Conventional Quantum Wells Research Articles

Engineering Semi-Reversed Quantum Well Photocatalysts for Highly-Efficient Solar-to-Fuels Conversion.

Semiconductor quantum wells (QWs) exhibit high charge-utilization efficiency for light-emitting applications due to their strong charge confinement effect. Inspired by this effect, herein, this work proposes a new idea to significantly improve the photo-generated charge separation for attaining a highly-efficient solar-to-fuels conversion process through "semi-reversing" the conventional QWs to confine only the photo-generated electrons. This electron confinement-improved charge separation is implemented in the well-designed model of the CdS/TiO2/CdS semi-reversed QW (SRQW) structure. The latter is fabricated by selectively assembling CdS quantum dots (QDs) onto the {101} facets (ultra-thin edge regions) of the TiO2 nanosheets (NSs). Upon light excitation, the photo-generated electrons of SRQW can be confined on the TiO2-{101} facets in the vicinity of the CdS/TiO2 hetero-interface. Thereby, the continuous multi-electron injection to the adsorbed reactants on the interfacial active-sites is significantly accelerated. Thus, the CdS/TiO2/CdS SRQW exhibits ≈35.7 and ≈56.0-fold enhancements on the photocatalytic activities for water and CO2 reduction, respectively, compared to those of pure TiO2. Correspondingly, its CH4-product selectivity is increased by ≈180%. This work provides a novel charge separation mechanism, which is of great importance for the design of the next-generation quantum-sized photocatalysts for solar-to-fuels conversion.

Effect of varying threading dislocation densities on the optical properties of InGaN/GaN quantum wells with intentionally created V-shaped pits

The effect of varying threading dislocation densities on the internal quantum efficiencies (IQEs) of InGaN quantum wells (QWs), with and without intentionally created “V-pits,” is reported here. InGaN QW samples grown on GaN-on-sapphire templates with threading dislocation densities of <1 × 108 and <1 × 109 cm−2 are compared, with and without GaN/InGaN superlattice (SL) layers incorporated to intentionally open up the threading dislocation cores and form large-size “V-pits.” The formation of “V-pits” is confirmed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy to initiate from threading dislocations in the SL layers. The densities of the pits are confirmed by plan-view SEM to agree with the substrate threading dislocation densities. The experimental room temperature IQEs of the “V-pit” QW samples are enhanced to 15% ± 1% compared to 6% ± 2% for conventional QW samples. Both conventional and “V-pit” samples show insensitivity to the magnitude of the dislocation densities with respect to IQE performance, while the “V-pit” samples show shifts in the peak emission wavelengths compared to the conventional samples, attributed to strain modulation. This study provides additional understanding of the causes of the observed insensitivity of the IQEs to different threading dislocation densities.

Electronic Structure of Few-Layer Black Phosphorus from μ-ARPES.

Black phosphorus (BP) stands out among two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors because of its high mobility and thickness dependent direct band gap. However, the quasiparticle band structure of ultrathin BP has remained inaccessible to experiment thus far. Here we use a recently developed laser-based microfocus angle resolved photoemission (μ-ARPES) system to establish the electronic structure of 2-9 layer BP from experiment. Our measurements unveil ladders of anisotropic, quantized subbands at energies that deviate from the scaling observed in conventional semiconductor quantum wells. We quantify the anisotropy of the effective masses and determine universal tight-binding parameters, which provide an accurate description of the electronic structure for all thicknesses.

Improvement in quantum efficiency of green GaN-based micro-LED by trapezoidal quantum well

The main challenges in the application of GaN-based full-color micro-light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) are size-dependent effects and low quantum efficiency, especially for green micro-LEDs. In this study, we propose to use a trapezoidal quantum well (QW) structure in GaN-based green micro-LEDs. The trapezoidal QW structure is able to improve the electron hole wave function overlap, thus increasing the external quantum efficiency (EQE). Green micro-LEDs with active region size of 75 × 64 μm2 are fabricated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The peak EQE of the green trapezoidal QW micro-LED reaches 15.8% at a low injection current density of 0.6A/cm2, which is 1.96 times higher than that of conventional rectangular QW. The test results indicate that the trapezoidal QW structure greatly improves the quantum efficiency of green micro-LED, inhibits the blue shift of peak wavelength and improves color purity, which paves the way to single substrate full-color micro-LED display with high-performance. The technology proposed in this paper does not change the production line equipment, but improves the traditional process, so it is expected to significantly improve the external quantum efficiency of the existing green micro-LED under the existing equipment. The production technology of existing InGaN QW micro-LED is directly adopted, and the EQE can be further improved if some new dry etching and passivation methods are applied.

