Flexible GaAs photodetector arrays hetero-epitaxially grown on GaP/Si for a low-cost III-V wearable photonics platform.

We demonstrate flexible GaAs photodetector arrays that were hetero-epitaxially grown on a Si wafer for a new cost-effective and reliable wearable optoelectronics platform. A high crystalline quality GaAs layer was transferred onto a flexible foreign substrate and excellent retention of device performance was demonstrated by measuring the optical responsivities and dark currents. Optical simulation proves that the metal stacks used for wafer bonding serve as a back-reflector and enhance GaAs photodetector responsivity via a resonant-cavity effect. Device durability was also tested by bending 1000 times and no performance degradation was observed. This work paves a way for a cost-effective and flexible III-V optoelectronics technology with high durability.

Strong enhancement of emission efficiency in GaN light-emitting diodes by plasmon-coupled light amplification of graphene.

Recently, we have demonstrated that excitation of plasmon-polaritons in a mechanically-derived graphene sheet on the top of a ZnO semiconductor considerably enhances its light emission efficiency. If this scheme is also applied to device structures, it is then expected that the energy efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) increases substantially and the commercial potential will be enormous. Here, we report that the plasmon-induced light coupling amplifies emitted light by ∼1.6 times in doped large-area chemical-vapor-deposition-grown graphene, which is useful for practical applications. This coupling behavior also appears in GaN-based LEDs. With AuCl3-doped graphene on Ga-doped ZnO films that is used as transparent conducting electrodes for the LEDs, the average electroluminescence intensity is 1.2-1.7 times enhanced depending on the injection current. The chemical doping of graphene may produce the inhomogeneity in charge densities (i.e., electron/hole puddles) or roughness, which can play a role as grating couplers, resulting in such strong plasmon-enhanced light amplification. Based on theoretical calculations, the plasmon-coupled behavior is rigorously explained and a method of controlling its resonance condition is proposed.

Graphene-quantum-dot nonvolatile charge-trap flash memories.

Nonvolatile flash-memory capacitors containing graphene quantum dots (GQDs) of 6, 12, and 27 nm average sizes (d) between SiO2 layers for use as charge traps have been prepared by sequential processes: ion-beam sputtering deposition (IBSD) of 10 nm SiO2 on a p-type wafer, spin-coating of GQDs on the SiO2 layer, and IBSD of 20 nm SiO2 on the GQD layer. The presence of almost a single array of GQDs at a distance of ∼13 nm from the SiO2/Si wafer interface is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence. The memory window estimated by capacitance-voltage curves is proportional to d for sweep voltages wider than  ± 3 V, and for d = 27 nm the GQD memories show a maximum memory window of 8 V at a sweep voltage of  ± 10 V. The program and erase speeds are largest at d = 12 and 27 nm, respectively, and the endurance and data-retention properties are the best at d = 27 nm. These memory behaviors can be attributed to combined effects of edge state and quantum confinement.

High-Performance Flexible InAs Thin-Film Photodetector Arrays with Heteroepitaxial Growth Using an Abruptly Graded InxAl1-xAs Buffer.

Current infrared thermal image sensors are mainly based on planar firm substrates, but the rigid form factor appears to restrain the versatility of their applications. For wearable health monitoring and implanted biomedical sensing, transfer of active device layers onto a flexible substrate is required while controlling the high-quality crystalline interface. Here, we demonstrate high-detectivity flexible InAs thin-film mid-infrared photodetector arrays through high-yield wafer bonding and a heteroepitaxial lift-off process. An abruptly graded InxAl1-xAs (0.5 < x < 1) buffer was found to drastically improve the lift-off interface morphology and reduce the threading dislocation density twice, compared to the conventional linear grading method. Also, our flexible InAs photodetectors showed excellent optical performance with high mechanical robustness, a peak room-temperature specific detectivity of 1.21 × 109 cm-Hz1/2/W at 3.4 µm, and excellent device reliability. This flexible InAs photodetector enabled by the heteroepitaxial lift-off method shows promise for next-generation thermal image sensors.

