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Chlipała M, Turski H. Harnessing III-Nitride Built-In Field in Multi-Quantum Well LEDs. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2024; 16. [PMID: 38666754 PMCID: PMC11082851 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c02084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
III-nitrides possess several unique qualities, which allow them to make the world brighter, but their uniqueness is not always beneficial. The uniaxial nature of the wurtzite crystal leads to strikingly large electric polarization fields, which along with the high acceptor ionization energy cause low injection efficiency and uneven carrier distribution for multiple quantum well (QW) light emitting devices. In this work, we explore the carrier distribution in Ga-polar LED in two configurations: standard "p-up" and "p-down", which is accomplished by utilizing a bottom-tunnel junction. This enables the inversion of the sequence of the p and n layers while altering the direction of the current flow with respect to the inherent polarization. To probe the carrier distribution two, color-coded QWs are used in alternating sequences. Our study reveals that for "p-down" devices carrier transport through multiple QWs is limited by the potential barrier at the QW interface, which is in contrast to results for "p-up" structures, where hole mobility is the bottleneck. Moreover, investigated "p-down" LEDs exhibit an extremely low turn-on voltage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikołaj Chlipała
- Institute
of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Henryk Turski
- Institute
of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
- Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
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2
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Winiarski MJ. Electronic Structure of Ternary Alloys of Group III and Rare Earth Nitrides. Materials (Basel) 2021; 14:4115. [PMID: 34361309 DOI: 10.3390/ma14154115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Electronic structures of ternary alloys of group III (Al, Ga, In) and rare earth (Sc, Y, Lu) nitrides were investigated from first principles. The general gradient approximation (GGA) was employed in predictions of structural parameters, whereas electronic properties of the alloys were studied with the modified Becke-Johnson GGA approach. The evolution of structural parameters in the materials reveals a strong tendency to flattening of the wurtzite type atomic layers. The introduction of rare earth (RE) ions into Al- and In-based nitrides leads to narrowing and widening of a band gap, respectively. Al-based materials doped with Y and Lu may also exhibit a strong band gap bowing. The increase of a band gap was obtained for Ga1-xScxN alloys. Relatively small modifications of electronic structure related to a RE ion content are expected in Ga1-xYxN and Ga1-xLuxN systems. The findings presented in this work may encourage further experimental investigations of electronic structures of mixed group III and RE nitride materials because, except for Sc-doped GaN and AlN systems, these novel semiconductors were not obtained up to now.
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Smalc-Koziorowska J, Grzanka E, Lachowski A, Hrytsak R, Grabowski M, Grzanka S, Kret S, Czernecki R, Turski H, Marona L, Markurt T, Schulz T, Albrecht M, Leszczynski M. Role of Metal Vacancies in the Mechanism of Thermal Degradation of InGaN Quantum Wells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021; 13:7476-7484. [PMID: 33529520 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c21293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In this work, we study the thermal degradation of In-rich InxGa1-xN quantum wells (QWs) and propose explanation of its origin based on the diffusion of metal vacancies. The structural transformation of the InxGa1-xN QWs is initiated by the formation of small initial voids created due to agglomeration of metal vacancies diffusing from the layers beneath the QW. The presence of voids in the QW relaxes the mismatch stress in the vicinity of the void and drives In atoms to diffuse to the relaxed void surroundings. The void walls enriched in In atoms are prone for thermal decomposition, what leads to a subsequent disintegration of the surrounding lattice. The phases observed in the degraded areas of QWs contain voids partly filled with crystalline In and amorphous material, surrounded by the rim of high In-content InxGa1-xN or pure InN; the remaining QW between the voids contains residual amount of In. In the case of the InxGa1-xN QWs deposited on the GaN layer doped to n-type or on unintentionally doped GaN, we observe a preferential degradation of the first grown QW, while doping of the underlying GaN layer with Mg prevents the degradation of the closest InxGa1-xN QW. The reduction in the metal vacancy concentration in the InxGa1-xN QWs and their surroundings is crucial for making them more resistant to thermal degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ewa Grzanka
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Artur Lachowski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Materials Science, Warsaw University of Technology, Wołoska 141, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Roman Hrytsak
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
- College of Natural Sciences, Institute of Physics, University of Rzeszow, Pigonia 1, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland
| | - Mikolaj Grabowski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Szymon Grzanka
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Slawomir Kret
- Institute of Physics PAS, Aleja Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Robert Czernecki
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Henryk Turski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Lucja Marona
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Toni Markurt
- Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth, Max-Born-Strasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Tobias Schulz
- Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth, Max-Born-Strasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Albrecht
- Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth, Max-Born-Strasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Mike Leszczynski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
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Cros A, Cristóbal AG, Hestroffer K, Daudin B, Wang J, Demangeot F, Péchou R. Resonant Raman scattering of core-shell GaN/AlN nanowires. Nanotechnology 2020; 32:085713. [PMID: 33142269 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/abc710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We have analyzed the electron-phonon coupling in GaN/AlN core-shell nanowires by means of Raman scattering excited at various wavelengths in the ultraviolet spectral range (335, 325 and 300 nm) and as a function of the AlN shell thickness. The detailed analysis of the multi-phonon spectra evidences important differences with excitation energy. Under 325 and 300 nm excitation the Raman process is mediated by the allowedA1(LO) phonon mode, where the atoms vibrate along the NW axis. Considering its selection rules, this mode is easily accessible in backscattering along the wurtzitecaxis. Interestingly, for 335 nm excitation the scattering process is instead mediated by theE1(LO) phonon mode, where atoms vibrate in thec-plane and that is forbidden in this configuration. This change is ascribed to the band anticrossing caused by the uniaxial strain imposed by the AlN shell and the proximity, at this particular excitation energy, of real electronic transitions separated by the energy of the longitudinal optical phonon modes. The energy and character of the electronic bands can be tuned by varying the AlN shell thickness, a degree of freedom unique to core-shell nanowires. The interpretation of the experimental results is supported by calculations of the electronic transitions of GaN under uniaxial strain performed within the framework of ak · pmodel.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Cros
- Institute of Materials Science (ICMUV), University of Valencia, PO Box 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain
| | - A García Cristóbal
- Institute of Materials Science (ICMUV), University of Valencia, PO Box 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain
| | - K Hestroffer
- Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, CEA-IRIG, PHELIQS, 17 av. des Martyrs, F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - B Daudin
- Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, CEA-IRIG, PHELIQS, 17 av. des Martyrs, F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - J Wang
- CNRS-CEMES, 29 rue J. Marvig, BP. 94347, F-31055 Toulouse, France
| | - F Demangeot
- CNRS-CEMES, 29 rue J. Marvig, BP. 94347, F-31055 Toulouse, France
| | - R Péchou
- CNRS-CEMES, 29 rue J. Marvig, BP. 94347, F-31055 Toulouse, France
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Winiarski MJ. Electronic Structure of Rock Salt Alloys of Rare Earth and Group III Nitrides. Materials (Basel) 2020; 13:E4997. [PMID: 33171910 DOI: 10.3390/ma13214997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Lattice parameters and electronic properties of RE1−xAxN alloys, where RE = Sc, Y, Lu and A = Al, Ga, and In, have been derived from first principles. The materials are expected to exhibit a linear decrease in cubic lattice parameters and a tendency to a linear increase in band gaps as a function of composition. These effects are connected with a strong mismatch between ionic radii of the RE and group III elements, which leads to chemical pressure in the mixed RE and group III nitrides. The electronic structures of such systems are complex, i.e., some contributions of the d- and p-type states, coming from RE and A ions, respectively, are present in their valence band regions. The findings discussed in this work may encourage further experimental efforts of band gap engineering in RE-based nitrides via doping with group III elements.
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Kapoor A, Finot S, Grenier V, Robin E, Bougerol C, Bleuse J, Jacopin G, Eymery J, Durand C. Role of Underlayer for Efficient Core-Shell InGaN QWs Grown on m-plane GaN Wire Sidewalls. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2020; 12:19092-19101. [PMID: 32208628 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b19314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Different types of buffer layers such as InGaN underlayer (UL) and InGaN/GaN superlattices are now well-known to significantly improve the efficiency of c-plane InGaN/GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The present work investigates the role of two different kinds of pregrowth layers (low In-content InGaN UL and GaN UL namely "GaN spacer") on the emission of the core-shell m-plane InGaN/GaN single quantum well (QW) grown around Si-doped c̅-GaN microwires obtained by silane-assisted metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. According to photo- and cathodoluminescence measurements performed at room temperature, an improved efficiency of light emission at 435 nm with internal quantum efficiency >15% has been achieved by adding a GaN spacer prior to the growth of QW. As revealed by scanning transmission electron microscopy, an ultrathin residual layer containing Si located at the wire sidewall surfaces favors the formation of high density of extended defects nucleated at the first InGaN QW. This contaminated residual incorporation is buried by the growth of the GaN spacer and avoids the structural defect formation, therefore explaining the improved optical efficiency. No further improvement is observed by adding the InGaN UL to the structure, which is confirmed by comparable values of the effective carrier lifetime estimated from time-resolved experiments. Contrary to the case of planar c-plane QW where the improved efficiency is attributed to a strong decrease of point defects, the addition of an InGaN UL seems to have no influence in the case of radial m-plane QW.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akanksha Kapoor
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG, PHELIQS, NPSC, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Sylvain Finot
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Institut Néel, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Vincent Grenier
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG, PHELIQS, NPSC, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Eric Robin
