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We demonstrate high output power UVC-LEDs from 230 to 237 nm on AlN single-crystal substrates. The UVC-LEDs show a single peak in the electroluminescence spectrum, from 20 to 300 mA. Forward voltages were typically ~7 V at 100 mA while measured initial output powers at 237 nm, 235 nm, 233 nm and 230 nm were 2.2 mW, 1.9 mW, 1.5 mW and 1.2 mW, respectively. At 20 mA, the measured wall-plug efficiencies were 0.37%, 0.32%, 0.25% and 0.19% at the same wavelengths, respectively. These devices have demonstrated over 3600 h of lifetime operating at 20 mA.

Mid-ultraviolet LEDs grown on AlN substrates with a range of quantum efficiencies and wavelengths spanning 250 to 280 nm have been investigated by time-resolved photoluminescence and electroluminescence. Through scaling of room temperature internal quantum efficiencies across all devices, radiative and nonradiative lifetimes are also estimated. General trends observed include an increase in PL lifetime for longer wavelength and higher external quantum efficiency devices, consistent with the increase in the estimated nonradiative life-time with increasing wavelength. Despite these trends, the external quantum efficiency of the devices increases only weakly with increasing wavelength from 258 to 279 nm, suggesting that optimization of radiative lifetime and injection efficiency also play an important role. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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.

Temperature dependent time-resolved photoluminescence is used to study the development of active regions for optoelectronic devices employing AlGaN nanostructures for deep-UV emission. The changing importance of dislocation versus point defects and their relationship to different forms of carrier localization are discussed. The results presented suggest that AlGaN nanostructure development for deep-UV emitters require both point defect/impurity suppression for improved efficiency and lower dislocation density for improved interface quality. (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We report on the fabrication and characterization of Ill-nitride layered tunnel barriers with applications for a new type of tunable hyperspectral imaging detector with intrinsically hyperspectral pixels. This would enable each pixel to be individually tunable in real-time through a range of wavelengths, with the number and width of spectral channels being dynamically adjustable. Shape-engineered electron barriers fabricated from III-nitride heterostructures allow barrier height to be varied by application of a voltage. A spectroscopy of photon wavelength is enabled via the collection of photoexcited electrons across this barrier. The device is envisioned for tunable detection of ultraviolet through infrared wavelengths.

AlGaN hexagonal nano-pyramids were formed on GaN/sapphire, AlN/sapphire and Al 0.5 Ga 0.5 N/sapphire using selective area heteroepitaxy. It is found that both interfacial strain due to the lattice mismatch and the growth conditions greatly impact growth rate, Al incorporation and facet quality of these AlGaN nanostructures. A correlation between the interfacial strain provided by the underlying template with growth of nanostructures was made, and attributed to the difference in surface diffusion properties as a function of strain. This was directly observed with the difference in the growth rates and Al incorporation of nanostructures when grown on various templates. The growth rates of nanostructures were found to be much higher when grown on an AlN template in comparison to that on a GaN template under the same growth conditions. Detailed characterization of the AlGaN nanostructures shows highly uniform composition. Further, multiple quantum well structures were grown within the nanostructures on different templates. The effect of strain was again visible with differences in emission properties of the quantum wells.

Freestanding hydride vapor phase epitaxy grown GaN substrates subjected to various polishing methods were characterized for their surface and subsurface conditions. Although different polishing processes led to very smooth surfaces as seen in atomic force microscopy and optical microscopy, they resulted in drastically different optical properties measured by photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL). PL measurements showed a large increase in defect luminescence. There was also subsurface damage evidenced in CL imaging for one polishing process. Morphological and optical characteristics of an overgrown GaN thin film indicate great differences in the initial nucleation on the substrates subjected to different polishing processes even though the starting surface roughness was similar. This difference continued for the growth of a 405 nm light emitting diode (LED) structure. A PL lifetime reduction by factors of two and four, respectively, was seen for the band edge peak of the GaN layer and the quantum well peak of the LED structure as measured by time-resolved PL. This variability in device performance emphasizes the need for a greater understanding of the effects of starting surfaces, and subsurface characteristics, on the epitaxial growth.

