Po-Min Tu

Continuous wave operation of current injected GaN vertical cavity surface emitting lasers at room temperature

We report the demonstration of the continuous wave laser action on GaN-based vertical cavity surface emitting lasers at room temperature. The laser structure consists of a ten-pair Ta2O5/SiO2 distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), a 7λ-thick optical cavity, ten-pairs InGaN/GaN multiquantum wells with an AlGaN electron blocking layer, and a 29-pair AlN/GaN DBR. The laser has a threshold current of about 9.7 mA corresponding to the current density of about 12.4 kA/cm2 and a turn-on voltage about 4.3 V at 300 K. The lasing wavelength was 412 nm with a linewidth of about 0.5 nm. A spontaneous emission coupling efficiency factor of about 5×10−3 and the degree of polarization of about 55% were measured, respectively. The laser beam has a narrow divergence angle of about 8°.

Investigation of efficiency droop for InGaN-based UV light-emitting diodes with InAlGaN barrier

The efficiency droop in InGaN-based UV light emitting device (LED) with AlGaN and InAlGaN barrier is investigated. Electroluminescence results indicate that the light performance of quaternary LEDs can be enhanced by 25% and 55% at 350 mA and 1000 mA, respectively. Furthermore, simulations show that quaternary LEDs exhibit 62% higher radiative recombination rate and low efficiency degradation of 13% at a high injection current. We attribute this improvement to increasing of carrier concentration and uniform redistribution of carriers.

High efficiency light emitting diode with anisotropically etched GaN-sapphire interface

We report the fabrication and study of high efficiency ultraviolet light emitting diodes with inverted micropyramid structures at GaN-sapphire interface. The micropyramid structures were created by anisotropic chemical wet etching. The pyramid structures have significantly enhanced the light output efficiency and at the same time also improved the crystal quality by partially relieving the strain and reducing the dislocation defects in GaN. The electroluminescent output power at normal direction was enhanced by 120% at 20 mA injection current and the output power integrated over all directions was enhanced by 85% compared to a reference sample.

Defect selective passivation in GaN epitaxial growth and its application to light emitting diodes

A defect selective passivation method to block the propagation of threading dislocations in GaN epitaxial growth is demonstrated. The defect selective passivation is done by using defect selective chemical etching to locate defect sites, followed by silicon oxide passivation of the etched pits, and epitaxial over growth. The threading dislocation density in the regrown epilayer is significantly improved from 1×109 to 4×107 cm−2. The defect passivated epiwafer is used to grow light emitting diode and the output power of the fabricated chip is enhanced by 45% at 20 mA compared to a reference one without using defect passivation.

Characteristics of Current-Injected GaN-Based Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

This paper reviews the fabrication technology and performance characteristics of current-injected GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with hybrid distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). The GaN-based VCSEL consists of a ten-pair Ta2O5/SiO2 top DBR, a 7 λ-thick optical cavity embedded with 10 InGaN/GaN multiquantum wells, and a 29-pair AlN/GaN bottom DBR. Lasing action is observed under continuous-wave operation at room temperature. The laser characteristics, such as temperature-dependent laser threshold current, emission wavelength, and spontaneous emission coupling factors, have been measured and discussed.

Highly Efficient and Bright LEDs Overgrown on GaN Nanopillar Substrates

We presented a study of high-performance GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) using a GaN nanopillars (NPs) structure grown on sapphire substrate by integrating RF-plasma molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Nanoscale air voids were clearly observed at the interface between GaN NPs and the overgrown GaN layer by cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy. It can increase the light-extraction efficiency due to additional light scattering. The transmission electron microscopy images suggest the air voids between GaN NPs introduced during nanoscale epitaxial lateral overgrowth of GaN can suppress the threading dislocation density. Moreover, Raman spectrum demonstrated that the strain of the GaN layer grown on GaN NPs was effectively eliminated, resulting in the reduction of quantum-confined Stark effect in InGaN/GaN quantum wells. Consequently, the LEDs fabricated on the GaN NPs template exhibit smaller electroluminescent peak wavelength blue shift and great enhancement of the light output (70% at 20 mA) compared with the conventional LEDs.

