grown on Si(1 1 1) substrate with low-temperature AlN interlayers

In this work, the leakage current properties of semi-insulating GaN (SI-GaN) grown on Si(1 1 1) substrate with a low-temperature (LT) AlN interlayer were studied. Two terminal lateral current–voltage measurements revealed an early conduction phenomenon via buffer layers with an LT-AlN interlayer, in which both p- and n-type conduction phenomena were observed from Hall-effect measurement during temperature changing. It is suggested that the p-type conduction existed in the Si substrate due to the diffusion of Al atoms into the Si substrate during the epitaxial growth. The origin of n-type conduction was two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the LT-AlN/GaN interface, which acted as a conduction channel in SI-GaN. Furthermore, the vertical leakage current measurement and the space charge limited current model were used to analyse the impact of the 2DEG conduction channel on the leakage current properties. It is revealed that leakage current properties are very sensitive to the thickness of the GaN layer above the LT-AlN interlayer (Top-GaN). Increasing the thickness of Top-GaN becomes an effective way to suppress leakage current. Therefore, both strain engineering and leakage current properties are essential factors to be considered in the selection of strain compensation interlayer in the growth of SI-GaN on Si substrate for power switching applications.

Vertical-conducting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells LEDs with AlN/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors on Si(111) substrate

In this study, crack-free InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) LEDs with five-pair AlN/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) were grown on a Si(111) substrate using a linear compositionally graded AlGaN layer to compensate for tensile stresses. DBR-based LEDs exhibited higher light efficiency and better crystalline quality than non-DBR-based LEDs. Vertical-conducting DBR-based LEDs were realized using through-hole structure. Through-holes were formed from the n-GaN layer to the Si substrate and filled with metals, which connected the n-GaN layer and the Si substrate. Insulating AlN, high-resistivity AlGaN layers, and the large band offset at the AlN/Si interface were all shorted by the metal filled into the through-holes. Compared to DBR-based LED without through-holes, DBR-based LEDs with through-holes exhibited significantly better electrical and optical properties.

Improving the Quality of GaN on Si(111) Substrate with a Medium-Temperature/High-Temperature Bilayer AlN Buffer

A medium-temperature/high-temperature (MT/HT) bilayer AlN buffer was introduced for GaN grown on Si(111) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The properties of the GaN films with a MT/HT bilayer AlN buffer and those with a single-layer HT-AlN buffer were compared and the influence of the growth temperature of the MT-AlN layer was investigated. With a MT-AlN layer grown in the temperature range from 800 to 1000 °C, the crystalline qualities of the subsequent HT-AlN layer and the GaN film were improved. According to the X-ray diffraction results and the transmission electron microscopy images, the dislocation density in GaN film was reduced with a MT/HT bilayer AlN buffer as compared to those with a single-layer HT-AlN buffer. Moreover, photoluminescence and Raman spectra exhibit enhanced optical properties and less tensile stresses of the GaN film. Better surface morphology of GaN was also obtained with a MT/HT bilayer AlN buffer.

Electrically Driven Single Pyramid InGaN/GaN Micro Light-Emitting Diode Grown on Silicon Substrate

Electrically driven single-pyramid InGaN/GaN micro light-emitting diode ( μ-LED) on silicon substrate has been fabricated and investigated. The μ-LED exhibits a typical p-n diode behavior with a turn-on voltage of 2.5 V and realizes an efficient electroluminescence (EL) under an ultra-small injection current (3 μA). An excellent EL pattern with a high-brightness spot at apex, a hexagonal blue ring around the base of pyramid, and six bright spots at the corners of pyramid base was observed. EL wavelength centered at about 450 nm, and a slight peak shift was found as the injection current increased from 100 to 1000 μA. The small magnitude of spectral shift is attributed to the growth of multiple quantum wells on semi-polar GaN pyramid side facets and its accompanied reduction of the quantum-confined Stark effect. The μ-LED has the promising potential for applying in micro display and electrically driven single photon emitter.

Vertical InGaN Multiple Quantum Wells Light-Emitting Diodes Structures Transferred from Si(111) Substrate onto Electroplating Copper Submount with Through-Holes

Vertical InGaN multiple quantum wells light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with through-holes structure were transferred from Si(111) substrate onto the electroplating copper submount successfully. The additional series resistances induced by the AlN buffer layer and other interlayer were shorted by the metals filled through-holes. The LED with through-hole structure shows a low vertical conducting operating voltage and a small series resistance. Combining with substrate removal and copper electroplating technique, the operating voltage at 350 mA and series resistances of the LED were reduce from 5.6 to 5.1 V and 7 to 4 Ω, in comparison with through-hole LED before substrate removal. At the same time, the light output intensity was improved by 75%, which was mainly attributed to both the removal of light absorptive substrate and the substitution for highly thermal conductive copper submount with metal reflector.

High Quality GaN Grown on Si(111) Using Fast Coalescence Growth

In the paper, a fast coalescence growth is introduced to the epitaxial growth of GaN on silicon substrate. With the fast coalescence growth method, a thin low pressure GaN (LP-GaN) layer used as a function layer, the GaN film could coalesce quickly within a thin thickness, additionally, a smooth surface and high crystal quality could be achieved. With further investigation, it was found that the general GaN coalescence thickness was mainly influenced by the thickness and the growth pressure of the LP-GaN interlayer. And the LP-GaN interlayer has a critical thickness, if over the critical thickness, the crystal quality would degrade. At the same time, it is found that the GaN quality was not affected by the coalescence thickness with a thin LP-GaN interlayer under critical thickness.

Migration characterization of Ga and In adatoms on dielectric surface in selective MOVPE

Migration characterizations of Ga and In adatoms on the dielectric surface in selective metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) were investigated. In the typical MOVPE environment, the selectivity of growth is preserved for GaN, and the growth rate of GaN micro-pyramids is sensitive to the period of the patterned SiO2 mask. A surface migration induced model was adopted to figure out the effective migration length of Ga adatoms on the dielectric surface. Different from the growth of GaN, the selective area growth of InGaN on the patterned template would induce the deposition of InGaN polycrystalline particles on the patterned SiO2 mask with a long period. It was demonstrated with a scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy that the In adatoms exhibit a shorter migration length on the dielectric surface.

High-performance, single-pyramid micro light-emitting diode with leakage current confinement layer

A high-performance, electrically driven, single-pyramid, micro light-emitting diode (micro-LED) was demonstrated. An insulated SiO2 layer, which served as a leakage current confinement layer (LCC layer), was deposited at the lower part of the pyramid, before the deposition of the transparent conducting layer. The micro-LED with the LCC layer demonstrated a decrease in reverse leakage current by two orders of magnitude and a 190% increase in light output at 500 µA compared to a micro-LED without an LCC layer. The small leakage current enables the micro-LED to operate with an ultra-low injection current (<1 µA). The improved performance of the micro-LED is attributed to the presence of the LCC layer, which blocks the direct pathway of the leakage current via threading dislocations distributed at the lower part of pyramid and causes carriers to be injected more effectively into the active layers at the nearly defect-free apex of the pyramidal LED.