High quality Alx>0.5Ga1−xN layers were grown on (0001) sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition utilizing an AlN nucleation layer. The growth conditions of the nucleation layer were observed to have a large impact on both the surface morphology and the crystalline quality of the AlxGa1−xN layers. Low temperature nucleation layers with an optimum thickness of ∼15nm gave the best quality AlxGa1−xN layers. Additionally the annealing of the nucleation layer was seen to have a dramatic effect on the crystalline quality of the overgrown AlxGa1−xN layers. The quality of the films as measured by atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction was largely independent of the V/III ratios of the AlxGa1−xN layers, although Al incorporation and growth rate were affected. Two distinct regimes were identified for the Al incorporation in the overgrown AlxGa1−xN as a function of ammonia flow rate; the Al incorporation first decreases with increase in the ammonia flow rate and then increases with a cont...

We report on the selective area heteroepitaxy and facet evolution of AlGaN nanostructures on GaN/sapphire substrate using various mask materials. We also report on the challenges associated with selection of an appropriate mask material for selective area heteroepitaxy of AlGaN with varying Al composition. The shape and the growth rate of the nanostructures are observed to be greatly affected by the mask material. The evolution of the AlGaN nanostructures and Al incorporation were studied exhaustively as a function of growth parameters including temperature, pressure, NH3 flow, total alkyl flow, and TMAl/(TMAl+TMGa) ratio. The growth rate of nanostructures was reduced drastically when higher Al percentage AlGaN nanostructures were grown. The growth rates were increased for higher Al percentage AlGaN using a surfactant, which resulted in a high-quality pyramidal structure. As indicated by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, the composition of Al in the AlGaN nanostructure is significantly different from that of a thin film grown under the same growth conditions.

Homoepitaxial growth of GaN epilayers on free-standing hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) GaN substrates offered a better control over surface morphology, defect density, and doping concentration compared to conventional heteroepitaxial growth. The FWHM of the (0 0 0 2) X-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curve from homoepitaxial GaN was measured to be as low as 79 arcsec, much smaller than ∼230 arcsec for GaN grown on sapphire. Schottky diodes grown on GaN substrates exhibited sharper breakdown characteristics and much lower reverse leakage than diodes on sapphire. However, the homoepitaxial devices had poor scalability due to the presence of yield-killing defects originating from the substrate surface. Vertical InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on GaN substrates showed reduced series resistance and reverse leakage compared to lateral LEDs on sapphire. Wafer mapping demonstrated that the distribution of leaky homoepitaxial devices correlated well with that of macroscopic defects in the GaN substrates.

We report on the application of a new scheme of substrate engineering in Si (111) substrate to obtain high quality GaN layers on Si substrates. An ion implanted defective layer is formed in the Si substrate that partially, crystallographically and mechanically isolates the III-Nitride layer and Si substrate which results in reduction of strain in the Nitride film. Nitrogen ion implantation energies of 60-75 keV and ion doses of 1×1016 cm–2-2×1016 cm–2 were applied to AlN buffer layers of 55 nm thick grown on Si (111). The experimental results show an increase in the crack separation of over 1 mm for 2 µm thick GaN film grown on implanted 55 nm AlN/Si complex substrate as seen under optical microscope. Moreover the GaN films grown on implanted AlN/Si substrate showed smoother surface morphology (RMS roughness of 0.41 nm) as compared to that grown on non-implanted AlN/Si substrates (RMS roughness of 1.50 nm). Results of etch pit density and XRD measurements show significant reduction in dislocations in III-Nitride layers. Our data shows a strong dependence of GaN quality on the implantation conditions. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We report on development of smooth a-plane GaN without the use of lateral epitaxial overgrowth. Effects of GaN buffer growth conditions, namely V/III ratio and temperature, on the quality of high temperature a-plane GaN layers on r-plane sapphire substrates have been studied. Optimization of the buffer growth conditions resulted in surfaces of 2 µm thick overgrown a-plane GaN at high temperature with less pit defects, the presence of which is reported as a common occurrence for a-plane GaN grown on r-plane sapphire. The surfaces were smooth with RMS roughness of less than 2 nm for a 5 µm x 5 µm AFM scanning area. We will present the effect of V/III ratio in low temperature buffer growth and qualitative growth mechanism model that has been constructed based on the structural and morphological study of the layers grown at various stages. Layers were characterized using AFM, SEM, and HRXRD. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Ultra-low dislocation density aluminum nitride is a very promising substrate for many device structures based on the III-V nitride system. A better lattice and thermal expansion match than foreign substrates such as SiC or sapphire make AlN the substrate of choice for heteroepitaxial growth of AlGaN alloys, especially those with high aluminum concentration. In this paper, we show crystalline and chemical characterization of native aluminum nitride substrates, as well as characterization of AlGaN epilayers with 40 and 50% concentration of aluminum. The observation of atomic steps in atomic force microscope scans of the bare substrates and epilayers, as well as the narrow Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) measured on X-ray diffraction, are an indication of both the good surface preparation of the substrates and quality of the epilayers. An estimation of defect density on epilayers grown by Migration Enhanced Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MEMOCVD) resulted in mid 10 6 /cm 2 .

