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Single-crystal gallium nitride (GaN) thin films were grown using a graphene mask via multiple epitaxial lateral overgrowth (multiple-ELOG). During the growth process, the graphene mask self-decomposed to enable the emergence of a GaN film with a thickness of several hundred nanometres. This is in contrast to selective area growth of GaN using an SiO2 mask leading to the well known hexagonal-pyramid shape under the same growth conditions. The multiple-ELOG GaN had a single-crystalline wurtzite structure corresponding to the crystallinity of the GaN template, which was confirmed with electron backscatter diffraction measurements. An X-ray diffraction rocking curve of the asymmetric 102 reflection showed that the FWHM for the multiple-ELOG GaN decreased to 405 from 540′′ for the underlying GaN template. From these results, the self-decomposition of the graphene mask during ELOG was experimentally proven to be affected by the GaN decomposition rather than the high-temperature/H2 growth conditions.

In recent years, research into implementing microdisplays for use in virtual reality and augmented reality has been actively conducted worldwide. Specifically, inorganic light-emitting diodes (LED)...

We report on a method for controlling the polarity of gallium nitride (GaN) using an E-beam evaporated aluminum (Al) layer on a sapphire substrate. A high-temperature nitridation process was designed to enable the amorphous Al layer to serve as a nucleation layer for single-crystal Ga-polar GaN growth. The Al layer also acts as a mask that prevents N-polar GaN growth. As a result, Ga-polar and N-polar GaN can be grown on the Al layer and sapphire surface, respectively. This method is not only advantageous for the selective polarity control but also to simplify the fabrication process of lateral polarity structures.

We have demonstrated the effect of p-GaN hole concentration on a graphene current spreading layer (CSL) for stabilization and improved performance of a near-ultraviolet light-emitting diode (NUV LED). While NUV LEDs with a more lightly-doped p-GaN showed poor electrical and optical properties and unstable performance, NUV LEDs with more heavily-doped p-GaN (∼2 × 1017 cm−3) showed very stable, outstanding performance. The main factor of the improvement was the enhanced contact property between the graphene CSLs and the p-GaN that resulted from the increase of the hole concentration, which led to a thinner barrier and an enhanced current injection. From our results, we were able to determine that hole concentration as heavy as 2 × 1017 cm−3 in p-GaN layers is a primary condition in NUV LEDs with graphene-based CSLs.

Nitrogen flow rate is one of the important growth parameters for the growth of group-III nitride nanowires in plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. However, nitrogen flow rate has received less attention compared to the group-III metal fluxes since its effects are not as prominent as that of the metal fluxes. In this study, we investigated the effects of nitrogen flow rate on the morphology and composition of AlGaN nanowires. Reducing the nitrogen flow rate improved the structural uniformity and increased the Al composition. We present a composition change model and show that excess nitrogen suppresses Ga desorption by recombining the Ga atoms, thereby causing a change in the composition of AlGaN. It was confirmed that the influence of the nitrogen flow rate on the Al composition varied with the growth temperature. These results provide insights into the role of nitrogen flow rate on the growth of AlGaN nanowires and suggest that more sophisticated growth control is possible by considering the nitrogen flow rate.