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The optical and structural properties of AlGaN active regions containing nanoscale compositional inhomogeneities (NCI) grown on low dislocation density bulk AlN substrates are reported. These substrates are found to improve the internal quantum efficiency and structural quality of NCI-AlGaN active regions for high Al content alloys, as well as the interfaces of the NCI with the surrounding wider bandgap matrix, as manifested in the absence of any significant long decay component of the low temperature radiative lifetime, which is well characterized by a single exponential photoluminescence decay with a 330 ps time constant. However, room temperature results indicate that non-radiative recombination associated with the high point defect density becomes a limiting factor in these films even at low dislocation densities for larger AlN mole fractions.

In this paper we report on the characterization of n - Al 0.51 Ga 0.49 N active regions and the fabrication of ultraviolet LEDs that contain self-assembled, nanometer-scale compositional inhomogeneities ( NCI - AlGaN ) with emission at ~290 nm. These active regions exhibit reduced integrated photoluminescence intensity and PL lifetime relative to 320 nm NCI - AlGaN active regions that have significantly lower AlN mole fraction, despite having more than an order of magnitude fewer threading dislocations, as measured by transmission electron microscopy. This behavior is attributed to nonradiative recombination associated with the presence of a larger density of point defects in the higher Al content samples. The point defects are ameliorated somewhat by the lower density of NCI AlGaN regions in the higher Al content samples, which leads to a larger concentration of carriers in the NCI and concomitant reduced radiative lifetime that may account for the high observed peak IQE (~ 25%). Prototype flip chip double heterostructure-NCI- ultraviolet light emitting diodes operating at 292 nm have been fabricated that employ a 50% NCI - AlGaN active region.

The effects of negative polarization charge at the n -InGaN/p -GaN interface on the performance of hydride vapour phase epitaxy-deposited single heterostructure n -In0.17Ga0.83N/p -GaN light emitting diodes with p -side down are investigated. The negative polarization charge at the interface leads to the formation of a two-dimensional hole gas within the InGaN near the n -InGaN/p -GaN interface, as well as reducing the barrier for hole injection. In addition, electrons encounter experience a significant barrier for injection across the heterointerface. As a result, superlinear increase in light output as injection current increases below 20 A/cm2 and peak emission wavelength shift from 495 nm to 470 nm are observed. We show that the combination of two-dimensional hole-gas formation on the n -InGaN side of the hetero-interface and enhancement of the electron barrier to transport across this interface may reduce efficiency droop at high current density without the need for an AlGaN electron blocking layer. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Indium nitride ( InN ) is identified as a promising terahertz (THz) emitter based on the optical and electronic properties of high quality In - and N -face samples. Time domain THz spectroscopy has been employed to measure the pump wavelength and background carrier concentration dependence of THz emission from InN . There is no discernable difference between the In - and N -face InN samples, as expected for the improved crystalline quality and concomitant low background electron density and high mobility for both polarities. While there is only a weak dependence of THz signal on pump wavelength from 800 nm to 1500 nm, there is a strong dependence on background electron density. Modeling shows that the dominant mechanism for THz generation in bulk InN is the current associated with the diffusion of the photo-generated electrons at elevated electron temperature (photo-Dember effect) and the redistribution of the background electrons under drift, with larger screening from the higher mobility electrons as compared to holes. Compensation or p -type doping in conjunction with manipulation of the large internal electric fields in InN/InGaN nanostructures should lead to significant improvements in THz emitters.

In this paper, we demonstrate the electrical and optical properties of hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE)-deposited single heterostructure (SH) n-InGaN/p-GaN LED structures. We also discuss the device challenges associated with fabrication, as well as potential solutions for these problems.

InN is grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on templates prepared by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. These uniques templates consist of InN/GaN and p-GaN epilayers. Homoepitaxy creates challenges for surface preparation prior to growth. Quality InN layers as seen by x-ray diffraction and photoluminescence data are developed when growing on HVPE InN/GaN templates. InN growth on p-GaN provides a novel solution for p-down diodes utilizing InN. The in situ surface preparation of these templates is a challenge preventing undesirable band bending at the hetero-interface. Two in situ surface preparations are attempted with no significant impact on the quality of the InN layer.