Reliability tests on packaged ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the ultraviolet-C (UVC) range (< 280 nm) were performed under various temperatures and currents. At higher case temperature, a greater degradation in output power was observed over 1,000 hours. Degradation in output power was also observed at higher operating currents. Some of the output power degradation can be attributed to increased leakage current generated in a subset of devices tested. Physical analysis of a stressed LED indicated a connection between degradation in output power and defects in multi-quantum well (MQW), originating from crystal defects in substrate.

Recently it has been discovered that when growing Al x Ga 1− x N on low-defect-density bulk AlN substrates pseudomorphic layers can be achieved with a thickness far exceeding the critical thickness as given by the Matthews and Blakeslee model. For instance, the critical thickness of an Al x Ga 1− x N layer (with x =0.6) is about 40 nm thick. However we have been able to grow layers with this composition that are pseudomorphic with a thickness exceeding the critical thickness by more than an order of magnitude. This work defines the limits of pseudomorphic growth on low defect density, bulk AlN substrates to obtain low defect density, high-power UV LEDs.

We report on the growth and characterization of a novel, III-nitrides based, tunable hyperspectral photodetector. The proposed device structure consists of AlxGa1–xN multilayer heterostructure with Al composition of 0 < x

The use of low defect density bulk AlN substrates has led to reliable pseudomorphic ultraviolet light emitting diodes capable of mW level power outputs from packaged devices emitting from 250–275 nm.

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 on a novel photodetector structure based on III-nitride materials. A layered configuration is used to create a barrier with voltage-tunable height. The barrier is used as a filter on photoexcited holes and electrons, and could form the basis for a dynamically tunable pixel in a hyperspectral imaging array. This would eliminate the need for external gratings and filters used in conventional hyperspectral instruments; in addition, the tunability of pixels allows decrease of the array dimension by one. The III-nitride materials family is a good candidate for this device, combining large band offsets with the ability for epitaxial growth. We have demonstrated the feasibility of using III-nitride materials to fabricate layered tunnel barriers, and have demonstrated tunability of photodetection using these structures. External quantum efficiencies of > 12% have been achieved with prototype devices.

Time-resolved photoluminescence and transmission electron microscopy results suggest that the density of point defects may have a more significant role than threading dislocations in the performance of UVLED AlGaN active regions emitting at shorter wavelengths.

It is determined that the interfacial strain due to lattice mismatch between the substrate (template) and the overgrown nanostructure has substantial influence on the final morphology and faceting of nanostructures. AlGaN and GaN nanostructures were grown on different substrates/templates, namely Sapphire, AlN/Sapphire, Al0.5Ga0.5N/Sapphire and GaN/Sapphire, where interfacial strain for overgrown nanostructures changes from compressive to tensile respectively. GaN nanostructures grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using identical growth parameters exhibit pyramidal morphologies under low or no mismatch strain, while highly strained structures with compressive strain evolve into prismatic shapes when grown in the c-crystallographic direction. In addition, it is shown that interfacial strain also affects the growth rate and alloy composition of ternary AlGaN nanostructures produced under identical conditions on different templates/substrates. AlGaN nanostructures grown under compressive strain show higher vertical and lower lateral growth rates when compared to those under tensile strain. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and cathodoluminescene were used to characterize growth rates, shape and composition of the nanostructures. Observed variation in morphologies, growth rates and compositions are explained in terms of the strain dependency of adatom diffusion barriers on strained surfaces and Ehrlich-Schwoebel barriers across different crystallographic planes. Density functional (DFT) calculations were performed to determine the dependency of adatom diffusion on strained GaN and AlN surfaces.

