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The recent progress in III-nitride tunnel junction (TJ) contacts for optoelectronic devices is summarized in this review paper. Due to the rapid developments of various III-nitride based optoelectronic devices for different emerging applications, TJs are of interest for these devices to achieve more efficient device performance. This review paper first briefly describes the working principles of TJs and the advantages of employing TJs in optoelectronic devices. The significant advancements in III-nitride TJs realized by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are addressed, as well as their TJ device performances. Lastly, the critical challenges for employing III-nitride TJs in wide bandgap ultraviolet (UV) light emitters are discussed for future investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly relaxed InGaN buffer layer was demonstrated over a full two-inch c-plane sapphire substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The InGaN buffer layer was grown on a 100 nm GaN decomposition stop layer with a 3 nm thick high indium composition InGaN underlayer. After thermal decomposition of the underlayer at 1000 °C, a 200 nm thick In0.04Ga0.96N buffer showed 85% biaxial relaxation measured by a high resolution x-ray diffraction reciprocal space map. When used as a pseudo-substrate for the regrowth of InGaN/InGaN multi-quantum wells, the sample showed a 75 nm red-shift in room temperature photoluminescence when compared to a co-loaded GaN template reference. The longer emission wavelength is associated with higher indium incorporation in the InGaN layers from the lessening of the compositional pulling effect caused by compressive strain. Using this technique, a simple red light emitting diode was demonstrated with an active layer growth temperature of 825 °C and a peak wavelength of 622 nm at a current density of 20 A cm−2. This work represents a unique method to relax a III-nitride based layer over a full substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate efficient cascaded blue/green micro-size light-emitting diodes (μLEDs) with independent junction control. The cascaded μLEDs, consisted of blue μLEDs, a tunnel junction, and green μLEDs, were fully grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Blue, green, and blue/green emissions can be independently controlled in the same device. The blue μLEDs (60 × 60 μm2) and green μLEDs (40 × 40 μm2) exhibit a forward voltage of 4.1 and 3.1 V at 20 A/cm2 and a high peak external quantum efficiency of 42% and 14%, respectively. This demonstration paves the way for monolithic integration of full color cascaded μLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]