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Eco‐friendly and low‐cost aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) for the epitaxial growth of ultraviolet‐B (UVB) light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) on c‐Sapphire has the possibility of high external‐quantum efficiency (EQE). In this review paper a special growth techniques for 50% relaxed and 4 μm thick AlGaN buffer layer underneath the multi‐quantum wells (MQWs) are challenged to achieve a maximum internal‐quantum efficiency of 50–57% in 310–290 nm band UVB LEDs. The influence of a thin “Valley” layer in p‐type multi‐quantum barrier electron‐blocking layer on 2D hole generation and injection via intraband tunneling was attempted. Finally, the influence of soft polarized Mg‐doped p‐type Al‐graded AlGaN hole injection layer assisted by excimer laser annealing for better hole injection toward the MQWs was investigated and quite high hole concentration of 2 × 1016 cm−3 and resistivity of 24 Ω‐cm at room temperature was achieved. Consequently, the EQE of transparent 310 and 304 nm UVB LEDs, respectively, reached to a confirmed world record values of ≈5% and ≈10% with light powers of 29 and 40 mW on wafer. This EQE value can surpass 21% if flip‐chip, nanoPSS, photonic crystal, and lens with highly reflective p‐electrodes are incorporated in LED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flat and high‐quality semipolar AlN layers are crucial to realizing polarization‐reduced deep‐UV optical devices. We investigate the effects of Ga supply during the growth of semipolar AlN on m‐plane sapphire with the aim to produce better surface morphology. Incorporation of Ga into AlN is negligibly small at high‐temperature growth. The surface roughness significantly decreased with increasing the TMGa flow at a constant V/III ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THz (QCLs) are promising large output power semiconductor‐based THz sources with narrow bandwidths and wide operating frequency ranges. However, the operating temperature of THz QCLs is still limited by the design of its active region. Matyas et al. (2012) theoretically predicted that AlGaAs/GaAs THz QCLs with higher optical gain could be obtained by introducing a variable barrier height structure (Matyas et al., J. Appl. Phys. 2012, 111, 103106). Based on the proposed variable barrier QC structure, we fabricate AlGaAs/GaAs three‐well type THz QCLs with an additional very thin second extraction barrier and a low barrier height emission barrier. With this device, we obtain lasing operation at 3.7 THz at a maximum operating temperature of 145 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain a high-quality AlN template on a Si substrate for high-quantum efficiency AlGaN-based deep-UV LED applications, we fabricated a high-density micro-patterned Si(111) substrate. An about 8-µm-thick AlN template was grown on the Si(111) substrate in a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition reactor by using NH 3 pulsed-flow multilayer AlN growth and epitaxial lateral overgrowth methods. The template had a small X-ray full width at half-maximum with rocking curves of 620 and 1141″ for the symmetric and asymmetric (002 and 102) planes. A threading dislocation density at the best region as low as 10 7 cm −2 was also obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The luminescence efficiency of AlxGa1−xN quantum dots (QDs) and quantum wells (QWs), buried in AlN cladding layers and emitting in the ultraviolet range between 234 and 310 nm, has been investigated. The growth and optical properties have been done using similar aluminum composition (varying from 0.4 to 0.75) for both QDs and QWs. In order to compare as much as possible the optical properties, the QWs were fabricated with a growth time tuned such that the QW width is similar to the average height of the QDs. The photoluminescence (PL) showed emission ranging from 4 to 5.4 eV, putting into evidence differences in terms of full width at half maximum, PL intensity, and asymmetry of the line shape between QDs and QWs. The results show shorter wavelengths and a slightly narrower PL linewidth for QWs. To determine the light emission dependence with the electric field direction in the crystal, the evolutions of the emission diagrams for all samples were recorded along two orthogonal directions, namely, the "in-plane" (growth) and the "on-side" directions, from which the light emission was collected. For the whole QDs and QWs samples' series, the shapes of the emission diagram indicate emission in both in-plane and on-side directions, as evidenced by intra-valence band mixings caused by strain effects combined with the anisotropic Coulomb interactions that are particularly contributing to the polarization at wavelengths below 260 nm. Furthermore, the degree of polarization, determined for each sample, showed good agreement with results from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are in demand for a wide variety of potential applications, such as sterilization, water and air purification, medical uses, and so on. We have demonstrated 222-351 nm AlGaN and quaternary InAlGaN-based DUV-LEDs by developing a low threading dislocation density (TDD) AlN crystal. We achieved an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of about 4% and an output power greater than 30 mW in DUV-LEDs for use in sterilization applications by developing new crystal growth techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlGaN-based ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are expected to have various applications, including sensing and printing, and light with ultraviolet-C (UVC) wavelengths has a virus inactivation effect. The metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) method has been used to fabricate LED devices with film control and impurity doping. However, to achieve high luminous efficiency, highly crystalline aluminum nitride (AlN) must be grown in the underlying layer. Although high temperatures are required to grow high-quality AlN for strong migration at the surface, there is a trade-off in the high temperature promoting parasitic reactions. These parasitic reactions are more dominant at a high V/III ratio with more raw material in the case of using the conventional MOVPE. Here, we used jet stream gas flow MOVPE to investigate the effect of V/III ratio dependencies in optimizing AlN growth and without affecting parasitic reaction conditions. As a result, trends of typical AlN crystal growth at V/III-ratio dependencies were obtained. AlN is more stable at a higher V/III ratio of 1000, exhibiting a double atomic step surface, and the crystal orientation is further improved at 1700 °C compared to that at a lower V/III ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polarized photoluminescence emitted on the edge of a series of aluminum‐rich (Al,Ga)N‐AlN quantum wells (QWs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on