High quality homoepitaxial growth of m-plane GaN films on freestanding m-plane HVPE GaN substrates has been performed using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. For this a large growth space was studied. Large areas of no-nucleation along with presence of high density of defects were observed when layers were grown under growth conditions for c-plane GaN. It is believed that these structural defects were in large part due to the low lateral growth rates as well as unequal lateral growth rates in a- and c- crystallographic directions. To achieve high quality, fully coalesced epitaxial layers, growth conditions were optimized with respect to growth temperature, V/III ratios and reactor pressure. Higher growth temperatures led to smoother surfaces due to increased surface diffusion of adatoms. Overall, growth at higher temperature and lower V/III ratio decreased the surface roughness and resulted in better optical properties as observed by photoluminescence. Although optimization resulted in highly smooth layers, some macroscopic defects were still observed on the epi-surface as a result of contamination and subsurface damage remaining on bulk substrates possibly due to polishing. Addition of a step involving annealing of the bulk substrate under H2: N2 environment, prior to growth, drastically reduced such macroscopic defects.

Density functional theory calculations were carried out to study the binding energies and diffusion barriers for various adatoms on AlN and GaN (0001) surfaces. The binding energies and potential energy surfaces were investigated for Al, Ga, and N adatoms on both Al (Ga) terminated and N terminated (0001) surfaces of AlN (GaN). Calculations for the diffusion paths and diffusion energy barriers for Al, Ga, and N adatoms on AlN and GaN were performed. It was found that the N adatom on N terminated AlN and GaN surfaces faces a high diffusion barrier due to strong N-N bond. The Al and Ga adatom on Al (Ga) terminated AlN (GaN) surfaces showed lower diffusion barriers due to the weak metallic bonds. However, the diffusion barrier for an Al adatom was always larger than that of a Ga adatom on any surface. The surfaces were also subjected to a hydrostatic compressive and tensile strain in the range of 0 to 5% to investigate the effect of strain on diffusion barriers. The diffusion energy barrier for N adatom on N terminated AlN and GaN surfaces decreased when the strain state was changed from tensile to compressive. In contrast, Al and Ga adatoms show continuous increase in diffusion barriers from tensile to compressively strained Al (Ga) terminated AlN (GaN) surfaces.

Time-resolved photoluminescence studies can provide useful information for the development of InGaN/GaN heterostructures for long wavelength visible emitters. In this paper, we present results of time-resolved photoluminescence from samples grown using two different approaches to achieve green emission from InGaN/GaN MQWs. In one approach, samples, with high indium incorporation, were grown on a high quality AlN substrate to achieve green emission. The resulting photoluminescence decay of the green luminescence is long-lived and non-exponential. Quantitative analysis showed that the decay has a stretched-exponential characteristic, typical of InGaN/GaN MQW with potential fluctuation along the growth plane. This carrier localization, in a structure with low defect density, proves to be an effective means to achieve green emission. In another approach, a piezoelectric Stark-like ladder effect is used. In this case, a methodical layer-by-layer growth homogeneity optimization process was adopted to achieve an optical transition below the electron to heavy-hole (e1hh1) transition when the quantum well is subjected to the strong piezoelectric polarization dipole. This approach has proven to be successful in achieving green luminescence on conventional sapphire substrates. The resulting photoluminescence decay at 14 K, of a sample grown by this approach, is single exponential and shorter in duration than the decay observed in the first approach. This exponential decay is consistent with previous AFM studies that revealed a homogeneous active region.

This article reports on the effects of HVPE GaN substrate condition on the performance of 405 nm LEDs grown by MOCVD. Three 1 cm2 HVPE GaN substrates were received from a commercially available source and characterized for the substrate condition. AFM and optical microscope were used to characterize the surface morphology and this was found to vary from a “moonscaped” morphology to a smooth surface. The presence of nanoscale pits and substrate bowing were also found. XRD measurements showed a variation in crystalline quality of the substrates with the FWHM of the (0002) rocking curve varying from 87 arcsec to 192 arcsec with some substrates showing multiple peaks in the rocking curve. Photoluminescence was used to measure the optical quality of the substrates and both band edge luminescence and yellow luminescence were found to vary greatly within one substrate as well as from substrate to substrate. After characterization of each individual substrate a 405 nm LED structure was grown using identical growth conditions on each substrate, in separate growth runs. A GaN template was included in each growth for consistency. The surface morphology and crystalline quality of the device structures were then measured. Following this devices were fabricated and tested for electroluminescence optical output power and current-voltage characteristics. The device characteristics and performance as related to starting substrate quality will be presented with respect to substrate surface morphology and crystalline structure.