InAs on GaAs Photodetectors Using Thin InAlAs Graded Buffers and Their Application to Exceeding Short-Wave Infrared Imaging at 300 K.

Short-wave infrared (SWIR) detectors and emitters have a high potential value in several fields of applications, including the internet of things (IoT) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), gas sensing. Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) photodetectors are widely used in the SWIR region of 1-3 µm; however, they only capture a part of the region due to a cut-off wavelength of 1.7 µm. This study presents an InAs p-i-n photodetector grown on a GaAs substrate (001) by inserting 730-nm thick InxAl1-xAs graded and AlAs buffer layers between the InAs layer and the GaAs substrate. At room temperature, the fabricated InAs photodetector operated in an infrared range of approximately 1.5-4 µm and its detectivity (D*) was 1.65 × 108 cm · Hz1/2 · W-1 at 3.3 µm. To demonstrate performance, the Sherlock Holmes mapping images were obtained using the photodetector at room temperature.

High-Quality 100 nm Thick InSb Films Grown on GaAs(001) Substrates with an In x Al1-x Sb Continuously Graded Buffer Layer.

In this paper, we report the growth of a high-quality 100 nm thick InSb layer on a (001) GaAs substrate for InSb-based high-speed electronic device applications. A continuously graded buffer (CGB) technique with In x Al1-x Sb was used to grow high-quality InSb films on GaAs substrates. The CGB layer was grown by continuously changing the growth temperature and composition of the aluminum and indium during the growth of the buffer layer. Degradation of electrical properties, which normally accompany carrier-defect scattering in a heteroepitaxial layer, was minimized by using the CGB layer. The electrical properties of the InSb films were characterized by Hall measurements, and the electron mobility of the 100 nm-thick InSb film had the largest value, of 39 290 cm2/V·s, among reports of similar thickness. To investigate the relationship between electrical and structural properties, the 100 nm thick InSb film was characterized by energy-dispersive spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.

Erratum: High-Quality 100 nm Thick InSb Films Grown on GaAs(001) Substrates with an In x Al1-x Sb Continuously Graded Buffer Layer.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b02189.].

Light-induced negative differential resistance in graphene/Si-quantum-dot tunneling diodes.

One of the interesing tunneling phenomena is negative differential resistance (NDR), the basic principle of resonant-tunneling diodes. NDR has been utilized in various semiconductor devices such as frequency multipliers, oscillators, relfection amplifiers, logic switches, and memories. The NDR in graphene has been also reported theoretically as well as experimentally, but should be further studied to fully understand its mechanism, useful for practical device applications. Especially, there has been no observation about light-induced NDR (LNDR) in graphene-related structures despite very few reports on the LNDR in GaAs-based heterostructures. Here, we report first observation of LNDR in graphene/Si quantum dots-embedded SiO2 (SQDs:SiO2) multilayers (MLs) tunneling diodes. The LNDR strongly depends on temperature (T) as well as on SQD size, and the T dependence is consistent with photocurrent (PC)-decay behaviors. With increasing light power, the PC-voltage curves are more structured with peak-to-valley ratios over 2 at room temperature. The physical mechanism of the LNDR, governed by resonant tunneling of charge carriers through the minibands formed across the graphene/SQDs:SiO2 MLs and by their nonresonant phonon-assisted tunneling, is discussed based on theoretical considerations.

Energy transfer from an individual silica nanoparticle to graphene quantum dots and resulting enhancement of photodetector responsivity.

