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Spin-orbit coupling is studied using the quantum interference corrections to conductance in AlGaN/AlN/GaN two-dimensional electron systems where the carrier density is controlled by the persistent photoconductivity effect. All the samples studied exhibit a weak antilocalization feature with a spin-orbit field of around 1.8 mT. The zero-field electron spin splitting energies extracted from the weak antilocalization measurements are found to scale linearly with the Fermi wavevector with an effective linear spin-orbit coupling parameter 5.5x10^{-13} eV m. The spin-orbit times extracted from our measurements varied from 0.74 to 8.24 ps within the carrier density range of this experiment., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures

We studied the persistent photoconductivity (PPC) effect in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with two different Al-compositions (x=0.15 and x=0.25). The two-dimensional electron gas formed at the AlN/GaN heterointerface was characterized by Shubnikov-de Haas and Hall measurements. Using optical illumination, we were able to increase the carrier density of the Al0.15Ga0.85N/AlN/GaN sample from 1.6x10^{12} cm^{-2} to 5.9x1012 cm^{-2}, while the electron mobility was enhanced from 9540 cm2/Vs to 21400 cm2/Vs at T = 1.6 K. The persistent photocurrent in both samples exhibited a strong dependence on illumination wavelength, being highest close to the bandgap and decreasing at longer wavelengths. The PPC effect became fairly weak for illumination wavelengths longer than 530 nm and showed a more complex response with an initial negative photoconductivity in the infrared region of the spectrum (>700 nm). The maximum PPC-efficiency for 390 nm illumination was 0.011% and 0.005% for Al0.25Ga0.75N/AlN/GaN and Al0.15Ga0.85N/AlN/GaN samples, respectively. After illumination, the carrier density could be reduced by annealing the sample. Annealing characteristics of the PPC effect were studied in the 20-280 K temperature range. We found that annealing at 280 K was not sufficient for full recovery of the carrier density. In fact, the PPC effect occurs in these samples even at room temperature. Comparing the measurement results of two samples, the Al0.25Ga0.75N/AlN/GaN sample had a larger response to illumination and displayed a smaller recovery with thermal annealing. This result suggests that the energy scales of the defect configuration-coordinate diagrams for these samples are different, depending on their Al-composition., 27 pages, 8 figures

Wurtzite Ill-nitrides crystallize uniaxially and non-center-symmetrically. They exhibit large spontaneous and strain-induced polarization effects [1]. The large amount of polarization charge appearing at their heterointerfaces and the strong electric fields associated with it is unique to Ill-nitride heterostructures and has a dramatic effect on their optical and electrical properties. When a GaN film is grown on the c-plane of sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), it does not share the same atomic stacking order with sapphire. Consequently, the crystal direction [0001] of a GaN film can be either parallel or anti-parallel to the growth direction, leading to epilayers with two different polarities, Ga-and N-polar films. Investigations have shown that these two polar films have vastly differing growth, surface, and other properties [2]. Therefore, proper control of the film polarity during growth, as well as characterization of the materials with different polarities, are very important considerations in the application of these materials.

WOS: 000425566100069, Enhancement of InGaN/GaN based light emitting diode performance with step graded electron injectors through a two-step passivation is reported. Perimeter passivation of LED dies with SiO2 immediately following ICP mesa etch in addition to conventional Si3N4 dielectric surface passivation leads to decrease in the reverse bias leakage current by a factor of two as well as a decrease in the shunt current under forward bias by an order of magnitude. Mitigation of the leakage currents owing to the two-step passivation leads to significant increase in the radiant intensity of LEDs by more than a factor of two compared to the conventional single step surface passivation. Further, micro-dome patterned surface of Si3N4 passivation layer allow enhanced light extraction from LEDs. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) [113G042]; TUBITAK, Financial support for this project was provided by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) [Grant No: 113G042]. Ismail Altuntas, acknowledges the Ph.D. Grant support from TUBITAK. We thank to UNAM-National Nanotechnology Research Center at Bilkent University for the use of fabrication and characterization equipment.