We report on the selective area heteroepitaxy and facet evolution of AlGaN nanostructures on GaN/sapphire substrate using various mask materials. We also report on the challenges associated with selection of an appropriate mask material for selective area heteroepitaxy of AlGaN with varying Al composition. The shape and the growth rate of the nanostructures are observed to be greatly affected by the mask material. The evolution of the AlGaN nanostructures and Al incorporation were studied exhaustively as a function of growth parameters; including temperature, pressure, NH3 flow, total alkyl flow and TMAl/(TMAl+TMGa) ratio. The growth rate of nanostructures was reduced drastically when higher Al percentage AlGaN nanostructures were grown. The growth rates were increased for higher Al percentage AlGaN using a surfactant which resulted in a high quality pyramidal structure. As indicated by high resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD) and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy, composition of Al in the AlGaN nanostructure is significantly different from that of a thin film grown under the same growth conditions.

Observation of GaN-based islands surrounded by V-defects in the barrier layer of green LED is reported for InGaN MQWs deposited under no hydrogen or at growth temperatures of less than 800°C. Nanoscale mechanical properties of the areas enclosed and outside of the ring defects does not show any appreciable variation as measured by UFM. Chemical etching of the MQW structure in addition to cross-sectional TEM analysis ruled out the possibility of growth of inversion domains of N-polar GaN in a Ga-polar GaN matrix.

An alternative scheme to the growth of crack free, dislocation reduced III-Nitride layers on Silicon substrate has been previously introduced that relies on formation of an ion implanted defective layer in the substrate with implantation taking place in the presence of AlN buffer layer. Here, the effects of N+ ion implantation of AlN/Si (111) substrate on the structural and optical properties of the overgrown GaN epilayers have been investigated. Temperature dependent photoluminescence has been used to investigate the impact of the implantation conditions (energy and dose) on optical and structural quality of the GaN overgrown layers. A correlation between PL and high resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD) of the overgrown GaN layers show that the lowest FWHM of bandedge, the highest bandedge to deep defect blue luminescence band ratio, and the lowest symmetric rocking curve FWHM are achieved for the optimized implantation conditions. This correlates well with the results of etch pit density measurement showing an order of magnitude reduction in threading dislocation defect density

We report on the study of the effect of various surface chemical treatment processes of n-GaN template layers used for subsequent growth of light emitting diode (LED) structures. The treatment procedure included cleaning in organic solvents, organic solvents followed by 5 minutes of HCl, organic solvents and 5 minutes of HCl followed by 2 minutes and finally 10 minutes of HF treatment. Chemical, optical and electrical properties of the surfaces of GaN and InGaN-based LED structures were systematically investigated by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), auger electron spectroscopy (AES), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) spectroscopy. GaN layers that were grown on the samples treated with HCl and HF showed dramatically different surfaces having high density of 3D structures with high roughness. As measured by AFM, growth of the LED structure on top of the GaN layer continued the 3D-growth mode. LED structures grown on the HCl and HF treated GaN template layers showed minimal to no PL and EL emission and failed after a short period. We suggest a qualitative model of the growth that could potentially explain the underlying phenomena leading to such pronounced changes in the optoelectronic properties and surface conditions of the LED structures due to the treatment of the initial template layers.

In this letter, the achievement of over 60 mW output power from pseudomorphic ultraviolet light-emitting diodes in continuous wave operation is reported. Die thinning and encapsulation improved the photon extraction efficiency to over 15%. Improved thermal management and a high characteristic temperature resulted in a low thermal rolloff up to 300 mA injection current with an output power of 67 mW, an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 4.9%, and a wall plug efficiency (WPE) of 2.5% for a single-chip device emitting at 271 nm in continuous wave operation.

This letter reports on the improved performance of a pseudomorphic ultraviolet light-emitting diode (LED). At 100 mA input current, 9.2 mW of quasi-CW output power was measured in a calibrated integrating sphere. The addition of a heat sink, required for CW and higher power operation, introduced a numerical aperture of 0.86, and 72 mW was measured in pulsed mode at 1.7 A, indicating that the total output power exceeds 100 mW when corrected by the coupling factor. The high characteristic temperature of 983 K was instrumental in achieving these record output powers for an LED with wavelength shorter than 265 nm.