In this paper, we demonstrate new results on controllable HVPE growth of nitride materials with a deposition rate below 0.02 microns per minute and the first quantum size structures fabricated by HVPE. The nm-scale layer thicknesses were verified by transmision electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL). Quantum well (QW) GaN/AlGaN and AlN/AlGaN structures have been grown by HVPE for the first time. Properties of the HVPE grown QWs are reported. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

This paper contains results on InN and InGaN growth by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) on various substrates including sapphire and GaN/sapphire, AlGaN/sapphire, and AlN/sapphire templates. The growth processes are carried out at atmospheric pressure in a hot wall reactor in the temperature range from 500 to 750 oC. Continuous InN layers are grown on GaN/sapphire template substrates. Textured InN layers are deposited on AlN/sapphire and AlGaN/sapphire templates. Arrays of nano-crystalline InN rods with various shapes are grown directly on sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction rocking curves for the (002) InN reflection have the full width at half maximum (FWHM) as narrow as 270 arcsec for the nano-rods and 460 arcsec for the continuous layers. InxGa1–xN layers with InN content up to 10 mol.% are grown on GaN/sapphire templates. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

AlGaN epilayers grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy and exhibiting high internal quantum efficiency (up to 30%) are incorporated into double-heterostructure devices grown on base layers of varying defect density. Growth of these AlGaN active layers, having increased emission from localization of carriers in regions of nanoscale compositional inhomogeneities, is found to benefit from base layers of reduced defect density, including thick AlGaN templates grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Nonlinear radiative processes are observed at high optical excitation for layers grown on lower defect base layers. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Interest in developing ultraviolet emitters using the III-Nitride family of semiconductors has sparked considerable effort in fabricating AlGaN alloys that exhibit enhanced luminescence based on strong carrier localization, similar to their InGaN brethren. In this paper, we report on the growth of such alloys by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) without the use of indium. This enhancement is attributed to the presence of nanoscale compositional inhomogeneities (NCIs) in these materials. The emission wavelength in these materials has been tuned between 275 nm and 340 nm by varying growth conditions. The effects of dislocations on double heterostructures (DHs) that employ an NCI AlGaN active region has been investigated, with an internal quantum efficiency as high as 32% obtained for the lowest dislocation density samples (3×1010 cm−2). Prototype DH-ultraviolet light emitting diodes (DH-UVLEDs) emitting at 324 nm were fabricated employing an NCI AlGaN alloy as the active region.

With growing interest in AlGaN for ultraviolet detectors and high-power/high-temperature electronic devices, the problem of forming high-quality Schottky contacts to this semiconductor has become increasingly important. It was shown that wet-chemical surface pretreatments affect the as-deposited diode characteristics for Au/n-AlGaN Schottky diodes. However, these diodes improve over the course of days when exposed to air at room temperature, exhibiting reduced leakage currents, enhanced barrier heights, and reduced ideality factors. Exposure to oxygen, with an enhanced effect in the presence of water vapor, is responsible for the environmental aging. The environmental aging was found to occur regardless of the source of AlGaN, surface preparation, and metal deposition technique. It was determined that high asdeposited reverse currents were due to current transport beneath the contact area, rather than across the semiconductor surface. Two findings further suggested that the change in electrical characteristics was due to a phenomenon occurring at the metal/semiconductor interface. First, metal thickness played a key role in the rate of change of the electrical characteristics, with thicker contacts being more impervious to surrounding gas species at room temperature. Second, a metal that readily forms an oxide, Ni, exhibited little environmental aging, while noble metals, such as Au and Pt, showed dramatic effects. Mild anneals revealed that the environmental change was partially reversible, which suggests the passivation of electrically active defects at the metal/semiconductor interface as the cause of the altered diode behavior. Taken together, the data indicate that oxidizing species diffuse through noble metal contacts to the metal/semiconductor interface and passivate electrically active defects, which may be reactivated upon mild anneals in N2.

