Regulating the valence level arrangement of high-Al-content AlGaN quantum wells using additional potentials with Mg doping.

Quantum states and arrangement of valence levels determine most of the electronic and optical properties of semiconductors. Since the crystal field split-off hole (CH) band is the top valence band in high-Al-content AlGaN, TM-polarized optical anisotropy has become the limiting factor for efficient deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light emission. Additional potentials, including on-site Coulomb interaction and orbital state coupling induced by magnesium (Mg) doping, are proposed in this work to regulate the valence level arrangement of AlN/Al0.75Ga0.25N quantum wells (QWs). Diverse responses of valence quantum states |pi〉 (i = x, y, or z) of AlGaN to additional potentials due to different configurations and interactions of orbitals revealed by first-principles simulations are understood in terms of the linear combination of atomic orbital states. A positive charge and large Mg dopant in QWs introduce an additional Coulomb potential and modulate the orbital coupling distance. For the CH band (pz orbital), the Mg-induced Coulomb potential compensates the orbital coupling energy. Meanwhile, the heavy/light hole (HH/LH) bands (px and py orbitals) are elevated by the Mg-induced Coulomb potential. Consequently, HH/LH energy levels are relatively shifted upward and replace the CH level to be the top of the valence band. The inversion of optical anisotropy and enhancement of TE-polarized emission are further confirmed experimentally via spectroscopic ellipsometry.

Role of Strain-Induced Microscale Compositional Pulling on Optical Properties of High Al Content AlGaN Quantum Wells for Deep-Ultraviolet LED.

A systematic study was carried out for strain-induced microscale compositional pulling effect on the structural and optical properties of high Al content AlGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs). Investigations reveal that a large tensile strain is introduced during the epitaxial growth of AlGaN MQWs, due to the grain boundary formation, coalescence and growth. The presence of this tensile strain results in the microscale inhomogeneous compositional pulling and Ga segregation, which is further confirmed by the lower formation enthalpy of Ga atom than Al atom on AlGaN slab using first principle simulations. The strain-induced microscale compositional pulling leads to an asymmetrical feature of emission spectra and local variation in emission energy of AlGaN MQWs. Because of a stronger three-dimensional carrier localization, the area of Ga segregation shows a higher emission efficiency compared with the intrinsic area of MQWs, which is benefit for fabricating efficient AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diode.

Non-contact electrical detection of intrinsic local charge and internal electric field at nanointerfaces.

A nanoscale non-contact electrical measurement has been developed based on Auger electron spectroscopy. This approach used the specialty of an Auger electron, which is self-generated and free from external influences, to overcome the technical limitations of conventional measurements. The detection of the intrinsic local charge and internal electric field for nanostructured materials was achieved with a resolution below 10 nm. As an example, the electrical properties at the GaN/AlGaN/GaN nanointerfaces were characterized. The concentration of the intrinsic polarization sheet charges embedded in GaN/AlGaN nanointerfacial layers were accurately detected to be -4.4 e nm(-2). The mapping of the internal electric field across the nanointerface revealed the actual energy-band configuration at the early stage of the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas.

Quantum state engineering with ultra-short-period (AlN)m/(GaN)n superlattices for narrowband deep-ultraviolet detection.

Ultra-short-period (AlN)m/(GaN)n superlattices with tunable well and barrier atomic layer numbers were grown by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy, and employed to demonstrate narrowband deep ultraviolet photodetection. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray reciprocal space mapping confirm that superlattices containing well-defined, coherently strained GaN and AlN layers as thin as two atomic layers (∼ 0.5 nm) were grown. Theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that an optical absorption band as narrow as 9 nm (210 meV) at deep-ultraviolet wavelengths can be produced, and is attributable to interband transitions between quantum states along the [0001] direction in ultrathin GaN atomic layers isolated by AlN barriers. The absorption wavelength can be precisely engineered by adjusting the thickness of the GaN atomic layers because of the quantum confinement effect. These results represent a major advance towards the realization of wavelength selectable and narrowband photodetectors in the deep-ultraviolet region without any additional optical filters.

High density GaN/AlN quantum dots for deep UV LED with high quantum efficiency and temperature stability.

High internal efficiency and high temperature stability ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at 308 nm were achieved using high density (2.5 × 10(9) cm(-2)) GaN/AlN quantum dots (QDs) grown by MOVPE. Photoluminescence shows the characteristic behaviors of QDs: nearly constant linewidth and emission energy, and linear dependence of the intensity with varying excitation power. More significantly, the radiative recombination was found to dominant from 15 to 300 K, with a high internal quantum efficiency of 62% even at room temperature.

High Mg effective incorporation in Al-rich AlxGa1 - xN by periodic repetition of ultimate V/III ratio conditions.

According to first-principles calculations, the solubility of Mg as a substitute for Ga or Al in AlxGa1 - xN bulk is limited by large, positive formation enthalpies. In contrast to the bulk case, the formation enthalpies become negative on AlxGa1 - xN surface. In addition, the N-rich growth atmosphere can also be favorable to Mg incorporation on the surface by changing the chemical potentials. On the basis of these special features, we proposed a modified surface engineering technique that applies periodical interruptions under an ultimate V/III ratio condition (extremely N-rich), to enhance Mg effective incorporation. By optimizing the interruption conditions (2 nm interruption interval with 2 s interruption time), the enhancement ratio can be up to about 5 in the Al0.99Ga0.01N epilayer.

Vacuum Rabi splitting of exciton-polariton emission in an AlN film.

The vacuum Rabi splitting of exciton-polariton emission is observed in cathodoluminescence (CL) and photoluminescence spectra of an AlN epitaxial film. Atomic force microscopy and CL measurements show that the film has an atomically flat surface, high purity, and high crystal quality. By changing the temperature, anticrossing behavior between the upper and lower polariton branch can be obtained in low temperature with a Rabi splitting of 44 meV, in agreement with the calculation. This large energy splitting is caused by strong oscillator strength, intrinsically pure polarization in wurtzite AlN semiconductor, and high fraction of free exciton in the sample. These properties indicate that AlN can be a potential semiconductor for the further development of polariton physics and polariton-based novel devices.