xN Quantum Research Articles

Special role of indium nitride in the properties of related compounds and quantum structures

This Review provides a thorough description of the experimental progress on the InN family and other relevant compounds. Although InN is of great interest, many of its properties are not well understood and are still puzzling researchers with a number of unexpected effects. These include a surprisingly small energy gap, sensitivity to applied pressure in terms of lattice stability, and poor miscibility with compounds with smaller lattice parameters, such as GaN and AlN. Special features of InN under pressure are highlighted, such as the effect of conduction band filling and the strong pressure dependence of the effective mass. Several negative and positive effects due to the presence of In have been observed. We highlight their implications for InN-based alloys and quantum structures, which are crucial materials in modern optoelectronics (light emitting diodes and laser diodes). These effects include In clustering, large piezoelectricity resulting in strong internal electric fields that reduce the optical gain in nitride heterostructures, and difficulties in growing high-In superlattices and other quantum structures. All of these effects pose challenges that need to be addressed. We show that theoretical explanations allow for the clarification of puzzling experimental observations. Discussed are (i) a reformulation of the rule describing the bandgap dependence on pressure in all III–V semiconductors; (ii) the very large bandgap curvatures in nitride alloys; and (iii) the discrepancies between theory and experiment in the optical emission from InN/GaN superlattices, leading to the conclusion that epitaxial growth of high In content InxGa1−xN (x > 0.3) quantum wells on GaN is not possible.

Molecular beam epitaxy of GaN/AlGaN quantum wells on bulk GaN substrate in the step-flow or step meandering regime: Influence on indirect exciton diffusion

GaN/AlxGa1−xN quantum wells were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on high quality bulk (0001) GaN substrates. The quantum well thickness was set in the 6–8 nm range to favor the photoluminescence emission of indirect excitons. Indeed, such excitons are known to be spatially indirect due to the presence of the internal electric field which spatially separates the electron and hole wave functions. The growth conditions were optimized in view of minimizing the photoluminescence peak broadening. In particular, the impact of growth temperature (up to 900 °C) on the surface morphology, structural, and photoluminescence properties was studied. The diffusion of indirect excitons on the scale of tens of micrometers was measured with a micro-photoluminescence setup equipped with a spatially resolved detection. A dedicated model and its analysis allow us to extract from these measurements the exciton diffusion constant and to conclude on the optimum growth conditions for the GaN/AlxGa1−xN quantum well structures suited for studies of quantum collective effects in indirect exciton liquids.

Effects of structural defects on optical properties of InxGa1−xN layers and quantum wells

This review concentrates on the microstructure of InxGa1−xN layers and quantum wells (QWs) in relation to their optical properties. The microstructure of InxGa1−xN, with a constant In(x) concentration, shifts with layer thickness. Only layers below 100 nm for x = 0.1 are nearly defect-free. A photoluminescence peak is observed at 405 nm, in line with ∼10% In, suggesting band-edge luminescence. Layers with greater thickness and In content present a corrugated surface with numerous structural defects, including V-defects, causing redshifts and multi-peaks in photoluminescence up to 490 nm. These defects, resembling those in GaN, lead to a corrugated sample surface. Atomic force microscopy shows a 3.7-fold larger corrugation in samples with 20 QWs compared to those with 5 QWs measured on 2 × 2 μm2 areas. Like in GaN, dual growth on different crystallographic planes results in varied QW thicknesses, influencing optical traits of devices made from InxGa1−xN layers. The purpose of this review and the chosen subject is to highlight the significant contribution of Wladek Walukiewicz and his group to the current research on the properties of InxGa1−xN, which are crucial alloys in the field of optoelectronics.