This study examines two different forms of thermal stability of gate metallizations on GaN/AlxGa1−xN/GaN heterostructures: long-term anneals at moderate temperatures (accelerated ageing) and high-temperature rapid thermal anneals (commonly used for ohmic contact formation). The metallizations Re, Pt, Pd, Au, Ni, Ni/Au, Ni/Ga/Ni, Co and Co/Au were selected based on criteria associated with thermodynamic predictions and the metal work function. Long-term (200 h) thermal stability experiments for unpassivated samples annealed at 500 °C within a tube furnace revealed very good thermal stability of Pt/Au diodes. In addition, Re and Ni/Ga/Ni Schottky diodes may also provide thermally stable gate metallizations for high-temperature devices. As a result of short-term annealing, all metals tested apart from Au and Re yielded stable diodes when annealed for 60 s up to 400 °C. Re contacts showed increases in reverse current densities after annealing at temperatures between 400 and 600 °C, with a dramatic return to as-deposited values following an anneal at 800 °C for 60 s. Upon longer-term annealing at 800 °C for 10 min, dissolution of Ga into the Re film and complete loss of the thin GaN cap on the heterostructure were observed, resulting in the Re metal and underlying AlxGa1−xN layer making direct contact.

Gold Schottky contacts to n-AlGaN were fabricated, and the influence of the semiconductor surface preparation on the electrical performance of the diodes was examined. More significantly, the electrical characteristics of the diodes were found to be sensitive to the environment in which they were exposed. Diodes stored in vacuum had stable but poor electrical characteristics, exhibiting the same high reverse leakage currents, low barrier heights, and high ideality factors as the freshly prepared diodes. On the other hand, didoes exposed to air changed over the course of days, in some cases with decreases in the reverse leakage currents by four or more orders of magnitude and increases in the barrier height by 0.3–0.5 eV. Further study of this change in electrical properties showed that the effect was reversible with exposure to N2 gas or vacuum and adequate temperature. In addition, the effect was more pronounced when the metal contact was thin, indicating that diffusion of gases through the metal was sig...

Thermal oxidation of GaN was conducted at 700–900°C with O2, N2, and Ar as carrier gases for 525–630 Torr of H2O vapor. Upon oxidation of both GaN powders and n-GaN epilayers, the monoclinic β-Ga2O3 phase was identified using glancing angle x-ray diffraction. The chemical composition of the oxide was verified using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In experiments conducted using GaN powder, the oxide grew most rapidly when O2 was the carrier gas for H2O. The same result was obtained on n-type GaN epilayers. Furthermore, the thickness of the oxide grown in H2O with O2 as the carrier gas was found to be proportional to the oxidation time at all temperatures studied, and an activation energy of 210±10 kJ/mol was obtained. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a smoother surface after wet oxidation than was reported previously for dry oxidation. However, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy revealed that the wet oxide/GaN interface was irregular and non-ideal for devicefabrication, even more so than the dry oxide/GaN interface. This observation was consistent with poor electrical properties.