AlN templates deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition on c‐plane sapphire is measured. The contrast and the principal axis of the emission diagrams for 2 nm‐thick (Al,Ga)N QWs grown for aluminum compositions between 40% and 90% are studied. The light is emitted on the edge of the QWs at wavelengths going from 280 nm down to 209 nm. The emission diagram, a change from oblate to prolate with respect to the in‐plane orientation, for an aluminum composition is found to occur around 72%, that is, at an emission wavelength of about 235 nm. The orientations and shapes of the edge‐emission diagrams indicate that the fluctuations of the composition of the (Al,Ga)N confining layer are deep enough for producing intravalence band mixings. This property, that acts in concert with the built‐in strain and quantum‐confined Stark effect, contributes to the anisotropy of the light emission when the aluminum composition reaches 60–70%, that is, for an emission wavelength of 260–235 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing resistance of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcusaureus to antibiotics is a major challenge faced by mankind in thehistory of medical science and according to United Nations, 700‐000 patients worldwide die every year from an infection with multidrug‐resistant organisms (MROs). Aluminum gallium nitride‐based 228 nm Far‐ultraviolet‐C (Far‐UVC) lightsources can be safely used as a germicidal application in both manned as wellas in unmanned environments against these MROs. Previously, the 228 nm Far‐UVC light‐emitting diode (LED) with emission power of 1 mW was reported by ourgroup, however, the value of external quantum efficiency (EQE) was not reportedusing conventional thick Ni (20 nm)/Au (100 nm) p‐electrode. Herein, animproved Far‐UVC LED on c‐Sapphire is attempted using a special technique in SR4000 type of metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition reactor to control the Al composition in n‐AlGaN buffer and across the 2 inch‐wafer. As a result, the light emission power of 1.8 mW and EQE of 0.32% in 228 nm Far‐UVC LED aresuccessfully achieved using very thin p‐electrode (Ni/Au). However, arelatively high junction temperature of ≈100°C around thejunction of Far‐UVC LED is observed. Finally, some simple heat‐sink modules forheat dissipation of Far‐UVC LED panel with light power of 30 mW are implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlGaN LEDs emitting < 230 nm UV light were fabricated on sapphire substrates. We employed a quantum well (QW) with an extremely thin barrier to enhance the quantum confinement of holes, wherein the calculation showed that the topmost valence subband became X ± i Y -like and increased the transverse-electric polarized emission. Additionally, we modified the Al composition of the spacer layer situated between the QW and an electron-blocking layer, which significantly improved the current-injection efficiency. The combination and optimization of these structures produced an LED emission of 228-nm UV light with an output power of 1.4 mW at 150 mA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant enhancement in the output power of a GaAs-based terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz QCL) was achieved by implementing a relatively high impurity doping concentration. The QC structure was precisely designed using the nonequilibrium green function method by considering the band bending effect caused by a higher doping concentration. This enabled us to avoid the subband misalignment induced by the strong band bending effect, to provide efficient carrier transport even at high doping concentrations, and to improve the output power. The maximum output power of a GaAs/Al0.16Ga0.84As 3.5 THz-band QCL at 10 K was enhanced from 390 to 600 mW by increasing the doping concentration at the depopulation layers from 6 × 1016 to 1.2 × 1017 cm−3. The average power of 21 mW was achieved by implementing the appropriate pulse drive conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We utilized the finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) to investigate the reflectance of an air void photonic crystal (PhC) on the p-electrode of an AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diode (LED). Firstly, a transparent p-AlGaN layer with cylindrical air voids on a Ni(1nm)/Al(140nm) metal electrode was optimized to maximize the reflectance at normal incidence. It was shown that by having the optimum AlGaN PhC on the metal electrode, the reflectance as a function of the angle of incidence was advantageously redistributed to increase LEE. The calculated angle-dependent reflectances were converted to average reflectance considering the power distribution of dipole sources in the TE and TM modes. The average reflectances of a reference structure and the PhC structure for the TM mode at wavelengths around 283 nm were 77.1 and 85.2%, respectively. Thus, an incremental increase of 8% in average reflectance for the TM mode was obtained by adopting the optimized PhC. Secondly, we investigated a PhC with air voids in two different layers, a p-GaN layer and a p-AlGaN layer on the Ni/Al. The calculated average reflectances at 283 nm were 38% and 42% for the TE and TM modes, respectively, when the thickness of the p-GaN layer was 70 nm. The average reflectances for the TE and TM modes with a uniform 70nm thick p-GaN layer without a PhC were 4.2 and 3.6%, respectively. This clearly shows that the optimized PhC can reduce light absorption in both the p-GaN layer and the metal electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-polar m-plane GaN terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz-QCL) structures have been studied. One is traditional three-well resonant-phonon (RP) design scheme. The other is two-well phonon scattering injection (PSI) design scheme. The peak gains of 41.8 and 44.2 cm−1 have been obtained at 8.2 and 7.7 THz respectively at 300 K according to the self-consistent non-equilibrium Green's function calculation. Different from the usual GaAs two-well design, the upper and lower lasing levels are both ground states in the GaN quantum wells for the PSI scheme, mitigating the severe broadening effect for the excited states in GaN. To guide the fabrication of such devices, the doping effect on the peak gain has been analyzed. The two designs have demonstrated distinct doping density dependence and it is mainly attributed to the very different doping dependent broadening behaviors. The results reveal the possibility of GaN based THz-QCL lasing at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For terahertz quantum cascade lasers employing the nonalignment injection scheme via direct-phonon resonance, this study presents the crucial effect of parasitic absorption in the narrow module architecture based on only two quantum wells. The optical gain can be restricted to small (or negative) values even at the low temperature. To