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG, MEM, LEMMA, Grenoble 38000, France
| | | | - Joel Bleuse
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG, PHELIQS, NPSC, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Gwénolé Jacopin
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Institut Néel, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Joël Eymery
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG, MEM, NRS, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Christophe Durand
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG, PHELIQS, NPSC, Grenoble 38000, France
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Bauers SR, Holder A, Sun W, Melamed CL, Woods-Robinson R, Mangum J, Perkins J, Tumas W, Gorman B, Tamboli A, Ceder G, Lany S, Zakutayev A. Ternary nitride semiconductors in the rocksalt crystal structure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:14829-14834. [PMID: 31270238 PMCID: PMC6660719 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1904926116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Inorganic nitrides with wurtzite crystal structures are well-known semiconductors used in optical and electronic devices. In contrast, rocksalt-structured nitrides are known for their superconducting and refractory properties. Breaking this dichotomy, here we report ternary nitride semiconductors with rocksalt crystal structures, remarkable electronic properties, and the general chemical formula Mgx TM 1-xN (TM = Ti, Zr, Hf, Nb). Our experiments show that these materials form over a broad metal composition range, and that Mg-rich compositions are nondegenerate semiconductors with visible-range optical absorption onsets (1.8 to 2.1 eV) and up to 100 cm2 V-1⋅s-1 electron mobility for MgZrN2 grown on MgO substrates. Complementary ab initio calculations reveal that these materials have disorder-tunable optical absorption, large dielectric constants, and electronic bandgaps that are relatively insensitive to disorder. These ternary Mgx TM 1-xN semiconductors are also structurally compatible both with binary TMN superconductors and main-group nitride semiconductors along certain crystallographic orientations. Overall, these results highlight Mgx TM 1-xN as a class of materials combining the semiconducting properties of main-group wurtzite nitrides and rocksalt structure of superconducting transition-metal nitrides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sage R Bauers
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401;
| | - Aaron Holder
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309
| | - Wenhao Sun
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Celeste L Melamed
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401
- Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
| | - Rachel Woods-Robinson
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Applied Science and Technology Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - John Mangum
- Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
| | - John Perkins
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401
| | - William Tumas
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401
| | - Brian Gorman
- Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
| | - Adele Tamboli
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401
| | - Gerbrand Ceder
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Stephan Lany
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401
| | - Andriy Zakutayev
- Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401;
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Durand C, Carlin JF, Bougerol C, Gayral B, Salomon D, Barnes JP, Eymery J, Butté R, Grandjean N. Thin-Wall GaN/InAlN Multiple Quantum Well Tubes. Nano Lett 2017; 17:3347-3355. [PMID: 28441498 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b04852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Thin-wall tubes composed of nitride semiconductors (III-N compounds) based on GaN/InAlN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) are fabricated by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy in a simple and full III-N approach. The synthesis of such MQW-tubes is based on the growth of N-polar c-axis vertical GaN wires surrounded by a core-shell MQW heterostructure followed by in situ selective etching using controlled H2/NH3 annealing at 1010 °C to remove the inner GaN wire part. After this process, well-defined MQW-based tubes having nonpolar m-plane orientation exhibit UV light near 330 nm up to room temperature, consistent with the emission of GaN/InAlN MQWs. Partially etched tubes reveal a quantum-dotlike signature originating from nanosized GaN residuals present inside the tubes. The possibility to fabricate in a simple way thin-wall III-N tubes composed of an embedded MQW-based active region offering controllable optical emission properties constitutes an important step forward to develop new nitride devices such as emitters, detectors or sensors based on tubelike nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Durand
- Université Grenoble Alpes , 38000 Grenoble, France
- Nanophysique et Semiconducteurs Group, CEA, INAC-PHELIQS , 17 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Jean-François Carlin
- Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Catherine Bougerol
- Université Grenoble Alpes , 38000 Grenoble, France
- Nanophysique et Semiconducteurs Group, CNRS, Institut Néel , 25 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Bruno Gayral
- Université Grenoble Alpes , 38000 Grenoble, France
- Nanophysique et Semiconducteurs Group, CEA, INAC-PHELIQS , 17 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Damien Salomon
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility , 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Jean-Paul Barnes
- Université Grenoble Alpes , 38000 Grenoble, France
- CEA, LETI , MINATEC Campus, 38000 Grenoble France
| | - Joël Eymery
- Université Grenoble Alpes , 38000 Grenoble, France
- Nanophysique et Semiconducteurs Group, CEA, INAC-PHELIQS , 17 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Raphaël Butté
- Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Grandjean
- Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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