In this paper we report on first InGaN-based light emitting structures grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy (HVPE). InGaN layers and multi layer InGaN/InGaN epitaxial structures were grown on GaN/sapphire template substrates and characterized. InN content in the InGaN layers was varied from 5 to 35 mol.%. Thickness of InGaN layers was controlled from 10 nm to 2 microns. Density of treading dislocations in the InGaN layers was estimated to be in the 109 cm–2 range. X-ray diffraction measurements and transmission electron microscopy data confirmed a formation of InGaN/InGaN superlattice structures. Light emitting diode epitaxial wafers were fabricated by HVPE deposition of n-type InGaN layers and multi layer structures on p-type GaN template substrates. Depending on InN content in the InGaN light emitting regions, peak electroluminescence wavelength varied from 450 to 510 nm. Results of material characterization are reported. Advantages of the proposed upside down LED configuration and future applications of HVPE to grow InGaN layers and structures are discussed. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We probe the electric field in In-face and N-face InN/InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) using low temperature intensity-dependent photoluminescence (PL) under continuous-wave laser excitation at 900 nm. The In-face structure consists of 30 periods of 2.5 nm thick InN wells and 24 nm thick In0.92Ga0.08N barriers. The N-face sample consists of 25 periods of 1.5 nm InN wells and 15 nm thick In0.88Ga0.12N barriers. At low excitation power, the PL peak energy from both In-face and N-face MQWs is redshifted relative to that from bulk InN. As excitation power increases, we observe a 50 and 44 meV blueshift of the PL peak energy from the In-face and N-face MQWs, respectively. The blueshift is a result of the optically induced screening of the built-in electric field. From the measured blueshift, we calculate a minimum change of the electric field to be ∼0.4 MV/cm and ∼0.6 MV/cm in the In-face and N-face well regions, respectively. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We report on the fabrication and evaluation of flip-chipped double heterostructure UVLEDs operating at 320 nm that employ a bulk (80nm) AlGaN active region containing nanoscale compositional inhomogeneities (NCI), deposited by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The devices were deposited on AlGaN templates grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy and contain electron and hole injection layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. A packaged, 300 μm x 300 μm device with 3% internal quantum efficiency has a peak output power of 0.56 mW at 90 mA DC current that corresponds to an external quantum efficiency of 0.15%. Nearly constant external quantum efficiency is observed for DC current density up to 100 A/cm2, suggesting that the NCI regions effectively suppress the deleterious effects of polarization fields at low injection currents that should inhibit radiative recombination in double heterostructure devices. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Following the commercial availability of high power III-nitride light emitting diodes in the 370–540 nm range, a strong desire for efficient rare earth-doped (In)GaN epilayers has developed to produce light source and electrically pumped optical amplifiers in the visible and IR spectral region. To this end, Er-doped GaN epilayers have been grown by OVMPE with excellent crystal quality [1]. Similar success has been achieved with in-situ doped Nd:GaN samples grown by plasma-assisted MBE [2]. For each dopant, we have studied site-selective emission spectroscopy using combined excitation-emission spectroscopy (CEES) to give important insight for the optimization of the growth conditions. Aside from application in novel light sources, there has been an increasing interest in the magnetic properties of the dilute RE-dopants, which are found to introduce ferromagnetism to the GaN host [3] enabling the realization of spin-memory based on this class of material [4].

Despite the recent progress in the development of III-Nitride semiconductor based ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UVLEDs), commercially available devices emitting at wavelengths shorter than 370 nm still suffer from poor wall plug efficiencies on the order of ~ 1%. One factor limiting the performance of these devices is the presence of a high density of dislocations that arise from the typical heteroepitaxial growth on c-plane sapphire substrates that result in non-radiative recombination. Previously we have reported on the growth of AlGaN active regions containing self-assembled nanometer scale compositional inhomogeneities (NCI-AlGaN) that demonstrate enhanced luminescence efficiency despite the presence of a large dislocation density [1]. This phenomenon is attributed to (1) the high density of NCI regions that improves the probability of carriers recombining radiatively within them rather than non-radiatively at a structural defect and (2) the subsequent concentration of carriers within the narrower band gap NCI regions that suppresses non-radiative recombination and enhances radiative efficiency due to the reduced radiative lifetime at high carrier density [2,3]. Nevertheless, time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) studies show that the reduction of dislocation density in these materials further improves the active region performance [4], a phenomenon that may be due to improved transport from the wider band gap matrix to the NCI and concomitant higher carrier concentration therein. Bulk AlN has significant advantages over conventional c-plane sapphire as a substrate for III-Nitride based UVLEDs including a low dislocation density (etch pit density