Design of InGaN-ZnSnGa2N4 quantum wells for high-efficiency amber light emitting diodes

A novel type-II InGaN-ZnSnGa2N4 quantum well (QW) structure is proposed based on recent experimental achievements for the successful epitaxy of ZnSnN2-GaN alloys and the determination of their band offsets with GaN. The simulation results indicate that this structure is promising as the active region for high-efficiency InGaN-based amber (λ ∼ 590 nm) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The hole wavefunction in the valence band is better confined with the insertion of a monolayer scale of ZnSnGa2N4 into the InGaN QW while the electron wavefunction in the conduction band is better confined with the incorporation of an AlGaN layer in the GaN quantum barrier. The band structure of the InGaN-ZnSnGa2N4 QW is numerically simulated based on the experimentally measured band offsets between ZnSnGa2N4 and GaN. With the InGaN-ZnSnGa2N4 QW design, a low In content (20%) is required in the InGaN layer to reach a peak emission wavelength of ∼590 nm, yet an In composition of 25% is needed to reach the same emission wavelength for a conventional InGaN QW with the same layer thicknesses. Moreover, the electron-hole wavefunction overlap (Гe1−hh1) for the InGaN-ZnSnGa2N4 QW design reaches 18% for an emission wavelength at ∼590 nm. This result is much improved over the conventional InGaN QW overlap of 5% emitting at the same wavelength. The increase in electron-hole wavefunction overlap results in an approximately 14 times enhancement in the predicted spontaneous emission radiative recombination rate of the InGaN-ZnSnGa2N4 QW as compared to that of the conventional InGaN QW. This InGaN-ZnSnGa2N4 QW structure design can be promising to pave a new way to achieve high efficiency amber LEDs.

Enhanced Light Emission from Type-II Red InGaN/GaNSb/GaN Quantum-Well Structures

Electronic and optical properties of type-II InGaN/GaNSb/GaN quantum-well (QW) structures are investigated by using the multiband effective mass theory for potential applications in red light-emitting diodes. The heavy-hole effective mass around the topmost valence band is not affected much by the insertion of the GaNSb layer, and the optical matrix elements are greatly increased by the inclusion of the GaNSb layer in the InGaN/GaN QW structure. As a result, the type-II InGaN/GaNSb/GaN QW structure shows a much larger emission peak than the conventional type-I QW structure owing to the decrease in spatial separation between electron and hole wavefunctions, in addition to the reduction of the effective well width. It is also observed that the In content in InGaN well can be significantly reduced for the type-II QW structure with a large Sb content, compared to that for the type-I QW structure.

Delta InN-InGaN Quantum Wells With AlGaN Interlayers for Long Wavelength Emission

An active region design based on InGaN / delta-InN quantum well (QW) with AlGaN interlayer (IL) and GaN barriers (delta-structure) is investigated for potential high-efficiency visible light emitters. Numerical simulations demonstrate a large wavelength redshift with a simultaneous increase of the electron-hole wavefunction overlap for the delta-structure as compared to the conventional InGaN QW with AlGaN IL and GaN barriers. Proof of concept experimental growths via the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition demonstrate the effect of the delta-InN insertion into the conventional InGaN-based QW.

N-polar InGaN/GaN nanowires: overcoming the efficiency cliff of red-emitting micro-LEDs

A high efficiency, high brightness, and robust micro or sub-microscale red light emitting diode (LED) is an essential, yet missing, component of the emerging virtual reality and future ultrahigh resolution mobile displays. We report, for the first time, to our knowledge, the demonstration of an N-polar InGaN/GaN nanowire sub-microscale LED emitting in the red spectrum that can overcome the efficiency cliff of conventional red-emitting micro-LEDs. We show that the emission wavelengths of N-polar InGaN/GaN nanowires can be progressively shifted from yellow to orange and red, which is difficult to achieve for conventional InGaN quantum wells or Ga-polar nanowires. Significantly, the optical emission intensity can be enhanced by more than one order of magnitude by employing an in situ annealing process of the InGaN active region, suggesting significantly reduced defect formation. LEDs with lateral dimensions as small as ∼ 0.75 μm , consisting of approximately five nanowires, were fabricated and characterized, which are the smallest red-emitting LEDs ever reported, to our knowledge. A maximum external quantum efficiency ∼ 1.2 % was measured, which is comparable to previously reported conventional quantum well micro-LEDs operating in this wavelength range, while our device sizes are nearly three to five orders of magnitude smaller in surface area.