The effect of edge and screw dislocations on the electrical and optical properties of n-type Al0.34Ga0.66N is investigated. It is found that edge dislocations strongly affect the electrical properties of n-type Al0.34Ga0.66N. Both free carrier concentration and mobility decrease with increasing edge dislocation density. Edge dislocations also enhance nonradiative recombination, which is indicated by decreasing near-band-edge UV as well as parasitic blue photoluminescence. The UV/blue ratio is found to be independent of the edge dislocation density but strongly depends on the Si doping concentration.

A reduction of edge dislocations in the GaN layer on Si substrate by almost an order of magnitude to 8.0×107∕cm2 and reduction in screw dislocations by a factor greater than 4 are achieved for the film grown on the Si (111) substrate engineered to have a polycrystalline defective layer at the AlN∕Si interface. The formation of a polycrystalline defective layer at the AlN∕Si interface by N+ ion implantation provides substrate conditions that result in a heteroepitaxial GaN film with much improved surface morphology and better crystal quality as compared to the film grown directly on AlN∕Si. A mechanism of dislocation defect reduction in the epitaxial film is given based on the detailed study of AlN∕Si interfaces as well as the evolution of the AlN buffer layer in the context of this substrate engineering technique, which shows partial decoupling of the III-nitride layers from the substrate to be responsible for the improved characteristics.

The application of III-nitrides to the development of a tunable hyperspectral detector is reported. The device consists of a triangular step barrier provided by a heterostructure of AlN∕AlxGa1−xN∕GaN. The structure is carefully designed to avoid relaxation of strained layers to prevent further introduction of defects and cracking due to the large tensile strain between different layers of the device. This structure is envisioned for tunable detection of ultraviolet through infrared wavelengths. The particular device structure reported here is expected to span detection energies from ∼1to2eV and from 3.4to5.4eV. The adjustable height of the triangular barrier with applied bias voltage provides tunability of the detected wavelength. The results from a first generation device are reported.

We report on the selective-area heteroepitaxy and facet evolution of submicron GaN islands on GaN-sapphire, AlN-sapphire, and bare sapphire substrates. It is shown that strain due to the lattice mismatch between GaN and the underlying substrate has a significant influence on the final morphology and faceting of submicron islands. Under identical metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth parameters, islands with low or no mismatch strain exhibit pyramidal morphologies, while highly strained islands evolve into prismatic shapes. Furthermore, islands grown with relatively low compressive mismatch strain yield more uniform arrays of pyramids as compared to the nonstrained, homoepitaxially grown crystals. It is proposed that the strain dependency of Ehrlich-Schwoebel barriers across different crystallographic planes could potentially account for the observed morphologies during selective area growth of GaN islands.

We report on a novel scheme of substrate engineering to obtain high-quality GaN layers on Si substrates. Ion implantation of an AlN∕Si substrate is performed to create a defective layer that partially isolates the III-nitride layer and the Si substrate and helps to reduce the strain in the film. Raman spectroscopy shows a substantial decrease in in-plane strain in GaN films grown on nitrogen implanted substrates. This is confirmed by the enhancement of the E2 (TO) phonon frequency from 564 to 567cm−1 corresponding to 84% stress reduction and substantial decrease in crack density for a 2-μm-thick GaN film. GaN films grown on implanted AlN∕Si substrate have better optical properties and smoother surface morphology as compared to nonimplanted AlN∕Si substrate.

Output performance of InGaN based violet light emitting diode structures emitting at 405 nm was optimized using the statistical design of experiments (DOE) approach. Two separate DOEs were utilized to optimize the active region. The variables studied included the gallium flow rate, indium flow rate, temperature, well and barrier growth times, NH3 flow rate, and the silicon doping of the barrier while holding all other parameters and layers constant. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were analyzed for wavelength, intensity, and full width at half maximum (FWHM) for each sample in both DOEs while electroluminescence measurements were completed for the samples from the second DOE and analyzed based on optical output power. Statistically valid transfer functions were obtained for each response based on the variables investigated. An overall improvement of 7% in the intensity with a reduction of 20% in the FWHM of the 405 nm PL band was obtained based on the starting point of the first DOE, while an improvem...