Excitons in (Al,Ga)N quantum dots and quantum wells grown on (0001)-oriented AlN templates: Emission diagrams and valence band mixings

The luminescence efficiency of AlxGa1−xN quantum dots (QDs) and quantum wells (QWs), buried in AlN cladding layers and emitting in the ultraviolet range between 234 and 310 nm, has been investigated. The growth and optical properties have been done using similar aluminum composition (varying from 0.4 to 0.75) for both QDs and QWs. In order to compare as much as possible the optical properties, the QWs were fabricated with a growth time tuned such that the QW width is similar to the average height of the QDs. The photoluminescence (PL) showed emission ranging from 4 to 5.4 eV, putting into evidence differences in terms of full width at half maximum, PL intensity, and asymmetry of the line shape between QDs and QWs. The results show shorter wavelengths and a slightly narrower PL linewidth for QWs. To determine the light emission dependence with the electric field direction in the crystal, the evolutions of the emission diagrams for all samples were recorded along two orthogonal directions, namely, the “in-plane” (growth) and the “on-side” directions, from which the light emission was collected. For the whole QDs and QWs samples' series, the shapes of the emission diagram indicate emission in both in-plane and on-side directions, as evidenced by intra-valence band mixings caused by strain effects combined with the anisotropic Coulomb interactions that are particularly contributing to the polarization at wavelengths below 260 nm. Furthermore, the degree of polarization, determined for each sample, showed good agreement with results from the literature.

AlN/AlGaN/AlN quantum well channel HEMTs

We present a compositional dependence study of electrical characteristics of AlxGa1−xN quantum well channel-based AlN/AlGaN/AlN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with x=0.25,0.44, and 0.58. This ultra-wide bandgap heterostructure is a candidate for next-generation radio frequency and power electronics. The use of selectively regrown n-type GaN Ohmic contacts results in contact resistance that increases as the Al content of the channel increases. The DC HEMT device characteristics reveal that the maximum drain current densities progressively reduce from 280 to 30 to 1.7 mA/mm for x=0.25,0.44, and 0.58, respectively. This is accompanied by a simultaneous decrease (in magnitude) in threshold voltage from −5.2 to −4.9 to −2.4 V for the three HEMTs. This systematic experimental study of the effects of Al composition x on the transistor characteristics provides valuable insights for engineering AlGaN channel HEMTs on AlN for extreme electronics at high voltages and high temperatures.

Influence of Geometrical Shape on the Characteristics of the Multiple InN/InxGa1-xN Quantum Dot Solar Cells.

Solar cells that are based on the implementation of quantum dots in the intrinsic region, so-called intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs), are among the most widely used concepts nowadays for achieving high solar conversion efficiency. The principal characteristics of such solar cells relate to their ability to absorb low energy photons to excite electrons through the intermediate band, allowing for conversion efficiency exceeding the limit of Shockley–Queisser. IBSCs are generating considerable interest in terms of performance and environmental friendliness. However, there is still a need for optimizing many parameters that are related to the solar cells, such as the size of quantum dots, their shape, the inter-dot distance, and choosing the right material. To date, most studies have only focused on studying IBSC composed of cubic shape of quantum dots. The main objective of this study is to extend the current knowledge of IBSC. Thus, we analyze the effect of the shape of the quantum dot on the electronic and photonic characteristics of indium nitride and indium gallium nitride multiple quantum dot solar cells structure considering cubic, spherical, and cylindrical quantum dot shapes. The ground state of electrons and holes energy levels in quantum dot are theoretically determined by considering the Schrödinger equation within the effective mass approximation. Thus, the inter and intra band transitions are determined for different dot sizes and different inter dot spacing. Consequently, current–voltage (J-V) characteristic and efficiencies of these devices are evaluated and compared for different shapes. Our calculations show that, under fully concentrated light, for the same volume of different quantum dots (QD) shapes and a well determined In-concentration, the maximum of the photovoltaic conversion efficiencies reaches 63.04%, 62.88%, and 62.43% for cubic, cylindrical, and spherical quantum dot shapes, respectively.