We report the Stark energy sublevels of Nd3+ ions in GaN grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy as determined by luminescence spectra. The photoluminescence spectra is correlated with transitions from the 4F3/2 doublet state to the 4I9/2, 4I11/2, and 4I13/2 multiplets of the Nd3+ ion for above and below bandgap excitation, with the strongest emission occurring at 1.12 eV (1106 nm). A splitting of the 4F3/2 excited state is determined to be 4.1 meV. From photoluminescence excitation spectra, we also identify the Stark sub-levels of the excited states 4F5/2, 2H9/2, 4F7/2, 4S3/2, 2G7/2, and 4G5/2. Photoluminescence excitation spectra exhibit an optimal excitation energy of 1.48 eV (836 nm). Site-selective spectroscopy studies using combined excitation-emission spectroscopy with confocal microscopy imply enhanced substantial doping at the Ga site. In addition, optical loss and gain measurements of a GaN:Nd waveguide excited above bandgap indicate an internal loss coefficient of ∼6.5 +/– 2 cm–1 and a net gain of ∼ –2 +/– 2 cm–1. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We present terahertz emission from nonpolar InN due to carrier transport in stacking fault-related internal in-plane electric fields. Evidence of in-plane transport is observed as a terahertz waveform polarity flip with reversal of the c-axis.

We report on the properties of high quality HVPE InN and on successful subsequent MBE growth of InN layers with improved characteristics on HVPE InN template substrates. InN layers were grown by HVPE on GaN/sapphire HVPE templates. The (00.2) XRD rocking curve of the best InN layer (RC) had the FWHM of about 375 arc sec, being the narrowest XRD RCs ever reported for HVPE InN. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) revealed that at the GaN/InN interface, the threading dislocations that come from GaN were transmitted into the InN layer. We estimated the dislocation density in HVPE grown InN to be in the low 109 cm–2 range. Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) confirmed monocrystalline structure of the InN layers surface. Layers photoluminescence (PL) showed edge emission around 0.8 eV. Hall measured free electron concentration was in the range of 1019 -1020 cm–3 and electron mobility was ∼200 cm2/V s. MBE growth of InN was performed on the HVPE grown InN template substrate demonstrating the improvement of material quality in the case of homo-epitaxial growth of InN. Demonstration of the high quality HVPE InN materials opens a new way for InN substrate development. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Due to its favorable electronic and thermal properties GaN has been considered as a rare-earth host material for solid state amplifier and laser applications. To this end, we performed spatially resolved combined excitation emission spectroscopy (CEES) on Nd ions which were in-situ-doped into GaN epitaxial films grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) on c-plane sapphire substrate. For a wide range of concentration (up to 8at%) we find in the emission a dominant incorporation site, which can be identified with good certainty as a substitutional ‘Ga’ site. Energy levels and electron-phonon coupling to a localized mode can be identified. For the majority site, confocal spectral imaging under selective excitation show changes in emission intensity, excitation and emission wavelength on a submicron length scale suggesting spatial inhomogeneities in terms of Nd3+ ion concentration.

We provide an investigation of in situ doping of GaN with the RE element Nd by plasma assisted-molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). GaN epilayers are grown on c-plane sapphire and free standing GaN substrates and the Nd doping is controlled by an effusion cell. The ideal growth conditions for Nd incorporation maintaining crystal quality in GaN were investigated. The optical absorption characteristics indicate that the GaN:Nd epilayer remains transparent at the Nd emission wavelength of interest. For the highest Nd effusion cell temperatures, Rutherford backscattering and secondary ion mass spectrometry data indicate ˜5 at. % in epilayers grown on c-plane sapphire. X-ray diffraction found no evidence of phase segregation up to ˜1 at. % Nd. The highest luminescence intensities correspond to a doping range 0.05-1 at. %, with the strongest emission occurring at 1.12 eV (1107 nm). We also present the Stark energy sublevels of Nd3+ ions in GaN as determined by luminescence spectra. Photoluminescence excitation spectra reveal an optimal excitation energy of 1.48 eV (836 nm). We correlate the photoluminescence spectra with transitions from the 4F3/2 excited state to the 4I9/2, 4I11/2, and 4I13/2 multiplets of the Nd3+ ion for above (325nm) and below (836nm) bandgap excitation. Spectral correlation of the Nd emission multiplets in addition to site-selective spectroscopy studies using combined excitation-emission spectroscopy with confocal microscopy indicate enhanced substantial doping at the Ga site compared to other techniques (ion implantation and co-sputtering).