address this issue, a suppression strategy by increasing the injection energy is used to isolate the relevant levels. The feasibility of this strategy is experimentally demonstrated by observing lasing at 194 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlation between the recombination dynamics of excitons and the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of AlGaN-based UV-A multiple quantum wells (MQWs) was studied via photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL (TRPL) spectroscopy. The probability ratio of the capture of excitons by nonradiative recombination centers (NRCs) and the radiative recombination of excitons was evaluated individually via two different experimental analyses. The IQE was evaluated via temperature- and excitation power density-dependent PL measurements and its dependence on excitation density was analyzed using a rate equation model based on the radiative and nonradiative recombination of excitons. Moreover, the radiative and nonradiative recombination lifetimes were evaluated via temperature-dependent TRPL measurements; furthermore, they were analyzed as functions of temperature and excitation energy density. The probability ratios obtained from the two individual analyses were in agreement. This quantitative agreement indicated that the analysis based on the radiative and nonradiative recombination processes of excitons, which included the process of filling NRCs, was valid for AlGaN-based UV-A MQWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlGaN‐based deep‐ultraviolet light‐emitting diodes (DUV LEDs) have a wide range of applications and a large market is expected. However, the efficiency of DUV LEDs is still much lower than that of blue LEDs due to the quite low light‐extraction efficiency (LEE). We are developing high LEE DUV LEDs by introducing a transparent contact layer and a highly reflective Ni/Al p‐type electrode. In this work, we investigate optimization of the Ni layer thickness of the highly reflective Ni/Al p‐type electrode for AlGaN DUV LEDs. We find that the reflectivity in the UV region becomes higher as the thickness of the Ni layer becomes smaller; however, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) is reduced if the Ni layer is too thin (<0.8 nm). As a result, we find that the most appropriate Ni thickness for the Ni/Al electrode is 0.9 nm. We fabricate 279 nm AlGaN quantum well (QW) DUV LEDs with the optimized electrodes and demonstrate an enhancement in EQE by a factor of 1.8 and a maximum EQE of 9% under bare wafer measurement conditions. We also demonstrate a high output power of 33 mW under an injection current of 100 mA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlGaN based deep‐ultraviolet light‐emitting diodes (DUV‐LEDs) have a wide range of applications and a large market is expected. However, the efficiency of DUV‐LEDs is still much lower than that of blue LEDs due to a quite low light‐extraction efficiency (LEE). We improved the LEE of DUV‐LEDs by using a superlattice (SL) hole spreading p‐AlGaN contact layer, a dot matrix Ni/Au electrode and an Al reflector. DUV‐LED samples in which the SL p‐AlGaN contact layer has various period lengths, and forms two different p‐type electrodes, a conventional Ni/Au electrode and a dot matrix Ni/Au electrode with an Al reflector are fabricated. By comparing these LED samples, it is confirmed that contact layers with relatively longer periods are suitable both for vertical hole injection and lateral spreading of the holes. By increasing the Al content and recovering the transparency of the SL p‐AlGaN contact layer, the LEE is increased by up to a factor of 1.6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes have attracted considerable attention for realizing virus inactivation applications. The UV-LEDs use the AlN underlying layer and the plane sapphire substrate. However, the low growth temperature in AlN underlying layer is grown by limited growth temperature in conventional MOVPE, and high temperature is preferable for AlN growth. Furthermore, the AlN underlying layer has many dislocations owing to the active layer in the device region when the flat sapphire substrate was used with a dislocation value of > 109 cm−2. We showed the high-temperature crystal growth of AlN with a temperature of 1700 °C by high temperature and gas flow velocity MOVPE. The achieved dislocation density was ~ 4 × 108 cm−2. Additionally, this data means the low dislocation densities in the AlN layer with a growth time of only 15 min and a dislocation density of < 1 × 109 cm−2 are obtained. The AlN growth temperature exceeding 1550 °C decreases the growth rate. These results indicate desorption from the surface of the substrate in a hydrogen atmosphere. Furthermore, the characteristic dislocation behavior of AlN in high-temperature growth at 1700 °C was elucidated from TEM images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emission performance of c‐sapphire‐grown deep‐UV (DUV) light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) at 254 and 258 nm is particularly poor. To overcome this critical limitation, herein, the influence of the Mg‐dopant concentration in a p‐AlGaN hole source layer (HSL) on donor–acceptor pair emission from solid‐state AlGaN‐based DUV LEDs in the 254–258 nm band is investigated. Further, the influence of substrate growth temperature (TS) on the photoluminescence (PL) emission efficiency and external quantum efficiency (EQE) is investigated. When the TS is increased from 1140 to 1170 °C for a p‐AlGaN HSL with a low Mg‐dopant concentration (70 sccm), the maximum power outputs of the fabricated DUV LED at the single peak emissions of 254 and 258 nm are enhanced to 3.4 and 14 mW, respectively. Moreover, the maximum EQE of the 254 and 258 nm‐band DUV LEDs increases by ≈1.2% and 2.2%, respectively, on the wafer during both continuous‐wave and pulsed operation at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent designs of terahertz quantum cascade lasers usually employ the short periodic length and also the tall barriers for high-temperature operation. In this work, the effect of high-energy lying non-relevant subbands is studied based on nonequilibrium Green's function formalisms model, demonstrating those subbands are probable to play a minor role on the population inversion, but play a major role on the optical gain at high temperatures. The phenomenon can be ascribed to the appearance of leakages crossing neighboring periods via sequential resonant tunneling, and those leakages are inherently created by the specific features of the two-well configuration in this design that the phonon well should be wide enough for performing the phonon scattering to depopulate the lower-laser subband. The narrower periodic length design can strengthen this inter-period leakage. A parasitic absorption between the first high-lying nonrelevant subbands from two laser wells can closely overlap the gain shape and thus significantly