III-Nitride laser diodes (LDs) emitting in the near ultraviolet spectral region can enable various important applications such as high-precision chip-scale atomic clocks. However, III-N LDs emitting near 369nm suffer from material and heterostructure design challenges including stress-induced layer cracking and p-type doping limitations. We will present a detailed study on the influence of the Al mole fraction and thickness on the occurrence of surface cracks of heterostructures using nonplanar growth by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on macro-patterned GaN/sapphire templates and bulk GaN substrates. Data on the nonplanar growth of full III-N UV LD structures will be presented.
Solar-blind (<280nm) deep-ultraviolet (DUV) avalanche photodetectors (APDs) are of importance in various applications such as quantum communication, biomedical, defense, and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) communication. This makes the detectors from AlxGa1-xN materials attractive for such applications owing to their wide direct-bandgap characteristics. In this work, top-illuminated DUV Al0.6Ga0.4N p-i-n APD structures were designed, grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on bulk AlN substrates, and fabricated. The devices showed distinctive avalanche breakdown behavior, with breakdown voltages of -150V, and low-leakage current density of <10-8A/cm2. The peak spectral response is 141mA/W at the wavelength of 245nm under 0V.
Front-illuminated p-i-n GaN-based ultraviolet (UV) avalanche photodiodes (APDs) were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on 25 mm dia. bulk Ammono® n-GaN substrate having a low etch pit density (EPD) less than 5 × 104 [cm-2] and processed into 6×6 APD arrays. The devices employed N-ion implantation to achieve sidewall passivation. Evaluation of these 6×6 arrays will help to confirm the uniformity of the epitaxial materials and device processing. The maximum avalanche gain reached ~ 3×105 at the breakdown (current limited). The dark current density was 10-9 A/cm2 at reverse bias up to -20 V and the APDs exhibited a reverse breakdown voltage of 81 ± 1 V for all 36 devices without any leaky devices, confirming a high uniformity of the growth and fabrication processes.
We report the current progress of our development of near-ultraviolet (NUV) III-nitride vertical-cavity LED emitters and avalanche photodetectors grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The III-N emitters are designed to be UV vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers operating at 369.5nm. We describe the development of the growth and processing of an air-gap/AlGaN distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) consisting of five-pairs of quarter-wavelength layers of Al0.12Ga0.88N and air-gap regions created by selective chemical etching. A 4-6λ cavity was employed in the laser structure. We also report on the electrical and optical emission characteristics of these microcavity emitters. The photodetectors are GaN- and AlGaN-based p-i-n avalanche photodiodes (APDs) designed for front-side illumination. We report on the electrical and optical detection characteristics of these photodetectors.
Two different structures of AlGaN/InGaN ultraviolet (UV) multiple quantum wells (MQWs) were grown in a metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system, and their performance under optically pumped stimulated emission were experimentally investigated. During the MOCVD epitaxial growth of the AlGaN/InGaN MQWs, the growth rate of the AlGaN quantum barriers (QBs) was intentionally reduced to improve the surface morphology. Atomic-force microscopy (AFM) images show that the AlGaN QBs have a smooth surface with clear step flow patterns. The surface morphology of InGaN QWs was improved by thermal annealing effect when the growth temperature rose to the one of the AlGaN QBs. With optical confinement layers on both the n- and p-sides, the threshold pumping power density of optical stimulated emission for AlGaN/InGaN MQWs was determined to be 168 kW/cm2. In order to reduce the negative effect of the interface between AlGaN QBs and InGaN QWs, another MQW structure with a larger quantum well thickness was designed and epitaxial grown. The optical investigation of sample B showed a threshold pumping power density of 124 kW/cm2, which is 26% lower than sample A.
We report III-N surface-emitting resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes (RCLEDs) at λ = 375 nm using a novel hybridmirror approach. The hybrid mirrors consist of 5 pairs of air-gap/AlGaN distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) at the bottom side of the vertical cavity and HfO2/SiO2 dielectric DBR (DDBR) on the top to facilitate the formation of a resonant cavity for nitride-based surface light emitting diodes. The air-gap/AlGaN DBR replaces the conventional thick stack of semiconductor DBR to achieve high reflectivity. Hybrid-mirror III-N RCLEDs with airgap/AlGaN DBR mirror were fabricated and the results showed that the III-N RCLEDs achieved high current density operation up to 40 kA/cm2 with a peak emission wavelength atλ = 375 nm and a full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) of 9.3 nm at room temperature.
