Significant increase of quantum efficiency of green InGaN quantum well by realizing step-flow growth

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) island morphologies have been widely reported for green light-emitting InGaN quantum well (QW) layers, but the step-flow morphology has not been obtained for a green InGaN QW layer to date. In this Letter, we first investigate the cause of the 2D island morphology of green InGaN QWs via a comparison study with blue InGaN QWs. The short diffusion lengths of adatoms at low growth temperatures were found to be the cause of the 2D island morphology for the green InGaN QW. Step-flow growth of green InGaN QWs was obtained by increasing the miscut angle of the c-plane GaN substrates from 0.20° to 0.48°, which reduces the atomic terrace width. Green InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with step-flow morphologies were found to have sharper well/barrier interfaces than MQWs with 2D island morphologies. The internal quantum efficiency of the green InGaN/GaN MQWs with the step-flow morphology is double that of the corresponding MQWs with the 2D island morphology at an excitation power density of 6.4 kW/cm2. Additionally, the emission linewidth of the green InGaN/GaN MQWs with the step-flow morphology is greatly reduced. As a result, the threshold currents of green laser diodes with larger miscut angles are greatly reduced.