WOS: 000430037600030, We investigate the effect of InGaN stress compensation layer on the properties of light emitting diodes based on InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) structures with step graded electron injectors. Insertion of an InGaN stress compensation layer between n-GaN and the step graded electron injector provides, among others, strain reduction in the MQW region and as a result improves epitaxial quality that can be observed by 15-fold decrease of V-pit density. We observed more uniform distribution of In between quantum wells in MQW region from results of electro- and photoluminescence measurement. These structural improvements lead to increasing of radiant intensity by a factor of 1.7-2.0 and enhancement of LED efficiency by 40%. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey [113G042]; TUBITAK, Financial support for this work is provided by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Grant No: 113G042). Ismail Altuntas acknowledges the Ph.D. Grant support from TUBITAK. We thank UNAM-National Nanotechnology Research Center at Bilkent University for access to fabrication and characterization equipment.

We report on the reliability of GaN-based super-luminescent light emitting diodes (SLEDs) emitting at a wavelength of 405 nm. We show that the Mg doping level in the p-type layers has an impact on both the device electro-optical characteristics and their reliability. Optimized doping levels allow decreasing the operating voltage on single-mode devices from more than 6 V to less than 5 V for an injection current of 100 mA. Furthermore, maximum output powers as high as 350 mW (for an injection current of 500 mA) have been achieved in continuous-wave operation (CW) at room temperature. Modules with standard and optimized p-type layers were finally tested in terms of lifetime, at a constant output power of 10 mW, in CW operation and at a case temperature of 25 degrees C. The modules with non-optimized p-type doping showed a fast and remarkable increase in the drive current during the first hundreds of hours together with an increase of the device series resistance. No degradation of the electrical characteristics was observed over 2000 h on devices with optimized p-type layers. The estimated lifetime for those devices was longer than 5000 h.

WOS: 000401364700031, We studied the effect of the substrate temperature, in the range from 450 degrees C to 500 degrees C, on the required Zn to (Be + Mg) flux ratio for plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy growth of O-polar BexMgyZn1-x-yO on (0001)-GaN/sapphire templates. Achievement of single-crystalline BexMgyZn1-x-yO with improved optical and structural qualities required relatively high substrate temperatures, which necessitated the Zn to (Be + Mg) flux ratio to be increased from 3.9 at 450 degrees C to 8.3 at 500 degrees C. This resulted in a reduction of Mg incorporation from 25% to 15% for a fixed Be content of similar to 3%. With increasing Zn to (Be + Mg) ratio, 15K photoluminescence energy for the dominant emission remained unchanged at around 3.75 eV and 3.55 eV for the samples grown at 475 degrees C and 500 degrees C, respectively. These findings readily suggest a kinetic limitation of Mg and Be incorporation into wurtzite BexMgyZn1-x-yO lattice, resulting in the formation of second phase due mainly to the enhanced surface mobility of Mg adatoms and, therefore, an increase in the probability of the formation of Mg-rich clusters. An increase in the in-plane lattice parameter, deduced from the Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction, at the onset of the phase segregation suggests the formation of the wurtzite phase MgO rich alloy(s). Published by AIP Publishing., Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) [FA9550-12-1-0094]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), This work was supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under Grant No. FA9550-12-1-0094. Ismail Altuntas, acknowledges the Ph.D. Grant support from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). The authors are thankful to Dr. Monavarian for his help while providing (0001) GaN/sapphire template.

Different electron energy relaxation dynamics are observed in narrow and wide modulation Be-doped GaAs-${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$As multiple quantum wells grown on Si substrates (GaAs QW's/Si) arising from different valence-subband structure. The combination of built-in biaxial stress and spatial hole confinement results in a reversal of light- and heavy-hole subbands in narrow GaAs QW's/Si structures. For narrow (wide) quantum-well structures of 40 (188) \AA{} at 4.3 K in which there is a two-dimensional light- (heavy-) hole gas, the energy-loss process of photoexcited hot electrons is extremely rapid (slow) due to strong (weak) energy exchange with the cool light (heavy) holes. The nonequilibrium phonon population was found to build up from the relaxation of hot electrons in the 188-\AA{} wells but not in the 40-\AA{} wells.