Polarization-induced ultrahigh Rashba spin-orbit interaction in ZnO/CdO quantum well

Spin-orbit interaction (SOI) connecting an electronic spin with its momentum is crucial for numerous fundamental physical researches and their applications, including quantum spin Hall effect, Majorana Fermions and spin-orbit qubits. By breaking structural inversion symmetry, Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) provides an available method for the manipulation of spin by controlling electronic movement within external potential field. In this study, we demonstrate the RSOI of conduction electron modulated by stress-induced polarization field in ZnO/CdO quantum well (QW). The polarization field exactly triggers band inversion between the electron and light hole. The peak of RSOI coefficient can reach approximately up to 83 meV ⋅ nm, almost three orders of magnitude higher than the conventional GaAs-based QWs. This study can be beneficial to sufficient manipulation of spin qubits by strong RSOI quantum piezotronic effect, and will stimulate an intense researching interest in low-dimensional quantum piezotronic devices. • Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) of ZnO/CdO quantum well (QW) has been investigated. • Strain induced polarization of the QW adjusts the RSOI coefficient. • A maximum RSOI coefficient appears when varying external stress. • Ultrahigh RSOI coefficient has been unveiled by comparing a set of heterostructural QWs.

Improved carrier confinement and distribution in InGaN light-emitting diodes with three-layer staggered QWs

Compared with conventional InGaN Quantum Wells (QWs), staggered InGaN QWs offer improved optical and electronic properties. This work studied the carrier concentration, band structure, overlap of hole and electron wave functions, and polarization field of three-layer staggered QWs in the blue spectral region and analyzed them in detail theoretically to explore the source and the dominant mechanism for improvement. Although theoretical studies indicate that the polarization field in QWs of staggered InGaN QWs is larger, the carrier confinement effect is stronger, and the carrier distribution is more uniform. Therefore, three-layer staggered QWs can improve overlapping of the hole and electron wave functions and then enhance the recombination rate so as to increase the optical output power and electroluminescence intensity. Moreover, the performance of the staggered structure C with the lowest indium content at the center of the well is better than that of the step-staggered structure B.

Comparative studies on the DC and RF performances of conventional HEMT and double quantum well heterostructure

In this work, we propose a novel double quantum well (QW) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structure. The DC and RF performances of this proposed structure are compared with those of conventional single QW HEMT. According to this work, the peak drain current of 651 mA/mm is achieved in conventional single QW HEMT, and the peak drain current of 758 mA/mm is achieved in proposed double QW HEMT. Also, the peak transconductances related to the proposed HEMT and conventional HEMT are compared. The peak current gain cut-off frequencies of two structures are compared. Also, the peak power gain cut-off frequencies of two structures are compared. According to these comparisons by simulation studies, the proposed double QW HEMT is more electrically efficient than the conventional single QW HEMT. Therefore, this present work may be a suitable prediction for the experimental fabrication of proposed double QW HEMT in future. This work may be suitable in sensor related applications and high frequency applications.

Anomalous Exciton Hall Effect.

It is well known that electrically neutral excitons can still be affected by crossed electric and magnetic fields that make them move in a direction perpendicular to both fields. We show that a similar effect appears in the absence of external electric fields, in the case of scattering of an exciton flow by charged impurities in the presence of the external magnetic field. As a result, the exciton flow changes the direction of its propagation that may be described in terms of the Hall conductivity for excitons. We develop a theory of this effect, which we refer to as the anomalous exciton Hall effect, to distinguish it from the exciton Hall effect that arises due to the valley selective exciton transport in transition metal dichalcogenides. According to our estimations, the effect is relatively weak for optically active or bright excitons in conventional GaAs quantum wells, but it becomes significant for optically inactive or dark excitons, because of the difference of the lifetimes. This makes the proposed effect a convenient tool for spatial separation of dark and bright excitons.

Optical polarization characteristics for AlGaN-based light-emitting diodes with AlGaN multilayer structure as well layer* *Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61874168), the Jiangsu Province I-U-R Cooperation Project, China (Grant No. BY2019114), and the Nantong Science and Technology Project, China (Grant No. JC2019006).

