Alternating-Current InGaN/GaN Tunnel Junction Nanowire White-Light Emitting Diodes.

The current LED lighting technology relies on the use of a driver to convert alternating current (AC) to low-voltage direct current (DC) power, a resistive p-GaN contact layer to inject positive charge carriers (holes) for blue light emission, and rare-earth doped phosphors to down-convert blue photons into green/red light, which have been identified as some of the major factors limiting the device efficiency, light quality, and cost. Here, we show that multiple-active region phosphor-free InGaN nanowire white LEDs connected through a polarization engineered tunnel junction can fundamentally address the afore-described challenges. Such a p-GaN contact-free LED offers the benefit of carrier regeneration, leading to enhanced light intensity and reduced efficiency droop. Moreover, through the monolithic integration of p-GaN up and p-GaN down nanowire LED structures on the same substrate, we have demonstrated, for the first time, AC operated LEDs on a Si platform, which can operate efficiently in both polarities (positive and negative) of applied voltage.

Improvement of the emission properties from InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-wire nanostructures after treatment in the flowing afterglow of a microwave N2 plasma.

Nominally pure GaN nanowires (NWs) and InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-wire heterostructures were exposed to the flowing afterglow of a N2 microwave plasma and characterized by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. While the band-edge emission from GaN NWs and the GaN matrix of the InGaN/GaN NWs strongly decreased due to the creation of non-radiative recombination centers in the near-surface region, the emission from the InGaN dots strongly increased. PL excitation measurements indicate that such an increase cannot be explained by a plasma-induced shift of the GaN absorption edge. It is rather ascribed to the passivation of grown-in defects and dynamic annealing due to the presence of plasma-generated N atoms and N2 metastables without excessive introduction of ion-induced damage.

p-Type dopant incorporation and surface charge properties of catalyst-free GaN nanowires revealed by micro-Raman scattering and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Micro-Raman scattering and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to investigate Mg-doped GaN nanowires. With the increase of Mg doping level, pronounced Mg-induced local vibrational modes were observed. The evolution of longitudinal optical phonon-plasmon coupled mode, together with detailed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies, show that the near-surface region of nanowires can be transformed from weakly n-type to p-type with the increase of Mg doping.

Tuning the surface Fermi level on p-type gallium nitride nanowires for efficient overall water splitting.

Solar water splitting is one of the key steps in artificial photosynthesis for future carbon-neutral, storable and sustainable source of energy. Here we show that one of the major obstacles for achieving efficient and stable overall water splitting over the emerging nanostructured photocatalyst is directly related to the uncontrolled surface charge properties. By tuning the Fermi level on the nonpolar surfaces of gallium nitride nanowire arrays, we demonstrate that the quantum efficiency can be enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude. The internal quantum efficiency and activity on p-type gallium nitride nanowires can reach ~51% and ~4.0 mol hydrogen h(-1) g(-1), respectively. The nanowires remain virtually unchanged after over 50,000 µmol gas (hydrogen and oxygen) is produced, which is more than 10,000 times the amount of photocatalyst itself (~4.6 µmol). The essential role of Fermi-level tuning in balancing redox reactions and in enhancing the efficiency and stability is also elucidated.

Highly efficient, spectrally pure 340 nm ultraviolet emission from AlxGa1-xN nanowire based light emitting diodes.

High crystal quality, vertically aligned AlxGa1-xN nanowire based double heterojunction light emitting diodes (LEDs) are grown on Si substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. Such AlxGa1-xN nanowires exhibit unique core-shell structures, which can significantly suppress surface nonradiative recombination. We successfully demonstrate highly efficient AlxGa1-xN nanowire array based LEDs operating at ∼340 nm. Such nanowire devices exhibit superior electrical and optical performance, including an internal quantum efficiency of ∼59% at room temperature, a relatively small series resistance, highly stable emission characteristics, and the absence of efficiency droop under pulsed biasing conditions.

Highly stable photoelectrochemical water splitting and hydrogen generation using a double-band InGaN/GaN core/shell nanowire photoanode.

We report on the first demonstration of stable photoelectrochemical water splitting and hydrogen generation on a double-band photoanode in acidic solution (hydrogen bromide), which is achieved by InGaN/GaN core/shell nanowire arrays grown on Si substrate using catalyst-free molecular beam epitaxy. The nanowires are doped n-type using Si to reduce the surface depletion region and increase current conduction. Relatively high incident-photon-to-current-conversion efficiency (up to ~27%) is measured under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation. Under simulated sunlight illumination, steady evolution of molecular hydrogen is further demonstrated.

Growth of large-scale vertically aligned GaN nanowires and their heterostructures with high uniformity on SiO(x) by catalyst-free molecular beam epitaxy.

The catalyst-free molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaN nanowires and their heterostructures on a SiOx template is studied in detail. It was found that by optimizing the growth temperature, highly uniform and vertically aligned GaN nanowires and InGaN/GaN heterostructures with excellent optical properties can be obtained on a SiOx template in a large-scale. This work provides an entirely new avenue for GaN nanowire based optoelectronic devices.

High efficiency photoelectrochemical water splitting and hydrogen generation using GaN nanowire photoelectrode.

We have studied the photoelectrochemical properties of both undoped and Si-doped GaN nanowire arrays in 1 mol l(-1) solutions of hydrogen bromide and potassium bromide, which were used separately as electrolytes. It is observed that variations of the photocurrent with bias voltage depend strongly on the n-type doping in GaN nanowires in both electrolytes, which are analyzed in the context of GaN surface band bending and its variation with the incorporation of Si-doping. Maximum incident-photon-to-current-conversion efficiencies of ~15% and 18% are measured for undoped and Si-doped GaN nanowires under ~350 nm light illumination, respectively. Stable hydrogen generation is also observed at a zero bias potential versus the counter-electrode.

Recombination dynamics in InGaN/GaN nanowire heterostructures on Si(111).

We have performed room-temperature time-resolved photoluminescence measurements on samples that comprise InGaN insertions embedded in GaN nanowires. The decay curves reveal non-exponential recombination dynamics that evolve into a power law at long times. We find that the characteristic power-law exponent increases with emission photon energy. The data are analyzed in terms of a model that involves an interplay between a radiative state and a metastable charge-separated state. The agreement between our results and the model points towards an emission dominated by carriers localized on In-rich nanoclusters that form spontaneously inside the InGaN insertions.

p-Type modulation doped InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-wire white-light-emitting diodes monolithically grown on Si(111).

Full-color, catalyst-free InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-wire light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were monolithically grown on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy, with the emission characteristics controlled by the dot properties in a single epitaxial growth step. With the use of p-type modulation doping in the dot-in-a-wire heterostructures, we have demonstrated the most efficient phosphor-free white LEDs ever reported, which exhibit an internal quantum efficiency of ∼56.8%, nearly unaltered CIE chromaticity coordinates with increasing injection current, and virtually zero efficiency droop at current densities up to ∼640 A/cm(2). The remarkable performance is attributed to the superior three-dimensional carrier confinement provided by the electronically coupled dot-in-a-wire heterostructures, the nearly defect- and strain-free GaN nanowires, and the significantly enhanced hole transport due to the p-type modulation doping.