reduce the peak gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent renewed operating temperatures in terahertz quantum cascade lasers emphasize on narrowing the periodic length in a 2-well resonant-phonon design for a clean quantum level structure, in which the depopulation energy is significantly higher than one longitudinal phonon. In this study, various depopulation energies (small and large) are engineered in a 2-well design; the effect of the high-lying nonrelevant levels on the currents are systematically studied by using the non-equilibrium Green's function method. The engineering of the depopulation energy is unable to avoid the formation of leakage channels, which are activated within at least three neighboring periods via sequential close tunneling. However, a large depopulation energy relaxes the thermal backfilling process; as a result, the net leakages at high temperatures can be significantly suppressed. In addition, pre-alignment remains a critical issue in the design when using a large depopulation energy, which requires improved engineering for the barriers to obtain better laser dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A GaAs/AlGaAs‐based terahertz quantum cascade laser with a peak power of 1.31 W and average power of 52 mW is demonstrated. To realize a high output power, an effective way is to increase the electron density at the active region by using a high doping level. This work aims to optimize a design enabling to use a heavy doping level, by realigning the resonant tunneling which can be seriously degraded due to a band bending from this heavy local doping. With variable quantum well and barrier height, the design owns an improved parameter tuning freedoms, and a saturation of peak gain can be achieved at a relatively high doping concentration of 1.0 × 1017 cm−3, which is twice higher than the recently reported device. Nonequilibrium Green's function method including full carriers scattering effect is used to carry out the design optimization, mainly including the realignment of resonant tunneling and suppression of leakages via high‐energy confined levels. In the experiment, a 14 μm thick active layer for this design is grown and also large mesa size is developed. To ensure a quasi‐continuous wave (quasi‐CW) operation, the heat dissipation is also managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have a wide range of applications such as medical diagnostics, gas sensing, and water sterilization. Metal–organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) method is used for the growth of all-in-one structures, including doped layer and thin multilayers, using metal–organic and gas source raw materials for semiconductor devices. For AlN growth with high crystalline quality, high temperature is necessary to promote the surface migration of Al atoms and Al-free radicals. However, increase in temperature generates parasitic gas-phase prereactions such as adduct formation. In this work, AlN growth at 1500 °C by a stable vapor phase reaction has been achieved by jet stream gas flow metal–organic vapor phase epitaxy. The AlN growth rate increases with gas flow velocity and saturates at ~ 10 m/s at room temperature. Moreover, it is constant at an ammonia flow rate at a V/III ratio from 50 to 220. These results demonstrate the reduction in adduct formation, which is a typical issue with the vapor phase reaction between triethylaluminum and ammonia. The developed method provides the in-plane uniformity of AlN thickness within 5%, a low concentration of unintentionally doped impurities, smooth surface, and decrease in dislocation density because of the suppression of parasitic reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epitaxial growth of transparent p‐AlGaN‐based ultraviolet‐A (UVA), light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) may solve the problems of UVA light absorption through the GaN buffers and p‐GaN contact layers at (326–341 nm)‐band emission, respectively. Herein, first, an idea of conventional n‐AlGaN buffer layer (BL) and n‐AlGaN electron source layer (ESL) for the suppression of threading dislocation density (TDD) and enhancement of internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of UVA emitters, using low‐pressure metalorganic vapor‐phase epitaxy (LP‐MOVPE) is attempted. As a result, the total‐TDDs is reduced from ≈ 3 × 109 cm−2 to ≈ 1 × 109 cm−2 in the n‐AlGaN ESL of a 326 nm‐band UVA multiquantum‐wells (MQWs), and IQE is also improved from 30% to 52% at room temperature (RT). Second, an idea of Si‐doped n‐AlGaN Superlattices (SLs)‐based BL, using LP‐MOVPE is challenged. Subsequently, a record IQE of 56% at RT and high crystal quality in 341 nm‐band UVA MQWs are observed. Finally, using a well thickness ≈ 2 nm in SLs‐based UVA MQWs, the light power and external quantum efficiency (EQE), respectively, are remarkably enhanced from 3.5 mW and 0.5% to 7.5 mW and 1.4% on wafer in 341 nm‐Band UVA LED. The perspective for the improvements of UVA emitter's performances is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystal growth of eco-friendly, ultrawide bandgap aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN) semiconductor-based ultraviolet-B (UVB) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) hold the potential to replace toxic mercury-based ultraviolet lamps. One of the major drawbacks in the utilisation of AlGaN-based UVB LEDs is their low efficiency of about 6.5%. The study investigates the influence of Al-graded p-type multi-quantum-barrier electron-blocking-layer (Al-grad p-MQB EBL) and Al-graded p-AlGaN hole source layer (HSL) on the generation and injection of 3D holes in the active region. Using the new UVB LED design, a significant improvement in the experimental efficiency and light output power of about 8.2% and 36 mW is noticed. This is accomplished by the transparent nature of Al-graded Mg-doped p-AlGaN HSL for 3D holes generation and p-MQB EBL structure for holes transport toward multi-quantum-wells via intra-band tunnelling. Based on both the numerical and experimental studies, the influence of sub-nanometre scale Ni film deposited underneath the 200 nm-thick Al-film p-electrode on the optical reflectance in UVB LED is investigated. A remarkable improvement in the efficiency of up to 9.6% and light output power of 40 mW, even in the absence of standard package, flip-chip, and resin-like lenses, is achieved on bare-wafer under continuous-wave operation at room temperature. The enhanced performance is attributed to the use of Al-graded p-MQB EBL coupled with softly polarised p-AlGaN HSL and the highly reflective 0.4 nm-thick Ni and 200 nm-thick Al p-electrode in the UVB LED. This research study provides a new avenue to improve the performance of high-power p-AlGaN-based UVB LEDs and other optoelectronic devices in III–V semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key challenge for terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz-QCLs) is