High Q microcavity light emitting diodes with buried AlN current apertures

We demonstrate a GaN-based high-Q microcavity light emitting diode (MCLED) with a buried AlN current aperture. A thin AlN layer is inserted on the InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells as a current blocking layer and an optical confinement layer. The GaN-based MCLED is composed of a 29-pair GaN/AlN distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), an eight-pair of SiO2/Ta2O5 dielectric DBR, and a three-λ optical thickness InGaN/GaN active region. The current can be injected more effectively in the MCLED with a buried AlN current aperture. The output emission has a dominant emission peak wavelength at 440 nm with a very narrow linewidth of 0.52 nm, corresponding to a cavity Q-value of 846 at a driving current of 5 mA.

High-Efficiency and Crack-Free InGaN-Based LEDs on a 6-inch Si (111) Substrate With a Composite Buffer Layer Structure and Quaternary Superlattices Electron-Blocking Layers

In this paper, a composite buffer layer structure (CBLS) with multiple AlGaN layers and grading of Al composition/u-GaN1/(AlN/GaN) superlattices/u-GaN2 and InAlGaN/AlGaN quaternary superlattices electron-blocking layers (QSLs-EBLs) are introduced into the epitaxial growth of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on 6-inch Si (111) substrates to suppress cracking and improve the crystalline quality and emission efficiency. The effect of CBLS and QSLs-EBL on the crystalline quality and emission efficiency of InGaN-based LEDs on Si substrates was studied in detail. Optical microscopic images revealed the absence of cracks and Ga melt-back etching. The atomic force microscopy images exhibited that the root-mean-square value of the surface morphology was only 0.82 nm. The full widths at half maxima of the (0002) and (101̅2) reflections in the double crystal X-ray rocking curve were ~330 and 450 respectively. The total threading dislocation density, revealed by transmission electron microscopy, was <; 6× 108 cm-2. From the material characterizations, described above, blue and white LEDs emitters were fabricated using the epiwafers of InGaN-based LEDs on 6-inch Si substrates. The blue LEDs emitter that comprised blue LEDs chip and clear lenses had an emission power of 490 mW at 350 mA, a wall-plug efficiency of 45% at 350 mA, and an efficiency droop of 80%. The white LEDs emitter that comprised blue LEDs chip and yellow phosphor had an emission efficiency of ~110 lm/W at 350 mA and an efficiency droop of 78%. These results imply that the use of a CBLS and QSLs-EBL was found to be very simple and effective in fabricating high-efficiency InGaN-based LEDs on Si for solid-state lighting applications.

The effect of free-standing GaN substrate on carrier localization in ultraviolet InGaN light-emitting diodes

In this study, we have grown 380-nm ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) based on InGaN/AlInGaN multiple quantum well (MQW) structures on free-standing GaN (FS-GaN) substrate by atmospheric pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (AP-MOCVD), and investigated the relationship between carrier localization degree and FS-GaN. The micro-Raman shift peak mapping image shows low standard deviation (STD), indicating that the UV-LED epi-wafer of low curvature and MQWs of weak quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) were grown. High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) analyses demonstrated high-order satellite peaks and clear fringes between them for the UV-LEDs grown on the FS-GaN substrate, from which the interface roughness (IRN) was estimated. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurement confirmed that the UV-LEDs grown on the FS-GaN substrate exhibited better carrier confinement. Besides, the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) mapping images verified that the UV-LEDs on FS-GaN have fairly uniform distribution of indium and more ordered InGaN/AlInGaN MQW structure. Clearly, the FS-GaN can not only improve the light output power but also reduce the efficiency droop phenomenon at high injection current. Based on the results mentioned above, the FS-GaN can offer UV-LEDs based on InGaN/AlInGaN MQW structures with benefits, such as high crystal quality and small carrier localization degree, compared with the UV-LEDs on sapphire.

Large Area of Ultraviolet GaN-Based Photonic Quasicrystal Laser

In this study, large-area GaN-based photonic quasicrystal (PQC) nanopillars were fabricated on an n-GaN substrate using the nanoimprint lithography (NIL) technique. Under optical pumping condition, a high lasing action from the GaN photonic quasicrystals was observed. The lasing wavelength is at 366 nm with a low threshold power density of 0.009 kW/cm2. To confirm the band-edge lasing mode, the finite-element method (FEM) was used to perform the simulation for the 12-fold symmetry photonic quasicrystal lattices.