Solid state laser applications using crystals doped with Nd have been quite successful and/or very promising (e.g., Nd:YAG). What these crystals lack is the ability to dissipate thermal energy, with thermal conductivities on the order of 5-15 W/m-K, which limits their high power operation. By changing the matrix to a wide bandgap semiconductor such as GaN (or AlGaN), with a thermal conductivity of 100-300 W/m-K, the improvement in heat extraction could allow for major gains in solid state laser technology. It has been shown previously that rare-earth (RE) dopants such as Er, Pr, Tm, and Eu are well-suited to III-nitride semiconductors [1-4]. Although there have been difficulties in preserving optical quality while achieving adequate concentrations, light emission from RE-doped GaN has been demonstrated by photoluminescence (PL), electroluminescence (EL), and cathodoluminescence (CL). Two techniques exist for the introduction of RE-dopants into the semiconductor matrix: ion implantation and in situ doping during growth. Ion implantation imparts damage to the matrix that can not be removed by annealing, and it creates a doping profile due to the depth limitations for implanting RE species. Kim and Holloway report the EL properties of GaN doped with Nd by in situ reactive sputtering.

An HVPE-grown n-InGaN/p-GaN single heterojunction LED with p-side down and emission at ~ 480nm has been demonstrated. Benefits of the p-down geometry for such an LED associated with polarity are discussed.

We report on terahertz emission from n‐type indium nitride excited with femtosecond pulses tunable between 800 nm and 1500 nm. The terahertz amplitude, normalized to pump and probe power, from the semiconductor remains relatively constant over the excitation wavelength range. The experimental results agree with calculations based on drift‐diffusion equations incorporating momentum conservation and relaxation.

This paper contains results on InN growth by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) on various substrates including sapphire, GaN/sapphire, AlGaN/sapphire, and AlN/sapphire templates. The growth processes were carried out at atmospheric pressure in a hot wall reactor in the temperature range from 500 to 650°C. Arrays of nano-crystalline InN rods with various shapes were grown directly on sapphire substrates. Continuous InN layers were grown on GaN/sapphire, AlN/sapphire and AlGaN/sapphire template substrates. X-ray diffraction rocking curves for the (00.2) InN reflection exhibit the full width at half maximum (FWHM) as narrow as 0.075 deg. for the nano-rods and 0.128 deg. for the continuous layers grown on GaN/sapphire templates.

AlGaN samples show intense room temperature photoluminescence from localized states that is significantly red-shifted, 200-400 meV, from band edge. Double-heterostructure light-emitting diodes were fabricated using this unique layer, with electroluminescence peak at 325 nm.

Ni films on (0001) and (0001¯) InN exhibited different reaction kinetics upon annealing at 673K. Structural and chemical analysis using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry indicated that an interfacial reaction did not occur between the Ni film and the In-polar (0001) InN layer. However, the N-polar face reacted with Ni to form the Ni3InNx ternary phase with an anti-perovskite structure. The difference in reactivity for Ni on In-face and N-face InN indicates that polarity alters the reaction and may also affect interactions between other metals and group III-nitride semiconductors.

We present luminescence spectroscopy measurements of in situ Nd doped AlN grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. A Nd concentration as high as 0.08 at. % is incorporated into the host material. The Nd incorporation efficiency within the AlN matrix is found to be highly sensitive to the Al flux but independent of the substrate temperature (between 800 °C to 950 °C). Photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation, and combined excitation-emission spectroscopy (CEES) spectra are used to identify the Stark sublevels of the following manifolds: 4I9/2, 4I11/2, 4I13/2, 4F3/2, 4F5/2, 2H9/2, 4F7/2, 4S3/2, 4G5/2, and 4G7/2. A main Nd incorporation site and two minority sites are identified using CEES measurements.

We present the Stark energy sublevels of Nd3+ ions in GaN grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy as determined by luminescence spectra. We correlate the photoluminescence spectra with transitions from the F43/2 excited state to the I49/2, I411/2, and I413/2 multiplets of the Nd3+ ion for above and below bandgap excitation, with the strongest emission occurring at 1.12 eV (1106 nm). We determine a splitting of the F43/2 excited state to be 4.1 meV. From photoluminescence excitation spectra, we also identify the Stark sublevels of the upper states F45/2, H29/2, F47/2, S43/2, G27/2, and G45/2. Photoluminescence excitation spectra reveal an optimal excitation energy of 1.48 eV (836 nm). Site-selective spectroscopy studies using combined excitation-emission spectroscopy with confocal microscopy indicate enhanced substantial doping at the Ga site.