Optically pumped VCSELs with a 1λ thick optical cavity lasing at 375 nm have been demonstrated using a pulsed 248 nm KrF excimer laser source. To realize a high-reflectivity mirror on the bottom of the cavity, five-period airgap/ Al0.05Ga0.95N DBRs with a large refractive index contrast have been employed while the top mirror was formed by dielectric DBRs consisting of twelve pairs HfO2/SiO2. The lowest threshold incident power density measured at room temperature was estimated to be ~270 kW/cm2. The achieved optically pumped VCSEL demonstrates the possibility that the airgap/AlxGa1-xN DBRs can be used as a mirror for injection laser devices.
Front-illuminated GaN p-i-p-i-n separate-absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiode (SAM-APD) epitaxial structures were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on n-type bulk GaN substrates and fabricated into 4×4 arrays with a large detection area of 100×100 μm2. The SAM-APD array showed a uniform distribution of dark current density of JDark<(5.1±0.8)×10-8 A/cm2 at reverse bias (VR) of 44 V except for two of them. In addition, the average onset points of breakdown voltages (VBR) of the SAM-APD array was 73.1±0.21 V, and no microplasmas were visually observed after multiple times I-V scans.
Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are known to have advantages of lower threshold current operation, circular and low-divergence output beam, and lower temperature sensitivity compared to edge-emitting laser diodes. In conventional VCSELs, the formation of a current aperture plays a vital role in the device characteristics. Low laser thresholds and single-transverse-mode operation would not be possible without a well-defined current aperture to confine carriers to generate photons between the two distributed Bragg reflectors. Since the introduction of the controlled oxidation process for the AlxGa1-xAs material system by Dallesasse and Holonyak in 1989, most VCSELs have employed oxidation for current aperture formation as well as optical confinement and this technique has become one of the most commonly used fabrication techniques for traditional III-V compound semiconductor infrared VCSELs. However, for III-N emitters operating at wavelengths in the ultraviolet to green wavelength range, the formation of Al-based native oxide layers has not proven feasible. As a result, various current-confinement techniques have been studied such as, selective-area growth of buried AlN, oxidizing AlInN, and selective activation of acceptors.
In this work, we report an ion-implantation process which is effective for carrier confinement and defines a current aperture for our III-N ultraviolet microcavity light-emitting diodes (MCLEDs). The devices have peak emission wavelength of ~371.4 nm with the spectral linewidth of 5.1 nm at the highest pulsed current injection level of 15 kA/cm2. Further discussion on the material growth, material characterization, implantation parameters, as well as numerical simulation for structural design will be presented in the conference.
We report our current development progress of ultraviolet vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, which included the development of an electrically conducting n-DBR consisting of 40-pairs of Si-doped quarter-wavelength layers of Al0.12Ga0.88N and GaN. A peak reflectivity of 91.6% at 368 nm was measured and a series resistance of 17.7Ω was extracted near the maximum measured current of 100 mA. Furthermore, a micro-cavity light emitting diode was demonstrated by utilizing the established n-DBR. A 2λ cavity was subsequently grown on the 40-pair Al0.12Ga0.88N/GaN n-DBR and a peak wavelength of 371.4 nm was observed with spectral linewidth of 5.8 nm.
High-resolution imaging in ultraviolet (UV) bands has many applications in defense and commercial systems. The shortest wavelength is desired for increased spatial resolution, which allows for small pixels and large formats. The next frontier is to develop UV avalanche photodiode (UV-APD) arrays with high gain to demonstrate high-resolution imaging. We compare performance characteristics of front-illuminated Al0.05Ga0.95N UV-APDs grown on a free-standing (FS) GaN substrate and a GaN/sapphire template. UV-APDs grown on a FS-GaN substrate show lower dark current densities for all fabricated mesa sizes than similar UV-APDs grown on a GaN/sapphire template. In addition, stable avalanche gain higher than 5×105 and a significant increase in the responsivity of UV-APDs grown on a FS-GaN substrate are observed as a result of avalanche multiplication at high reverse bias. We believe that the high crystalline quality of Al0.05Ga0.95N UVAPDs grown on a FS-GaN substrate with low dislocation density is responsible for the observed improvement of low leakage currents, high performance photodetector characteristics, and reliability of the devices.