to make it operating at room-temperature. The suppression of thermally activated leakages via high lying quantum levels is emphasized recently. In this study, we employ the advanced self-consistent method of non-equilibrium Green's function, aiming to reveal those kinds of leakages in the commonly used THz-QCL designs based on 2-, 3- and 4-quantum well. At the high temperature of 300 K, if all the confined high lying quantum levels and also the continuums are included within three neighboring periods, leakages indeed possess high fraction of the total current (21%, 30%, 50% for 2-, 3- and 4-quantum well designs, respectively). Ministep concept is introduced to weaken those leakage channels by isolating the desired levels from high lying ones, thus the leakages are well suppressed, with corresponding fractions less than 5% for all three designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optoelectronic properties of semiconducting aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN)-based ultraviolet-B (UVB) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are crucial for real-world medical applications such as cancer therapy and immunotherapy. However, the performance of AlGaN-based UVB LED devices is still poor due to the low hole injection efficiency. Therefore, we have numerically investigated the performance of AlGaN-based UVB LEDs for the suppression of efficiency droop as well as for the enhancement of hole injection in the multiquantum wells (MQWs). The influence of the undoped (ud)-AlGaN final quantum barrier (FQB), as well as the Mg-doped multiquantum barrier electron blocking layer (p-MQB EBL), on the efficiency droop has been focused on specifically. To evaluate the performance of the proposed device, we have compared its internal quantum efficiency (IQE), carrier concentration, energy band diagram, and radiative recombination rate with the conventional device structure. Furthermore, the influence of Al composition in the Al-graded p-AlGaN hole source layer (HSL) on the operating voltages of the proposed UVB LEDs was considered. The simulation results suggest that our proposed structure has a high peak efficiency and much lower efficiency droop as compared to the reference structure (conventional). Ultimately, the radiative recombination rate in the MQWs of the proposed UVB LED-N structure has increased up to ∼73%, which is attributed to the enhanced level of electron and hole concentrations by ∼64% and 13%, respectively, in the active region. Finally, a high efficiency droop of up to ∼42% in RLED has been successfully suppressed, to ∼7%, by using the optimized ud-AlGaN FQB and the p-MQB EBL, as well as introducing Al-graded p-AlGaN HSL in the proposed UVB LED-N structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg-doped p-type semiconducting aluminium-gallium-nitride hole source layer (p-AlGaN HSL) materials are quite promising as a source of hole 'p' carriers for the ultraviolet-B (UVB) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs). However, the p-AlGaN HSL has a central issue of low hole injection due to poor activation of Mg atoms, and the presence of unwanted impurity contamination and the existence of a localized coherent state. Therefore, first the impact of the Mg level on the crystallinity, Al composition and relaxation conditions in the p-AlGaN HSL were studied. An increasing trend in the lattice-relaxation ratios with increasing Mg concentrations in the p-AlGaN HSL were observed. Ultimately, a 40%–60% relaxed and 1.4 μm thick p-AlGaN HSL structure with total threading dislocation densities (total-TDDs) of approximately ∼8–9 × 108 cm−2 was achieved, which almost matches our previous design of a 4 μm thick and 50% relaxed n-AlGaN electron source layer (ESL) with total-TDDs of approximately ∼7–8 × 108 cm−2. Subsequently, structurally a symmetric p–n junction for UVB emitters was accomplished. Finally, the influence of excimer laser annealing (ELA) on the activation of Mg concentration and on suppression of unwanted impurities as well as on the annihilation of the localized energy state in the p-AlGaN HSL were thoroughly investigated. ELA treatment suggested a reduced Ga–N bonding ratio and increased Ga–O, as well as Ga–Ga bonding ratios in the p-AlGaN HSL. After ELA treatment the localized coherent state was suppressed and, ultimately, the photoluminescence emission efficiency as well as conductivity were drastically improved in the p-AlGaN HSL. By using lightly polarized p-AlGaN HSL assisted by ELA treatment, quite low resistivity in p-type AlGaN HSL at room temperature (hole concentration is ∼2.6 × 1016 cm−3, the hole mobility is ∼9.6 cm2 V1 s−1 and the resistivity is ∼24.39 Ω. cm) were reported. ELA treatment has great potential for localized activation of p-AlGaN HSL as well as n- and p-electrodes on n-AlGaN and p-AlGaN contact layers during the flip-chip (FC) process in low operating UVB emitters, including UVB lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid state UV emitters have many advantages over conventional UV sources. The (Al,In,Ga)N material system is best suited to produce LEDs and laser diodes from 400 nm down to 210 nm—due to its large and tuneable direct band gap, n- and p-doping capability up to the largest bandgap material AlN and a growth and fabrication technology compatible with the current visible InGaN-based LED production. However AlGaN based UV-emitters still suffer from numerous challenges compared to their visible counterparts that become most obvious by consideration of their light output power, operation voltage and long term stability. Most of these challenges are related to the large bandgap of the materials. However, the development since the first realization of UV electroluminescence in the 1970s shows that an improvement in understanding and technology allows the performance of UV emitters to be pushed far beyond the current state. One example is the very recent realization of edge emitting laser diodes emitting in the UVC at 271.8 nm and in the UVB spectral range at 298 nm. This roadmap summarizes the current state of the art for the most important aspects of UV emitters, their challenges and provides an outlook for future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and stimulated emission properties of AlGaN-based UV-C multiple quantum wells grown on c-plane sapphire substrates were assessed using photoluminescence spectroscopy. The IQEs were estimated to be 53% at room temperature and 16% at 750 K. Furthermore, optically pumped stimulated emission was clearly observed at room temperature. The threshold excitation power densities were estimated to be 13 kW/cm2 at 10 K and 69 kW/cm2 at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the threshold excitation power density suggested that the mechanism of optical gain formation changed from excitonic transition to degenerated electron–hole plasma between 200 and 250 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strain