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The high built-in polarization field is a fingerprint of III-nitride heterostructures. Alloy composition and doping profile significantly affect the magnitude of the electric field present in subsequent layers, but the sign of the electric field is usually defined by substrate polarity and external bias. Here, we propose to utilize acceptor and donor doping concentrations exceeding 1020 cm−3 to obtain a high junction field that can solely abolish built-in polarization for a polar (0001) InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW). We have used photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved PL (TRPL), and contactless electroreflectance in order to gain insight into the strength of the electric field present in the grown heterostructures. Good match between expected and measured electric field values was obtained. A dramatic decrease in the luminescence lifetime for a flat QW was confirmed using TRPL. The presented results open a way to realize devices that profit from the low built-in field, like photodetectors, using abundant polar substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports on the possibility of sustaining a stable operation of polarization-doped InGaN light emitters over a particularly broad temperature range. We obtained efficient emission from InGaN light-emitting diodes between 20 K and 295 K and from laser diodes between 77 K and 295 K under continuous wave operation. The main part of the p-type layers was fabricated from composition-graded AlGaN. To optimize injection efficiency and improve contact resistance, we introduced thin Mg-doped layers of GaN (subcontact) and AlGaN (electron blocking layer in the case of laser diodes). In the case of LEDs, the optical emission efficiency at low temperatures seems to be limited by electron overshooting through the quantum wells. For laser diodes, a limiting factor is the freeze-out of the magnesium-doped electron blocking layer for temperatures below 160 K. The GaN:Mg subcontact layer works satisfyingly even at the lowest operating temperature (20 K). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of wet treatment using an (NH4)2S-alcohol solution on the interface state of the p-GaN/Ni/Au/Pt contact system and laser diode processing was investigated. Sulfur wet cleaning resulted in reduced surface roughness and contact resistivity. The lowest specific contact resistance (ρc < 1 × 10−4 Ω·cm2) was achieved with samples treated with an (NH4)2S-isopropanol solution, whereas the highest resistivity (ρc = 3.3 × 10−4 Ω·cm2) and surface roughness (Ra = 16 nm) were observed in samples prepared by standard methods. Annealing the contact system in an N2 + O2 + H2O atmosphere caused degradation through species inter-diffusion and metal-metal solid solution formation, irrespective of the preparation method. Standard prepared substrates developed a thin GaN-Au intermediate layer at the interface after heat treatment. Enhanced adhesion and the absence of GaN decomposition were observed in samples additionally cleaned with the (NH4)2S-solvent solution. Complete oxidation of nickel to NiO was observed in samples that underwent additional sulfur solution treatment. The intensity of metal species mixing and nickel oxidation was influenced by the metal diffusion rate and was affected by the initial state of the GaN substrate obtained through different wet treatment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light emitting diode structures with InGaN quantum wells have been studied as a function of hydrostatic and uniaxial pressure (along the c-axis) under different values of reverse voltage. Photocurrent measurements (with light parallel to the epitaxial layers) allow determining energies in transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarizations, which we attribute to transitions from the heavy-hole (HH) and crystal-field split (CH) band to the conduction band. The comparison of theory and experiment suggests that the electric fields are about 25% lower than the calculated values. The transitions in TE polarization agree with the theoretical predictions, while those in TM polarization do not. In particular, the splittings between HH and CH bands are lower than the theoretical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The horizontal excitation energy transport in the range of tens of micrometers was measured in high quality homoepitaxial InGaN quantum wells (QWs) with the use of time and space resolved micro-photoluminescence as a function of (i) applied vertical electric field, (ii) temperature, and (iii) linear density of atomic steps. The investigated structure consisted of InGaN QWs inside a p-n junction. The indium content in QWs was designed to be different in defined areas of the sample (due to mastering of different off-cuts and atomic steps density) so that the wells could emit at energies from 2.6 to 2.86 eV. The horizontal transport range was sensitive to the vertical electric field, which means that it could not be just a radiation transfer, but charge carriers must have been involved as well. We found that the transport range decreased for higher slope angles, possibly due to stronger scattering on atomic steps when their linear density became higher. The diffusion coefficients reached 6 cm2/s and due to long lifetime of even 2 μs, the diffusion length was even LD = 30 μm in areas of low off-cut angles. We discuss possible mechanisms of transport and conclude that for such high diffusion constant, the most probable is the excitonic transport. The LD was maximum at 40 K and then decreased significantly with temperature, which was probably caused by thermal dissociation of excitons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]