III-nitride nanopyramid light emitting diodes grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy.

Nanopyramid light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been synthesized by selective area organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. Self-organized porous anodic alumina is used to pattern the dielectric growth templates via reactive ion etching, eliminating the need for lithographic processes. (In,Ga)N quantum well growth occurs primarily on the six [formula] semipolar facets of each of the nanopyramids, while coherent (In,Ga)N quantum dots with heights of up to ∼20 nm are incorporated at the apex by controlling growth conditions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicates that the (In,Ga)N active regions of the nanopyramid heterostructures are completely dislocation-free. Temperature-dependent continuous-wave photoluminescence of nanopyramid heterostructures yields a peak emission wavelength of 617 nm and 605 nm at 300 K and 4 K, respectively. The peak emission energy varies with increasing temperature with a double S-shaped profile, which is attributed to either the presence of two types of InN-rich features within the nanopyramids or a contribution from the commonly observed yellow defect luminescence close to 300 K. TEM cross-sections reveal continuous planar defects in the (In,Ga)N quantum wells and GaN cladding layers grown at 650–780 °C, present in 38% of the nanopyramid heterostructures. Plan-view TEM of the planar defects confirms that these defects do not terminate within the nanopyramids. During the growth of p-GaN, the structure of the nanopyramid LEDs changed from pyramidal to a partially coalesced film as the thickness requirements for an undepleted p-GaN layer result in nanopyramid impingement. Continuous-wave electroluminescence of nanopyramid LEDs reveals a 45 nm redshift in comparison to a thin-film LED, suggesting higher InN incorporation in the nanopyramid LEDs. These results strongly encourage future investigations of III-nitride nanoheteroepitaxy as an approach for creating efficient long wavelength LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]