The optical properties of AlGaN-based quantum well (QW) structure with two coupled thin well layers are investigated by the six-by-six K – P method. Compared with the conventional structure, the new structure, especially the one with lower Al-content in the barrier layer, can enhance the TE-/TM-polarized total spontaneous emission rate due to the strong quantum confinement and wide recombination region. For the conventional QW structure, the reduction of well thickness can lead the degree of polarization (DOP) to decrease and the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) to increase. By using the coupled thin well layers, the DOP for the structure with high Al-content in the barrier layer can be improved, while the DOP will further decrease with low Al-content in the barrier layer. It can be attributed to the band adjustment induced by the combination of barrier height and well layer coupling. The IQE can also be further enhanced to 14.8%–20.5% for various Al-content of barrier layer at J = 100 A/cm2. In addition, the efficiency droop effect can be expected to be suppressed compared with the conventional structure.

The ultrafast onset of exciton formation in 2D semiconductors

The equilibrium and non-equilibrium optical properties of single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are determined by strongly bound excitons. Exciton relaxation dynamics in TMDs have been extensively studied by time-domain optical spectroscopies. However, the formation dynamics of excitons following non-resonant photoexcitation of free electron-hole pairs have been challenging to directly probe because of their inherently fast timescales. Here, we use extremely short optical pulses to non-resonantly excite an electron-hole plasma and show the formation of two-dimensional excitons in single-layer MoS2 on the timescale of 30 fs via the induced changes to photo-absorption. These formation dynamics are significantly faster than in conventional 2D quantum wells and are attributed to the intense Coulombic interactions present in 2D TMDs. A theoretical model of a coherent polarization that dephases and relaxes to an incoherent exciton population reproduces the experimental dynamics on the sub-100-fs timescale and sheds light into the underlying mechanism of how the lowest-energy excitons, which are the most important for optoelectronic applications, form from higher-energy excitations. Importantly, a phonon-mediated exciton cascade from higher energy states to the ground excitonic state is found to be the rate-limiting process. These results set an ultimate timescale of the exciton formation in TMDs and elucidate the exceptionally fast physical mechanism behind this process.

AlGaN-Delta-GaN Quantum Well for DUV LEDs

AlGaN-delta-GaN quantum well (QW) structures have been demonstrated to be good candidates for the realization of high-efficiency deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, such heterostructures are still not fully understood. This study focuses on investigation of the optical properties and efficiency of the AlGaN-delta-GaN QW structures using self-consistent six-band k⸱p modelling and finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations. Structures with different Al contents in the AlxGa1−xN sub-QW and AlyGa1−yN barrier regions are examined in detail. Results show that the emission wavelength (λ) can be engineered through manipulation of delta-GaN layer thickness, sub-QW Al content (x), and barrier Al content (y), while maintaining a large spontaneous emission rate corresponding to around 90% radiative recombination efficiency (ηRAD). In addition, due to the dominant transverse-electric (TE)-polarized emission from the AlGaN-delta-GaN QW structure, the light extraction efficiency (ηEXT) is greatly enhanced when compared to a conventional AlGaN QW. Combined with the large ηRAD, this leads to the significant enhancement of external quantum efficiency (ηEQE), indicating that AlGaN-delta-GaN structures could be a promising solution for high-efficiency DUV LEDs.

Ultrabroadband and independent polarization of optical amplification with InGaAs-based indium-rich cluster quantum-confined structure

This Letter reports polarization-independent optical amplification over an ultrabroad spectral range by semiconductor optical amplifiers. The technique uses an InGaAs-based indium-rich cluster (IRC) quantum-confined structure as the active medium and obtains comparable optical gain for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarization modes in the spectral ranges of 905–1005 and 905–970 nm, respectively. The device thus provides independent optical amplification for TE and TM polarizations over a common bandwidth of 65 nm. The difference between the amplified intensities of TE and TM modes is <0.5 dB. These results are attributed to the special emission mechanism of the IRC quantum-confined structure, which differs from that of conventional quantum wells or quantum dots. A preliminary analysis of this mechanism is provided.

