Shigefusa F. Chichibu

Spontaneous emission of localized excitons in InGaN single and multiquantum well structures

Emission mechanisms of InGaN single quantum well blue and green light emitting diodes and multiquantum well structures were investigated by means of modulation spectroscopy. Their static electroluminescence (EL) peak was assigned to the recombination of excitons localized at certain potential minima in the quantum well. The blueshift of the EL peak caused by the increase of the driving current was explained by combined effects of the quantum‐confinement Stark effect and band filling of the localized states by excitons.

Introduction to Nitride Semiconductor Blue Lasers and Light Emitting Diodes

1. Basic Physics and Materials Technology of GaN LEDs and LDs 2. Two. Theoretical Analysis of Optical Gain Spectra 3. Electrical Conductivity Control 4. Crystal Defects and Device Performance in LEDs and LDs 5. Emission Mechanisms and Excitons GaN and InGaN Bulk and QWs 6. Life testing and degradation mechanisms in InGaN LEDs 7. Development and Future Prospects of InGaN lasers and LEDs. Appendix.

Effective band gap inhomogeneity and piezoelectric field in InGaN/GaN multiquantum well structures

The emission mechanisms of strained InxGa1−xN quantum wells (QWs) were shown to vary depending on the well thickness, L, and x. The absorption edge was modulated by the quantum confined Stark effect and quantum confined Franz-Keldysh effect (QCFK) for the wells, in which, for the first approximation, the product of the piezoelectric field, FPZ, and L exceed the valence band discontinuity, ΔEV. In this case, holes are confined in the triangular potential well formed at one side of the well producing the apparent Stokes-like shift. Under the condition that FPZ×L exceeds the conduction band discontinuity ΔEC, the electron-hole pair is confined at opposite sides of the well. The QCFK further modulated the emission energy for the wells with L greater than the three dimensional free exciton Bohr radius aB. On the other hand, effective in-plane localization of carriers in quantum disk size potential minima, which are produced by nonrandom alloy compositional fluctuation enhanced by the large bowing parameter and...

Blue Light-Emitting Diode Based on ZnO

A near-band-edge bluish electroluminescence (EL) band centered at around 440 nm was observed from ZnO p–i–n homojunction diodes through a semi-transparent electrode deposited on the p-type ZnO top layer. The EL peak energy coincided with the photoluminescence peak energy of an equivalent p-type ZnO layer, indicating that the electron injection from the n-type layer to the p-type layer dominates the current, giving rise to the radiative recombination in the p-type layer. The imbalance in charge injection is considered to originate from the lower majority carrier concentration in the p-type layer, which is one or two orders of magnitude lower than that in the n-type one. The current-voltage characteristics showed the presence of series resistance of several hundreds ohms, corresponding to the current spread resistance within the bottom n-type ZnO. The employment of conducting ZnO substrates may solve the latter problem.

Luminescences from localized states in InGaN epilayers

Optical spectra of the bulk three-dimensional InGaN alloys were measured using the commercially available light-emitting diode devices and their wafers. The emission from undoped InxGa1−xN(x<0.1) was assigned to the recombination of excitons localized at the potential minima originating from the large compositional fluctuation. The emission from heavily impurity-doped InGaN was also pointed out related to the localized states.

Spatially resolved cathodoluminescence spectra of InGaN quantum wells

Spatially resolved cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrum mapping revealed a strong exciton localization in InGaN single-quantum-wells (SQWs). Transmission electron micrographs exhibited a well-organized SQW structure having abrupt InGaN/GaN heterointerfaces. However, comparison between atomic force microscopy images for GaN-capped and uncapped SQWs indicated areas of InN-rich material, which are about 20 nm in lateral size. The CL images taken at the higher and lower energy side of the spatially integrated CL peak consisted of emissions from complementary real spaces, and the area was smaller than 60 nm in lateral size.

Continuous-Wave Operation of m-Plane InGaN Multiple Quantum Well Laser Diodes

Continuous-wave (CW) operation of nonpolar m-plane InGaN/GaN laser diodes (LDs) with the lasing wavelengths approximately 400 nm was demonstrated. The threshold current was 36 mA (4.0 kA/cm2) for the CW operation [28 mA (3.1 kA/cm2) for pulsed mode], being comparable to that of conventional c-plane violet LDs. Both the LDs with the stripes parallel to a- and c-axes showed TE mode operation, according to the polarization selection rules of the transitions in strained InGaN. The c-axis stripe LDs exhibited lower threshold current density, since the lowest energy transition is allowed. As is the case with the m-plane light emitting diodes fabricated on the free-standing m-plane GaN bulk crystals [Okamoto et al.: Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 45 (2006) L1197], the LDs shown in this paper did not have distinct dislocations, stacking faults, or macroscopic cracks. Nonpolar m-plane GaN-based materials are coming into general use.

BIAXIAL STRAIN DEPENDENCE OF EXCITON RESONANCE ENERGIES IN WURTZITE GAN

We have systematically studied the strain dependence of the free-exciton resonance energies in wurtzite GaN by photoreflectance measurements using well-characterized samples. The experimental data have been analyzed using the appropriate Hamiltonian for the valence bands in wurtzite GaN and determined the values of the crystal field splitting, the spin–orbit splitting, the shear deformation potential constants, and the energy gap in the unstrained crystal. Discussions are given on the strain dependence of the energy gaps, of the effective masses, and of the binding energies for the free-exciton ground states as well as on the valence-band parameters.

Correlation between the photoluminescence lifetime and defect density in bulk and epitaxial ZnO

Influences of point defects on the nonradiative processes in ZnO were studied using steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy making a connection with the results of positron annihilation measurement. Free excitonic PL intensity naturally increased with the increase in the nonradiative PL lifetime (τnr). Density or size of Zn vacancies (VZn) decreased and τnr increased with increasing growth temperature in heteroepitaxial films grown on a ScAlMgO4 substrate. Use of homoepitaxial substrate further decreased the VZn density. However, τnr was the shortest for the homoepitaxial film; i.e., no clear dependence was found between τnr and density / size of VZn or positron scattering centers. The results indicated that nonradiative recombination processes are not solely governed by single point defects, but by certain defect species introduced by the presence of VZn such as vacancy complexes.

Exciton localization in InGaN quantum well devices

Emission mechanisms of a device-quality quantum well (QW) structure and bulk three dimensional (3D) InGaN materials grown on sapphire substrates without any epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN base layers were investigated. The InxGa1−xN layers showed various degrees of in-plane spatial potential (band gap) inhomogeneity, which is due to a compositional fluctuation or a few monolayers thickness fluctuation. The degree of fluctuation changed remarkably around a nominal InN molar fraction x=0.2, which changes to nearly 0.08–0.1 for the strained InxGa1−xN. This potential fluctuation induces localized energy states both in the QW and 3D InGaN, showing a large Stokes-like shift. The spontaneous emission from undoped InGaN single QW light-emitting diodes (LEDs), undoped 3D LEDs, and multiple QW (MQW) laser diode (LD) wafers was assigned as being due to the recombination of excitons localized at the potential minima, whose lateral size was determined by cathodoluminescence mapping to vary from less than 60 to 300 nm...