A 245.3 nm deep ultraviolet optically pumped AlGaN based multiple-quantum-well laser operating at room temperature is described. Epitaxial growth was performed by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on a c-plane bulk AlN substrate at a growth temperature of ~ 1130 °C. The wafer was fabricated into cleaved bars with a cavity length of ~1.45 mm and the lasing threshold was determined to be 297 kW/cm2 under pulsed 193 nm ArF excimer laser excitation. A further ~20% reduction in threshold pumping power density was observed with six pairs of SiO2/HfO2 distributed Bragg reflector deposited at the rear side of facets.
High-resolution imaging in ultraviolet (UV) bands has many applications in defense and commercial systems. The shortest wavelength is desired for increased spatial resolution, which allows for small pixels and large formats. In past work, UV avalanche photodiodes (APDs) have been reported as discrete devices demonstrating gain. The next frontier is to develop UVAPD arrays with high gain to demonstrate highresolution imaging. We will discuss a model that can predict sensor performance in the UV band using APDs with various gain and other parameters for a desired UV band of interest. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) can be modeled from illuminated targets at various distances with high resolution under standard atmospheric conditions in the UV band and the solar-blind region using detector arrays with unity gain and with high-gain APDs. We will present recent data on the GaN-based APDs for their gain, detector response, dark current noise, and 1/f noise. We will discuss various approaches and device designs that are being evaluated for developing APDs in wide-bandgap semiconductors. The paper will also discuss the state of the art in UVAPDs and the future directions for small unit cell size and gain in the APDs.
Blue LED progress has laid the ground works of nitride technology to tackle the higher challenge of longer wavelength direct emitters of green, yellow, and orange. Use of bulk GaN substrate allows leapfrogging epitaxy development and offers crystallographic planes that allow higher crystal perfection and a control over piezoelectric polarization. Their combination allows stabilization of emission wavelength with current. Further improvement is found in substrate patterning on the micro and nano-meter length scale where we find roughly equal performance enhancement due to both, enhancement in light extraction and enhanced crystalline perfection.
Energy efficiency has been the primary driving force for solid state lighting to replace wasteful incandescent lamps by
light emitting diodes (LEDs). Recently, rising cost for rare earth metals has redoubled the push to also replace
fluorescent and compact fluorescent lighting. Phosphors in fluorescent lamps heavily rely on rare earth metals and even
first generation LEDs use such phosphors, albeit at much lower quantities. The role of phosphors to expand a narrow
wavelength source into a wider spectrum is a very lossy process in itself and can be circumvented altogether by second
generation LEDs, where the full visible solar spectrum is directly replicated by direct emitting LEDs. We here report
progress of our work towards this goal, in particular by the development of high brightness direct emitting green group-
III nitride LEDs.
In absence of piezoelectric polarization along the growth axis, a- and m-plane green GaInN light emitting diodes
manifest stable emission wavelength -- independent of the injection current density. The shift of the dominant
wavelength is less than 8 nm when varying the forward current density from 0.1 to 38 A/cm2. Furthermore, the light
emitted from the growth surface of such non-polar structures shows a very degree of linear polarization. This is
attributed to a strong valance band splitting in such anisotropically strained wurtzite GaInN quantum wells . Such light
emitting diodes show a high potential for energy efficient display applications.
Increasing emission power and efficiency in green light emitting diodes is one of the big challenges towards all-solid-state lighting. The prime challenge lies in the combination of extension of wavelength from 470 nm blue to 525 nm green while maintaining the emission power level. Commonly a steep decrease in power is observed. In a broad development effort we have been able to ameliorate that decrease significantly and obtain bare die performance at 525 nm of 1.6 mW at 20 mA for 350x350 μm2 dies. Here we discuss critical die performance and wafer yield aspects of our optimization approach to the active layer of the GaInN/GaN quantum wells.
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