Physics of high-efficiency 240–260 nm deep-ultraviolet lasers and light-emitting diodes on AlGaN substrate

High-efficiency III-nitride deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with emission wavelengths of 240–260 nm are extremely difficult to realize due to large defect density from III-nitride materials and existence of optical polarization crossover from conventional AlGaN-based quantum wells (QWs). Free-standing wurtzite AlGaN templates have been studied and developed recently; however, the physics and optical properties of AlGaN-based emitters on AlGaN templates are still relatively lacking. Therefore, this work theoretically investigates the optical properties and quantum efficiencies of the AlGaN-based QW on AlGaN substrates. The physics analysis based on a self-consistent 6-band k⋅p model shows the transverse electric (TE)-polarized optical gain increases from 558 cm−1 by using Al0.51Ga0.49N/AlN QW on the AlN substrate to 2875 cm−1 by using Al0.48Ga0.52N/Al0.72Ga0.28N QW on the Al0.72Ga0.28N substrate at 260 nm, which is attributed to the reduced strain effect and valence band rearrangement by using the AlGaN substrate. Correspondingly, the radiative recombination efficiency increases 1.66–4.43 times based on different Shockley–Read–Hall coefficients, indicating the promising potential of the use of the AlGaN substrate for high-efficiency DUV lasers and LEDs.

Type-II AlInN/ZnGeN2 quantum wells for ultraviolet laser diodes

We propose a type-II AlInN/ZnGeN2 quantum well (QW) structure serving as the active region for ultraviolet (UV) laser diodes. A remarkably low threshold current density can be achieved using the type-II AlInN/ZnGeN2 QW structure, providing a pathway for the realization of electrically-driven nitride-based semiconductor UV laser diodes. ZnGeN2 has both a very similar lattice constant and bandgap to GaN. Its large band offsets with GaN enable the potential of serving as a hole confinement layer to increase the electron-hole wavefunction overlap in the active region. In this study, we investigate the spontaneous emission and gain properties of type-II AlInN/ZnGeN2 QWs with different ZnGeN2 layer thicknesses. Our findings show that the use of ZnGeN2 layers in the active region provides a significant improvement in hole carrier confinement, which results in ∼5 times enhancement of the electron-hole wave function overlap. Such an enhancement provides the ability to achieve a significant increase (∼6 times) in the spontaneous emission rate and material gain, along with a remarkable reduction in threshold carrier density compared to the conventional AlGaN-based QW design, which is essential for practical UV laser diodes.

Improvement of TE-polarized emission in type-II InAlN–AlGaN/AlGaN quantum well**Project supported by the Talent Introduction Project of Nantong University, China (Grant No. 03081055), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61874168 and 61505090), Top-notch Academic Programs Project of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China (Grant No. PPZY2015B135), the Six Top Talents of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. 2016-XCL-052), the Natural

The optical properties of the type-II lineup InxAl1−xN–Al0.59Ga0.41N/Al0.74Ga0.26N quantum well (QW) structures with different In contents are investigated by using the six-by-six K–P method. The type-II lineup structures exhibit the larger product of Fermi–Dirac distribution functions of electron and hole and the approximately equal transverse electric (TE) polarization optical matrix elements ( for the c1–v1 transition. As a result, the peak intensity in the TE polarization spontaneous emission spectrum is improved by 47.45%–53.84% as compared to that of the conventional AlGaN QW structure. In addition, the type-II QW structure with has the largest TE mode peak intensity in the investigated In-content range of 0.13–0.23. It can be attributed to the combined effect of and for the c1–v1, c1–v2, and c1–v3 transitions.

Design of Efficient Type‐II ZnGeN2/In0.16Ga0.84N Quantum Well‐Based Red LEDs

While GaN‐based blue and green LEDs are commercially available, research for efficient red LED based on GaN is still ongoing. These developments are crucial for monolithic integration of RGB colors and the development of nitride‐based full‐color high‐resolution displays. In this perspective, a new red LED architecture based on type‐II ZnGeN2/InGaN quantum well (QW) has been reported. Due to high valence band offset in the type‐II structure, the strong confinement of holes in the ZnGeN2 layer allows the use of a lower In‐content InGaN QW to extend the emission into the red wavelength regions, in comparison to the traditional InGaN QWs with uniform In content. The red region can be reached with only 16% of In with suitable width and position of the ZnGeN2 layer in the InGaN QW. Simulation studies promise a significant enhancement of the spontaneous emission and the possibility to reach both a better external quantum efficiency (EQE close to 60%) and light output when using the type‐II structure, in comparison to the conventional InGaN QW emitting at the same wavelength.