plays a crucial role in the performance of ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronic devices. The strain states of AlGaN layers grown on different AlN templates are investigated. Two types of AlN templates are prepared: one is grown solely by metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and the other is fabricated with the combination of direct current (DC) sputtering, high‐temperature annealing, and MOCVD growth. The qualities of 4 μm‐thick MOCVD AlN and 1.2 μm‐thick sputter‐based AlN are almost equivalent in terms of dislocation density and surface morphology. However, the strain relaxation ratio of the AlGaN layer is higher for the 1.2 μm sputter‐based AlN than the 4 μm MOCVD AlN, indicating that the strain state depends on the total thickness of the epilayers on the sapphire substrate. In addition, it is found that the curvature of the sample at room temperature is governed mainly by the thickness of the AlGaN layer. As a result, sputter‐based AlN templates allow for the enhanced strain relaxation of the AlGaN layer with a small sample bowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of strain relaxation on the optical properties of AlGaN quantum wells (QWs) is investigated. The relaxation ratio is controlled by changing the thickness of an AlGaN buffer layer. The relaxation ratio increases from 20% to 100% with increasing the AlGaN layer thickness from 0.5 to 6.0 μm. Photoluminescence (PL) intensity reaches maximum at a relaxation ratio of 36%, which implies competing effects in radiative and nonradiative recombinations. From the viewpoint of radiative recombination, strain relaxation increases the polarization field in the QW, which decreases the electron–hole overlap. The observed gradual decrease in PL may come from this effect. In terms of nonradiative recombination, the dislocation density is nearly constant up to 4.5 μm from the AlN/AlGaN interface, and decreases at 6.0 μm. Therefore, it is difficult to explain the observed PL intensity by the dislocation‐related nonradiative pathways. Instead, relieved strain can decrease the point‐defect density. Strain relaxation can reduce the vacancy concentration as a result of increased formation energy with the partial relief of compressive strain. The effect of strain on the band structure change is also discussed, where the relieved compressive strain increases the crystal‐field split‐off component in the valence band maximum, resulting in a decreased PL intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonradiative recombination (NRR) centers in n-AlGaN layers of UV-B AlGaN samples with different numbers of superlattice (SL) periods (SLPs), grown on the c-plane sapphire substrate at 1150 °C by the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique, have been studied by using below-gap-excitation (BGE) light in photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy at 30 K. The SLP affects the lattice relaxation of the SL and n-AlGaN layer. The PL intensity decreased by the superposition of BGE light of energies from 0.93 eV to 1.46 eV over the above-gap-excitation light of energy 4.66 eV, which has been explained by a two-level model based on the Shockley–Read–Hall statistics. The degree of PL quenching from n-AlGaN layers of the sample with SLP 100 is lower than those of other samples with SLP 50, 150, and 200. By a qualitative simulation with the dominant BGE energy of 1.27 eV, the density ratio of NRR centers in n-AlGaN layers of 50:100:150:200 SLP samples is obtained as 1.7:1.0:6.5:3.4. This result implies that the number of SLP changes lattice relaxation and determines the density of NRR centers in the n-AlGaN layer, which affects the performance of LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest in semipolar orientations has been increasing because the reduced piezoelectric field can improve the performance of nitride-based optoelectronic devices. However, the crystalline quality of semipolar AlN on m-plane sapphire is still not good enough to realize light emitters with sufficiently high efficiency. We performed high-temperature annealing on AlN on m-plane sapphire to improve the crystalline quality. For (10-1-3) and (11-22) AlN on m-plane sapphire, the crystalline quality improved as the annealing temperature was increased up to 1700 °C, whereas beyond 1750 °C the AlN layer started to deteriorate and desorb. The crystalline quality was further improved by additional growth of AlN. In addition, X-ray rocking curve measurements and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that the density of stacking faults was reduced after the additional growth of AlN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrier transport in GaN terahertz (THz) quantum cascade laser (QCL) structures is theoretically investigated using a non-equilibrium Green's function method. Although scattering due to polar optical phonons in GaN is greatly enhanced with respect to GaAs/AlGaAs THz QCLs, the phonon-induced broadening of the laser levels is found to remain much smaller than other sources of broadening arising from impurity and electron-electron scattering. The gain is calculated self-consistently accounting for the correlation effects in level broadening. Three-well based design with resonant-phonon scheme shows a peak gain of 88/cm at 10 K, and 34/cm at 280 K, which remains above the calculated loss of a double metal waveguide. The results suggest that lasing at 6.6 THz, which is beyond the traditional GaAs THz QCLs, is possible up to 280 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New developments about the electron-blocking mechanism in the UVB LED. • Al-graded AlGaN electron-blocking and p-AlGaN hole-source layers are implemented. • Efficiency droop at 500 mA is remarkably suppressed. • The operating voltages at 150 mA are significantly reduced from 64 to 24 V. • High IQE and high hole injection efficiency are confirmed in the UVB LED. Aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) based UVB LEDs are delivering an increase in efficiency under low current drive, however, the devices are confronted with high efficiency droop and high operating voltages during the measurement on bare-wafer under high current drive. Such issues in UVB LEDs are attributed to using conventional p-type multi-quantum-barrier electron-blocking layer (p-MQB EBL) and fixed Al-contents in the p-AlGaN hole-source layer (HSL). When the conventional p-MQB EBL and bulk p-AlGaN HSL was replaced by Al-graded ud-AlGaN EBL and Al-graded p-AlGaN HSL, respectively, the efficiency droop has been remarkably suppressed and almost uniform external-quantum efficiency (EQE) under high injection current was confirmed. Also, the operating voltages under 150 mA drive were significantly reduced from 64 V (conventional p-MQB EBL) to 24 V (new polarized ud-AlGaN EBL) in UVB LEDs. These improvements are attributed to the smooth valance band edge without any potential barrier in both