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), referred to as the transfer of the photon energy absorbed in donor to acceptor, has received much attention as an important physical phenomenon for its potential applications in optoelectronic devices as well as for the understanding of some biological systems. If one-atom-thick graphene is used for donor or acceptor, it can minimize the separation between donor and acceptor, thereby maximizing the FRET efficiency (EFRET). Here, we report first fabrication of a FRET system composed of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as donors and acceptors, respectively. The FRET from SNPs to GQDs with an EFRET of ∼78% is demonstrated from excitation-dependent photoluminescence spectra and decay curves. The photodetector (PD) responsivity (R) of the FRET system at 532 nm is enhanced by 10(0)∼10(1)/10(2)∼10(3) times under forward/reverse biases, respectively, compared to the PD containing solely GQDs. This remarkable enhancement is understood by network-like current paths formed by the GQDs on the SNPs and easy transfer of the carriers generated from the SNPs into the GQDs due to their close attachment. The R is 2∼3 times further enhanced at 325 nm by the FRET effect.

Graphene/Si-quantum-dot heterojunction diodes showing high photosensitivity compatible with quantum confinement effect.

Graphene/Si quantum dot (QD) heterojunction diodes are reported for the first time. The photoresponse, very sensitive to variations in the size of the QDs as well as in the doping concentration of graphene and consistent with the quantum-confinement effect, is remarkably enhanced in the near-ultraviolet range compared to commercially available bulk-Si photodetectors. The photoresponse proves to be dominated by the carriertunneling mechanism.

High photoresponsivity in an all-graphene p-n vertical junction photodetector.

Intensive studies have recently been performed on graphene-based photodetectors, but most of them are based on field effect transistor structures containing mechanically exfoliated graphene, not suitable for practical large-scale device applications. Here we report high-efficient photodetector behaviours of chemical vapor deposition grown all-graphene p-n vertical-type tunnelling diodes. The observed photodetector characteristics well follow what are expected from its band structure and the tunnelling of current through the interlayer between the metallic p- and n-graphene layers. High detectivity (~10(12) cm Hz(1/2) W(-1)) and responsivity (0.4~1.0 A W(-1)) are achieved in the broad spectral range from ultraviolet to near-infrared and the photoresponse is almost consistent under 6-month operations. The high photodetector performance of the graphene p-n vertical diodes can be understood by the high photocurrent gain and the carrier multiplication arising from impact ionization in graphene.

High-performance graphene-quantum-dot photodetectors.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have received much attention due to their novel phenomena of charge transport and light absorption/emission. The optical transitions are known to be available up to ~6 eV in GQDs, especially useful for ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs). Thus, the demonstration of photodetection gain with GQDs would be the basis for a plenty of applications not only as a single-function device in detecting optical signals but also a key component in the optoelectronic integrated circuits. Here, we firstly report high-efficient photocurrent (PC) behaviors of PDs consisting of multiple-layer GQDs sandwiched between graphene sheets. High detectivity (>10(11) cm Hz(1/2)/W) and responsivity (0.2 ~ 0.5 A/W) are achieved in the broad spectral range from UV to near infrared. The observed unique PD characteristics prove to be dominated by the tunneling of charge carriers through the energy states in GQDs, based on bias-dependent variations of the band profiles, resulting in novel dark current and PC behaviors.

Graphene p-n vertical tunneling diodes.

Formation and characterization of graphene p-n junctions are of particular interest because the p-n junctions are used in a wide variety of electronic/photonic systems as building blocks. Graphene p-n junctions have been previously formed by using several techniques, but most of the studies are based on lateral-type p-n junctions, showing no rectification behaviors. Here, we report a new type of graphene p-n junction. We first fabricate and characterize vertical-type graphene p-n junctions with two terminals. One of the most important characteristics of the vertical junctions is the asymmetric rectifying behavior showing an on/off ratio of ~10(3) under bias voltages below ±10 V without gating at higher n doping concentrations, which may be useful for practical device applications. In contrast, at lower n doping concentrations, the p-n junctions are ohmic, consistent with the Klein-tunneling effect. The observed rectification results possibly from the formation of strongly corrugated insulating or semiconducting interlayers between the metallic p- and n-graphene sheets at higher n doping concentrations, which is actually a structure like a metal-insulator-metal or metal-semiconductor-metal tunneling diode. The properties of the diodes are almost invariant even 6 months after fabrication.