The effects of negative polarization charge at the n-InGaN∕p-GaN interface on the performance of hydride vapor phase-epitaxy deposited single heterostructure n-InGaN∕p-GaN LEDs with p-side down are investigated. The strong peak emission wavelength blueshift and concomitant superlinear increase in light output as the injection current increases below 25A∕cm2 are characteristic of radiative tunneling. We show that the combination of two-dimensional hole gas formation on the n-InGaN side of the heterointerface and enhancement of the electron barrier to transport across this interface results in only ∼10% efficiency droop up to 500A∕cm2 without implementation of an AlGaN electron-blocking layer or a second heterointerface.

We report in situ doping of GaN with the rare earth element Nd by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. For the highest Nd effusion cell temperatures, Rutherford backscattering and secondary ion mass spectroscopy data indicate ∼5at.% Nd in epilayers grown on c-plane sapphire. X-ray diffraction found no evidence of phase segregation under nitrogen-rich conditions with up to ∼1at.% Nd, with the highest luminescence intensities corresponding to doping of ∼0.5at.%. Spectral correlation of the Nd emission multiplets for above (325nm) and below (836nm) GaN bandgap excitations implies enhanced substitutional doping at the Ga site.

The authors report on the excitation wavelength dependence of terahertz emission from n-InN and bulk p-InAs pumped with femtosecond pulses tunable from 800to1500nm. The terahertz amplitude, normalized to pump and probe power, from both narrow band gap semiconductors remains relatively constant over the excitation wavelength range. In addition, terahertz radiation from In- and N-face InN samples with bulk carrier concentrations ranging from 1017to1019cm−3 is also investigated, showing a strong dependence of terahertz emission on bulk carrier concentration. The experimental results agree well with calculations based on drift-diffusion equations incorporating momentum conservation and relaxation.

The authors demonstrate the impact of growth kinetics on the surface and structural properties of N-face InN grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Superior surface morphology with step-flow growth features is achieved consistently under In-rich conditions in a low-temperature region of 500-540 degrees C. Remarkably, off-axis x-ray rocking curve (omega scans) widths are found to be independent of the growth conditions. The band gap determined from optical absorption measurements of optimized InN is 0.651 eV, while photoluminescence peak emission occurs at even lower energies of similar to 0.626 eV. Hall measurements show room temperature peak electron mobilities as high as 2370 cm(2)/V s at a carrier concentration in the low 10(17) cm(-3) region. Analysis of the thickness dependence of the carrier concentration demonstrates a n-type surface accumulation layer with a sheet carrier concentration of similar to 3x10(13) cm(-2). (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

We study the effect of different deposition conditions on the properties of In-polar InN grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. GaN buffer layers grown in the Ga-droplet regime prior to the InN deposition significantly improved the surface morphology of InN films grown with excess In flux. Using this approach, In-polar InN films have been realized with room temperature electron mobilities as high as 2250cm2∕Vs. We correlate electron concentrations in our InN films with the unintentionally incorporated impurities, oxygen and hydrogen. A surface electron accumulation layer of 5.11×1013cm−2 is measured for In-polar InN. Analysis of optical absorption data provides a band gap energy of ∼0.65eV for the thickest InN films.

Ti/Al/Pt/Au and V/Al/Pt/Au ohmic contacts were studied on n-Al0.44Ga0.56N and n-Al0.6Ga0.4N. Optimised V/Al/Pt/Au contacts provided lower resistance than did Ti/Al/Pt/Au contacts, which are commonly used on less Al-rich n-AlGaN. Specific contact resistances of 1×10−5 Ω · cm2 and 4×10−5 were achieved on n-Al0.44Ga0.56N and n-Al0.6Ga0.4N, respectively.