Al-graded ud-AlGaN EBL and Al-graded p-AlGaN HSL for efficient injection efficiency. At the same time the new structure was considered useful for both blocking of high energy electron overshooting toward the p-side as well as Mg-diffusion toward the multi-quantum wells (MQWs) under high current drive. These experimental results were also confirmed by simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, we attempted to the optically-pumped AlGaN ultraviolet (UV) laser diodes (LDs) on AlN template on c-Sapphire substrate, using low-cost epitaxial growth technique in low-pressure metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE). As a result, stimulated lasing spectra at 274 nm were observed for the first time at room temperature (RT) in the optically pumped LD. However, the electrically-pumped AlGaN-based (270–298 nm)-band UV LD was quite challenging due to both the issue of low injection current density and light confinement factor (Г). In this paper, the injection current density in the electrically pumped AlGaN UV LD at 283 nm emission was remarkably improved up to 200 kA-cm−2 by using undoped Al-graded cladding and Al-graded Mg-doped p-AlGaN hole source layer (HSL). Also, some weak oscillation at 296 nm near to the main spontaneous emission peak of 298 nm-band LD under the 600 mA (24 V) current using pulse width of 50 ns at RT was observed. To further improve the lasing phenomenon, some theoretical studies was conducted, by making the p-side waveguide (p-WG) layer non-doped (Mg = 0) and also increasing the quantum-well (QW) thickness from 2 nm to 4 nm in the multiquantum-wells (MQWs). Consequently, the optical-loss was significantly reduced from 22.7 to 8.7 cm−1 and the Г was enhanced from 1.77% (Experimental LD) to 4.65% (simulated LD). • Optically-pumped AlGaN ultraviolet (UV) laser diodes (LDs) on low-cost AlN template on c-Sapphire substrate in low-pressure metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE) was realized. • Stimulated lasing spectra at 274 nm were observed at room temperature (RT) in the optically pumped UV LD. • Electrically pumped UV LD was also attempted. The injection current density in the electrically pumped AlGaN UV LD at 283 nm emission was remarkably improved up to 200 kA-cm−2. • Some weak oscillation at 296 nm near the main spontaneous emission peak of 298 nm-band UV LD under injection current of 600 mA (24 V) was observed using pulse width of 50 ns at RT. • The optical-loss was significantly reduced from 22.7 to 8.7 cm−1 and light confinement factor (Г) was remarkably enhanced from 1.77% (Experimental UV LD) to 4.65% (simulated UV LD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • GaN-based THz-QCL active region was grown by MOCVD on Si substrate. • A GaN/AlGaN QC active layer consisting of two-QW for one-period was grown. • Samples were evaluated by HR-XRD and cross-sectional TEM. • FWHM of the XRD satellite peaks became narrower when growth temperature decreased. Abstract GaN/AlGaN THz quantum-cascade laser (QCL) structures were grown on AlGaN/Si templates by a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). We aim to fabricate a double metal waveguide (DMW) based GaN THz QCL through removing the Si substrate by wet etching. The DMW is essential for realizing low cavity loss and a very high optical confinement factor (99%). We grew 100 periods of GaN/Al 0.21 Ga 0.79 N two quantum wells (QW) type active region on Al 0.08 Ga 0.92 N/Si templates. Samples were evaluated by cross-sectional transmission-electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD). We found that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the XRD satellite peaks became narrower when the growth temperature decreased, and the steepness of the QC layer hetero-interfaces has been improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The crystalline quality improved with increasing the annealing temperature. • The crystalline quality was improved by further growth of AlN. • Decreased anisotropy of XRC implies a reduction in the density of stacking faults. Abstract AlGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been studied for their use as highly efficient light sources in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region. The spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in c -plane AlGaN, produces a strong electric field, which degrades the performance of LEDs. To overcome this polarization problem, growth on less widely used substrates, such as those with semipolar/nonpolar orientations has been carried out. However, the expected improvements have not been forthcoming for AlGaN alloys in the DUV region because of the poor crystallinity obtained. Here, we report on the improved crystallinity of semipolar AlN grown on m -plane sapphire using a high-temperature annealing process. For (10-1-3) and (11-22) AlN layers grown on m -plane sapphire, the crystal quality improved with increasing annealing temperature up to 1700 °C. The crystallinity of (11-22) AlN layer was further improved by further growth of AlN. A best FWHM of 280arcsec was obtained for a 3-μm thick (11-22) AlN layer grown after high-temperature annealing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semipolar III-nitrides have attracted increasing attention because of the reduced piezoelectric field in the active layer. In particular, (11-22) plane is promising due to the small polarization field along the growth axis and the epitaxial matching on m-plane sapphire. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of growth conditions on the structural and electrical properties of Si-doped (11-22) AlGaN. Semipolar AlGaN/AlN layers were grown on m-plane sapphire by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition at different temperatures, V/III ratios, and tetraethylesilane flows. Surface morphology, crystalline quality, and electrical properties of the AlGaN layers were investigated with AFM, XRD, and by Hall measurements, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ELO-AlN was performed by varying off-cut angle of sapphire using MOVPE. • Dislocations were reduced by increasing off-cut angle of sapphire substrate. • Increasing off-cut angle, low dislocation region of ELO became smaller. • ELO-AlN layer exhibited low dislocation density of 2.1 × 106cm−2. Using a metal–organic vapor phase epitaxy, the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of AlN was performed by varying a vicinal off-cut angle from 0.15 to 2.0° of sapphire substrates oriented to the m -axis, i.e., the a -axis of AlN. During overgrowth, step bunching resulted in the efficient conversion of dislocations to elongated voids. The dislocations were terminated at the voids formed over the groove regions and the low and high etch pit density (EPD) regions were observed. The dislocation was reduced by increasing the off-cut angle of the sapphire substrates up to 0.8°; however, low-EPD region became small in the ELO. Thus, we have attempted to