Optimization of (In)GaN Heterostructures for Sensing Applications

Herein, the optimization of (In)GaN heterostructures for chemical sensing is presented. The metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE)‐grown sensor consists of an InxGa1−xN quantum well (QW) placed close to the surface of a GaN substrate with a thin GaN cap layer on top. The photoluminescence (PL) wavelength of this QW is sensitive to surface potential changes and thus its optical signal is used as sensor response. Simulations are performed with nextnano to improve its sensitivity. Sensor parameters such as the cap layer thickness d, QW thickness Lz, background buffer layer doping concentration N, and indium concentration x of the QW are varied. It is found that a thin cap layer, together with high background doping and medium QW thickness, is ideal. The indium content does not show a strong influence on sensitivity. The trends found in the simulations are mostly confirmed in real‐world experiments performed in a chemical sensing setup, yet quantitative deviations exist.

Photo- and electro-luminescence studies of semipolar (112¯2) InxAl1−xN

InxAl1−xN (0.15 < x < 0.4) single layers (thickness = 300 nm) and light emitting diodes (LEDs) with InxAl1−xN (x = 0.24 or 0.28) quantum wells (QWs) were grown on (112¯2) free-standing GaN substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The emission characteristics of InxAl1−xN films and QWs were then investigated by photoluminescence (PL), cathodoluminescence (CL), and electroluminescence (EL). PL emission down at 1.87 eV (∼660 nm) was observed from In0.37Al0.63N at room temperature. However, its emission wavelength and spectral width showed almost no temperature-dependence, strongly suggesting the radiative recombination process in In0.37Al0.63N is heavily affected by the potential fluctuations associated with the defect levels such as deep donor–acceptor pairs (DAPs). For In0.23Al0.77N, the emission peaks at 3.24 and 2.4 eV were observed at 300 K but CL showed no evidence of compositional fluctuations. Given the wide spectral width and weak In clustering, PL at 3.24 eV is likely from a shallow DAP transition involving an impurity-related shallow donor and valence band. PL emission at 2.4 eV, on the other hand, behaved more like In0.37Al0.63N, suggesting significant deep DAP transitions. Both LEDs with In0.24Al0.76N and In0.28Al0.72N QWs showed a discrete blueshift of the emission peak with increasing injection current, which is very different from the gradual shift observed in InGaN LEDs. The high-energy peak was much narrower than the low-energy peak, suggesting it could be the near-band edge emission. Si doping of In0.24Al0.76N QWs lowered the injection current level at which the high-energy peak appears.

Linear and nonlinear susceptibilities in GaN/AlxGa1−xN quantum wire

In this work, we have performed a new approach based on a combination of coordinate transformation and the finite difference method in order to investigate the electronic, linear and nonlinear optical properties of GaN/AlxGa1−xN quantum wire. The real and the imaginary parts of first-order linear and third-order nonlinear susceptibilities are investigated as a function of the quantum wire height and Aluminum mole fraction. Our calculations revealed that as the height increases, the transition energy decreases monotonically. In addition, the peaks of susceptibility decreased and shifted to the red as the height augments. Our findings can serve the experimental studies linked to practical exploitation of the quantum confinement effect in optoelectronic devices based on quantum wire nanostructures.

Strain and built-in potential effects on optical properties of wurtzite GaN/AlInN quantum dots

Light emission characteristics of wurtzite (WZ) GaN/AlxIn1−xN quantum dots (QDs) with piezoelectric (PZ) and spontaneous (SP) polarizations were investigated as a function of Al content through self-consistent calculations. The spontaneous emission coefficient rapidly increases with decreasing Al content and becomes a maximum at about x = 0.8. This is mainly attributed to the fact that the overlap integral between electron and hole wavefunctions is enhanced owing to the broadened potential shape from strain and built-in potential in the valence band. On the other hand, GaN/AlxIn1−xN quantum wells (QWs) shows that the spontaneous emission coefficient becomes a maximum at x = 0.7. Also, the light emission intensity of GaN/AlxIn1−xN QDs is shown to be greatly increased by the screening effect, irrespective of Al content in the barrier and the case with x = 0.8 shows the largest screening potential.

