Polarization-free GaN emitters in the ultraviolet and visible spectra via heterointegration on CMOS-compatible Si (100)

Abstract

This work presents a new type of polarization-free GaN emitter. The unique aspect of this work is that the ultraviolet and visible emission originates from the cubic phase GaN and the cubic phase InGaN/GaN multi-quantum-wells, respectively. Conventionally, GaN emitters (e.g. light emitting diodes, laser diodes) are wurtzite phase thus strong polarization fields exist across the structure contributing to the “droop” behavior – a phenomenon defined as “the reduction in emitter efficiency as injection current increases”. The elimination of piezoelectric fields in GaN-based emitters as proposed in this work provide the potential for achieving a 100% internal efficiency and might lead to droopfree light emitting diodes. In addition, this work demonstrates co-integration of GaN emitters on cheap and scalable CMOS-compatible Si (100) substrate, which yields possibility of realizing a GaN laser diode uniquely – via forming mirrors along the naturally occurring cubic phase GaN-Si(100) cleavage planes.