Russell D. Dupuis

History, Development, and Applications of High-Brightness Visible Light-Emitting Diodes

In a practical sense, the development of high-performance visible-spectrum light-emitting diodes (LEDs) has occurred over a period of over 60 years, beginning with the discovery of the first semiconductor p-n junction in 1940, the development of solid-state electronic band theory in the 1940s, the invention of the first bipolar transistor in 1947, and the demonstration of efficient light generation from III-V alloys in the 1950s and 1960s. This paper reviews some of the major scientific and technological developments and observations that have created the materials and device technologies currently used in the commercial mass production of high-brightness visible-spectrum LEDs and that have culminated in white-light sources exhibiting luminous efficacies of over 150 lm/W, far beyond what has been achieved with conventional lighting technologies.

Improvement of peak quantum efficiency and efficiency droop in III-nitride visible light-emitting diodes with an InAlN electron-blocking layer

InAlN electron-blocking layers (EBLs) are shown to improve the emission intensity and to mitigate the efficiency droop problem in III-nitride-based visible light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Using an In0.18Al0.82N EBL in blue LEDs, we have achieved a significant improvement in the electroluminescence emission intensity and a mitigated efficiency droop compared to similar LEDs without an EBL or with an Al0.2Ga0.8N EBL. This indicates that an In0.18Al0.82N EBL is more effective in electron confinement and reduces the efficiency droop possibly caused by carrier spill-over than conventional AlGaN EBLs.

Barrier effect on hole transport and carrier distribution in InGaN∕GaN multiple quantum well visible light-emitting diodes

Carrier distributions governed by hole transport in InGaN∕GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) visible light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were investigated using conventional blue LEDs and dual-wavelength blue-green LEDs. It was found that holes were dominantly distributed in the QW close to the p-GaN layer in LEDs with conventional MQW active regions at a current of 20mA. A decrease in the thickness or the height of the quantum-well potential barrier enhanced hole injection into the MQWs located near the n-GaN layer. Reducing the thickness of a GaN quantum-well barrier between the blue QW and green QW did not degrade the electroluminescence (EL) intensity of the LED. In contrast, reducing the potential height of the barrier with material of possibly compromised quality resulted in a degradation of the EL intensity of the LED.

GaN ultraviolet avalanche photodiodes with optical gain greater than 1000 grown on GaN substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

We report the performance of GaN p-i-n ultraviolet avalanche photodiodes grown on bulk GaN substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The low dislocation density in the devices enables low reverse-bias dark currents prior to avalanche breakdown for ∼30μm diameter mesa photodetectors. The photoresponse is relatively independent of the bias voltage prior to the onset of avalanche gain which occurs at an electric field of ∼2.8MV∕cm. The magnitude of the reverse-bias breakdown voltage shows a positive temperature coefficient of ∼0.05V∕K, confirming that the avalanche breakdown mechanism dominates. With ultraviolet illumination at λ∼360nm, devices with mesa diameters of ∼50μm achieve stable maximum optical gains greater than 1000. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest optical gain achieved for GaN-based avalanche photodiodes and the largest area III-N avalance photodetectors yet reported.

Photonic crystal nanobeam lasers

We demonstrate room temperature photonic crystal lasers based on high-Q nanobeam cavities. L-L curve shows the lasing threshold of ∼0.6mW and the spontaneous emission factor larger than 0.3.

Improvement of quantum efficiency by employing active-layer-friendly lattice-matched InAlN electron blocking layer in green light-emitting diodes

Improvement of the internal quantum efficiency in green-light emitting diodes has been achieved using lattice-matched InAlN electron-blocking layers. Higher electroluminescence intensities have been obtained due to better electron confinement in the device active region. The device efficiency has also been found to significantly depend on the InAlN growth temperature. Optimized InAlN growth at ∼840 °C results in a lower growth rate and longer growth times than at ∼780 °C. The observed reduction in emission efficiency for InAlN layers grown at higher temperatures is possibly attributed to thermal damage in the green active region.

Efficiency droop due to electron spill-over and limited hole injection in III-nitride visible light-emitting diodes employing lattice-matched InAlN electron blocking layers

Data and analysis are presented for the study of efficiency droop in visible III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) considering the effects of both electron spill-over out of active region and hole injection into the active region. Performance characteristics of blue LEDs with lattice-matched In0.18Al0.82N electron-blocking layers (EBLs) with different thicknesses were measured in order to exclude the effects of strain and doping efficiency of the EBL, and the quantum efficiencies were analyzed taking account of the electron spill-over current and the relative hole concentration. The results suggest that the highest efficiency in LEDs with a 15-nm In0.18Al0.82N EBL is due to relatively lower hole-blocking effect, hence higher hole injection than in LEDs with a 20-nm EBL, while providing a higher potential barrier for reduced electron spill-over than in LEDs with thinner EBLs. This study suggests that the EBL hole-blocking and electron-confinement effects should be considered in order to achieve higher l...

Electrical characteristics of contacts to thin film N-polar n-type GaN

The electrical characteristics of metallization contacts to a thin film N-polar n-type GaN layer fabricated by a laser lift-off process combined with a dry etching are investigated. It is shown that for Pt Schottky contacts, the Schottky barrier height of the N-polar GaN is 1.27eV, which is larger than that (1.23eV) of reference Ga-polar GaN. Ti∕Al Ohmic contacts to the N-polar GaN experience thermal degradation even at 400°C. Such annealing-induced degradation is explained in terms of the presence of the complex surface states of the N-polar GaN, which consists of impurities and process-induced donorlike and acceptorlike defects.

Control of quantum-confined Stark effect in InGaN∕GaN multiple quantum well active region by p-type layer for III-nitride-based visible light emitting diodes

We demonstrate the control of the quantum-confined Stark effect in InGaN∕GaN quantum wells (QWs), grown along the [0001] direction as part of the active region of visible light emitting diodes (LEDs). The effect can be altered by modifying the strain applied to the active region by the hole injection and contact layers. The optical characteristics and electrostatic potentials of the active region of the visible LEDs with different p-type layers are compared. LEDs with p-InGaN on top of the active region show a reduced blueshift in the peak wavelength with increasing injection current and a lower potential difference across the QW than those with p-GaN layers. The electrostatic potentials across the QW have estimated average values of ∼0.8 and ∼1.3MV∕cm for the active region of LEDs of current study with p-InGaN and p-GaN layers, respectively.

Deep-ultraviolet lasing at 243 nm from photo-pumped AlGaN/AlN heterostructure on AlN substrate

Deep-ultraviolet lasing was achieved at 243.5 nm from an AlxGa1−xN-based multi-quantum-well structure using a pulsed excimer laser for optical pumping. The threshold pump power density at room-temperature was 427 kW/cm2 with transverse electric (TE)-polarization-dominant emission. The structure was epitaxially grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on an Al-polar free-standing AlN (0001) substrate. Stimulated emission is achieved by design of the active region, optimizing the growth, and the reduction in defect density afforded by homoepitaxial growth of AlN buffer layers on AlN substrates, demonstrating the feasibility of deep-ultraviolet diode lasers on free-standing AlN.