achieve a longer growth of the ELO-AlN layer on the sapphire substrate with the off-cut angle of 0.15°. As a result, the EPD decreased with the increasing thickness. The ELO-AlN layer with the thickness of 15.9 µm exhibited the EPD of 2.1 × 106 cm−2 in the low dislocation region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonradiative recombination (NRR) processes through defect states and their temperature dependence in UV-B AlGaN MQW sample on sapphire substrate grown by MOCVD technique have been studied by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. We detected NRR centers by adding a below-gap excitation light with photon energies from 0.93 eV to 1.46 eV on an above-gap excitation light of 4.66 eV. All the BGE energies decreased PL intensity at 25 K, and the most-distinct quenching is observed by 1.27 eV BGE at the same BGE photon number density. The temperature-dependent PL intensity for the BGE energy of 1.27 eV is interpreted by three NRR centers. The one-level model dominates over that of two-level model in the temperature range 58 K < T < 88 K. The two-level model prevails in other region of temperature. The combination of one-level and two-level models is consistent with the spectral peak-energy shift as a function of temperature. • Investigates NRR processes in UV-B AlGaN MQW by adding below-gap excitation light. • Detects NRR centers by observing PL-intensity change due to below-gap excitation. • Identifies correlation of T -dependent NRR processes with T -dependent PL peak-energy. • Interpret T -dependent NRR processes by a model based on SRH statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep‐ultraviolet light‐emitting diodes (DUV‐LEDs) find widespread applications in various industries and are a focus area in environmental and life science research. However, the quantum efficiency of DUV‐LEDs is still low because of the unbalanced hole injection, high operation voltage, and low reflectivity of the p‐electrode. In this study, a smart wide‐bandgap omnidirectional reflector (ODR), which simultaneously acts as an effective hole‐injection electrode, is demonstrated for a flip‐chip DUV‐LED. The smart ODR is composed of p‐type AlGaN (p‐AlGaN)/Ni:AlN/Al with a high reflectivity of 94.2% at 280 nm, in which AlN with a theoretically calculated thickness of 40 nm is Ni‐doped using the pulsed electrical breakdown (PEBD) method. The smart ODR‐mounted AlGaN‐multiquantum‐well‐based DUV‐LED exhibits a remarkable wall‐plug efficiency (4.8%) and high external quantum efficiency (8.5%) at a low operation voltage of 9.75 V owing to the fused layer of Ni3N and Ga vacancies formed in the interfacial region of the p‐AlGaN and AlN layers, through the mutual diffusion of Ni and Ga during PEBD. The interface‐mediated Ohmic contact leads to an effective hole injection without reducing the reflectivity, yielding increased optical output and electric input powers. The proposed smart ODR can provide an innovative route for the manipulation of DUV light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influence of Undoped-AlGaN Final Barrier of MQWs on the Performance of Lateral-Type UVB LEDs 17 mW semiconducting aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN)-based ultraviolet-B (UVB) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at 300 nm emission grown on AlN template are expected to be useful for production of vitamin D3 in the human body as well as for killing of tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) in tomato. UV-light power is improved in AlGaN UVB LED using optimized undoped-AlGaN final barrier of the quantum well. [Extracted from the article]

Aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN)‐based ultraviolet‐B light‐emitting diodes (UVB LEDs) are expected to offer smart size, wider choice of UVB light emission in the wavelengths range of 280 nm > λ > 320 nm, and low cost as well as low power consumption compared with other UV light sources including toxic mercury UV‐lamps. The hole‐tunneling from p‐AlGaN side of UVB LED into the multi‐quantum‐wells (MQWs) is strongly dependent on the thickness (TFB) and Al‐contents of undoped (ud)‐AlGaN final barrier (FB). Herein, the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency from MQWs of the UVB LED devices is investigated and compared with the electroluminescence (EL) spectra as a function of TFB. Subsequently, the dependence of PL efficiency, external quantum efficiency (EQE), and light output power on the TFB of UVB LEDs is attempted, using the same growth condition for all samples except variation in TFB. When TFB is set to 6–7 nm, improvements in the EQE and light output power, respectively, from 4.3% and 7 mW to the high values of 5.6% and 17 mW in emission band of 295–300 nm under continuous‐wave (cw) at room temperature (RT) are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operating at high temperatures in the range of thermoelectric coolers is essential for terahertz quantum cascade lasers to real applications. The use of scattering-assisted injection scheme enables an increase in operating temperature. This concept, however, has not been implemented in a short-period structure consisting of two quantum wells. In this work, based on non-equilibrium Green's function calculations, it emphasizes on the current leakage and parasitic absorption via high-energy states as fundamental limitations in this scheme with short-period. A new design concept employing asymmetric wells composition is proposed to suppress these limitations. A peak gain of 40 cm−1 at 230 K is predicted in the GaAs/AlGaAs semiconductor material system with an emission frequency of 3.5 THz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An AlN template layer is required for growth of AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs). However, the crystal quality of AlN templates grown on both flat and patterned Si substrates has so far been insufficient for replacing templates grown on sapphire substrates. In this work, we grew a high-quality AlN template on 2 in. micro-circle-patterned Si substrate (mPSiS) with two different sizes and shapes through controlling the bias power of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching. The experimental results showed that the best AlN template was obtained on a large pattern size with a bow-angle shape and the template had X-ray rocking curves with full widths at half-maximum of 620 and 1141 arcsec for the (002) and (102) reflection planes. The threading dislocation density near surface of AlN template through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) estimation was in the order of 107 cm−2, which is the lowest dislocation density reported for a Si substrate to our knowledge. A strong single electroluminescence (EL) peak was also obtained for an AlGaN-based deep UV-LED grown on this template, means that it can be used for further developing high-efficiency deep UV-LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]