Strain and built-in fields in wurtzite GaN/AlxIn1−xN quantum wells and quantum dots

Strain and built-in fields in wurtzite (WZ) GaN/AlxIn1−xN quantum wells (QWs) and quantum dots (QDs) with piezoelectric (PZ) and spontaneous (SP) polarizations were investigated by using a multi-band effective mass theory. In the case of GaN/AlInN QW structures, the built-in field in the well nearly becomes zero for the QW structure with x = 0.7 while the potential well depth in the conduction band is very small. However, the GaN/AlInN QD structures show that the built-in field in the GaN dot does not become zero in a range of an investigated Al content and the carrier confinement is possible even for the QD structure with x = 0.7. The potential profiles of both QW and QD structures change from type-I to type-II at the Al content of x = 0.7. These results can be used as a design guide for fabrications of QD-based optoelectronic devices with a high emission intensity.

Confinement-dependent exciton binding energy in wurtzite GaN/AlxIn1−xN quantum dots

Exciton binding energies for wurtzite (WZ) GaN/AlxIn1−xN quantum dots (QDs) with piezoelectric (PZ) and spontaneous (SP) polarizations were investigated by using an effective mass theory. The exciton binding energy gradually decreases with increasing Al content x in the barrier. This can be explained by the fact that the wave functions spreads into the barrier region with decreasing Al content and a higher dimensional character of the exciton is restored. The exciton binding energies for the case with PZ and SP polarizations appears to be much smaller than that for the flat-band model without the built-in field due to PZ and SP polarizations. However, their difference is observed to be negligible due to reduction in carrier confinement for the case with a relatively low Al content (x = 0.7).

Electronic states in core/shell GaN/YxGa1−xN quantum well (QW) with the modified Pöschl–Teller plus Woods–Saxon potential in the presence of electric field

The electronic states of a core/shell quantum well (QW) system confined in a modified Pöschl–Teller (PT) plus Woods–Saxon (WS) potential in the presence of electric field are studied with the III-Nitride group owing to their wide bandgap for device applications. The bandgap energy in this regard is obtained by solving analytically the Schrödinger wave equation with the Pekeris-type approximation to the centrifugal term.

Picosecond Acoustics in Single Quantum Wells of Cubic GaN/(Al,Ga)N

A picosecond acoustic pulse is used to study the photoelastic interaction in single zinc-blende GaN/AlxGa1−xN quantum wells. We use an optical time-resolved pump-probe setup and demonstrate that tuning the photon energy to the quantum well’s lowest electron-hole transition makes the experiment sensitive to the quantum well only. Because of the small width, its temporal and spatial resolution allows us to track the few-picosecond-long transit of the acoustic pulse. We further deploy a model to analyze the unknown photoelastic coupling strength of the quantum well for different photon energies and find good agreement with the experiments.

Impact of carrier localization on radiative recombination times in semipolar (202¯1) plane InGaN/GaN quantum wells

Semipolar (202¯1) plane InxGa1−xN quantum wells (QWs) of varying alloy composition were studied by time-resolved photoluminescence. A large difference in effective radiative lifetimes, from sub-ns for x=0.11 to ∼30 ns for x≈0.35 was found. This effect is attributed to different properties of carrier localization. In low In content QWs, recombination at extended states with short recombination times is prevalent. In QWs with a high In content, the lifetimes are increased by localization of electrons and holes at separate sites. The zigzag shape of the QW interfaces and the resulting in-plane electric field are proposed as the cause for the separate electron and hole localization.

Ternary mixed crystal effects on interface optical phonon and electron-phonon coupling in zinc-blende GaN/AlxGa1−xN spherical quantum dots

The theoretical investigations of the interface optical phonons, electron–phonon couplings and its ternary mixed effects in zinc-blende spherical quantum dots are obtained by using the dielectric continuum model and modified random-element isodisplacement model. The features of dispersion curves, electron–phonon coupling strengths, and its ternary mixed effects for interface optical phonons in a single zinc-blende GaN/AlxGa1−xN spherical quantum dot are calculated and discussed in detail. The numerical results show that there are three branches of interface optical phonons. One branch exists in low frequency region; another two branches exist in high frequency region. The interface optical phonons with small quantum number l have more important contributions to the electron–phonon interactions. It is also found that ternary mixed effects have important influences on the interface optical phonon properties in a single zinc-blende GaN/AlxGa1−xN quantum dot. With the increase of Al component, the interface optical phonon frequencies appear linear changes, and the electron–phonon coupling strengths appear non-linear changes in high frequency region. But in low frequency region, the frequencies appear non-linear changes, and the electron–phonon coupling strengths appear linear changes.

Spatial inhomogeneities in AlxGa1−xN quantum wells induced by the surface morphology of AlN/sapphire templates

The effects of the template on the optical and structural properties of Al0.75Ga0.25N/Al0.8Ga0.2N multiple quantum well (MQWs) laser active regions have been investigated. The laser structures for optical pumping were grown on planar c-plane AlN/sapphire as well as on thick epitaxially laterally overgrown (ELO) AlN layers on patterned AlN/sapphire. Two ELO AlN/sapphire templates were investigated, one with a miscut of the sapphire surface to the m-direction with an angle of 0.25°, the other with a miscut angle of 0.25° to the sapphire a-direction. The MQWs are studied by atomic force microscopy, plan-view cathodoluminescence (CL) at room temperature and 83 K as well as transmission electron microscopy using high-angle annular dark-field imaging and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The results are compared to optical pumping measurements. It was found that the surface morphology of the templates determines the lateral wavelength distribution in the MQWs observed by spectral CL mappings. The lateral wavelength spread is largest for the laser structures grown on ELO AlN with miscut to sapphire a-direction caused by the local variation of the MQW thicknesses and the Ga incorporation at macrosteps on the ELO-AlN. A CL peak wavelength spread of up to 7 nm has been found. The MQWs grown on planar AlN/sapphire templates show a homogeneous wavelength distribution. However, due to the high threading dislocation density and the resulting strong nonradiative recombination, laser operation could not be achieved. The laser structures grown on ELO AlN/sapphire show optically pumped lasing with a record short wavelength of 237 nm.

Correlated high-resolution x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and atom probe tomography analysis of continuous and discontinuous InxGa1−xN quantum wells

Atom probe tomography (APT) is used to characterize the influence of hydrogen dosing during GaN barrier growth on the indium distribution of InxGa1−xN quantum wells, and correlated micro-photoluminescence is used to measure changes in the emission spectrum and efficiency. Relative to the control growth, hydrogen dosing leads to a 50% increase in emission intensity arising from discontinuous quantum wells that are narrower, of lower indium content, and with more abrupt interfaces. Simulations of carrier distributions based on APT composition profiles indicate that the greater carrier confinement leads to an increased radiative recombination rate. Furthermore, APT analysis of quantum well profiles enables refinement of x-ray diffraction analysis for more accurate nondestructive measurements of composition.

Visible Spectrum Quantum Light Sources Based on InxGa1–xN/GaN Quantum Dots

We present a method for designing quantum light sources, emitting in the visible band, using wurtzite InxGa1−xN quantum dots (QDs) in a GaN matrix. This system is significantly more versatile than previously proposed arsenide- and phosphide-based QDs, having a tuning range exceeding 1 eV. The quantum mechanical configuration interaction method, capturing the fermionic nature of electrons and associated quantum effects explicitly, is used to find shapes and compositions of dots to maximize the excitonic dipole matrix element and optimize the biexciton binding energy. These results provide QD morphologies tailored for either bright single-photon emission or entangled- photon-pair emission at any given wavelength in the visible spectrum.

Electroluminescence characteristics of blue InGaN quantum wells on m-plane GaN “double miscut” substrates

InxGa1−xN quantum wells (QWs) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on bulk m-plane GaN substrates with surface miscut −1° toward [0001] (“−1° c-miscut”) currently suffer from low indium uptake and broad luminescence linewidth in the blue spectrum. New surface “double miscuts” with miscut components in the combined a- and c-directions exhibit more uniform step flow growth in homoepitaxy than coloaded −1° c-miscut substrates. QWs grown on double miscut surfaces exhibit reproducibly higher indium uptake, narrower and more symmetric electroluminescence lineshapes in the blue spectrum, and higher output power at the peak wavelength than those grown on −1° c-miscut surfaces.