In this study, free-standing GaN was produced from 350- to 400-μm-thick GaN films grown on sapphire by using hydride vapor phase epitaxy. The thick films were separated from the substrate by using the mechanical polishing method with a diamond slurry. After liftoff, the bow is slight or absent in the resulting free-standing GaN. Double-crystal X-ray diffraction, hall measurements, and cathodoluminescence were used for characterizing the free-standing GaN wafer. To investigate spatially the backside of the free-standing GaN substrate, we controlled the electron beam energy from 5 keV to 30 keV. As the beam energy increased, dark regions, i.e., nonradiative regions, become smaller than bright regions. We think this means that nonradiative centers, i.e., threading dislocations, merge during film growth.

Cubic AlyGa1−yN/GaN heterostructures on GaAs(001) substrates were grown by radio-frequency plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. High resolution X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic ellipsometry and cathodoluminescence were used to characterize the structural and optical properties of the alloy epilayers. X-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps demonstrate the good crystal quality of the cubic AlyGa1−yN films. Both SE as well as room temperature CL of the AlyGa1−yN epilayer show a linear increase of the band gap with increasing Al-content. A pseudomorphically strained cubic 10 × (2.4 nm GaN/ 4.8 nm Al0.12Ga0.88N) multi-quantum well (MQW) structure has been realized. Cathodoluminescence clearly demonstrates strong radiative recombination due to quantized states in the GaN well layer at a photon energy of 3.323 eV.

This paper describes a comparison of the optical properties of InGaN:Zn with that of GaN:Zn and InGaN by measuring photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra at 77 K. It is well known that MOCVD grown InGaN films tend to have a fluctuation in In concentration which results in a fluctuation of the band gap energy. The PL mechanism in InGaN films has been assigned to the annihilation of an exciton at the potential minima caused by the fluctuated band gap potential. We grew InGaN(:Zn) and GaN:Zn microcrystals emitting intense blue luminescence by a reaction of GaN and In2S3 with NH3 in the range of 850 to 900 °C. The samples grown at various temperatures show two PLE peaks: one weak peak is located around 3.47 eV, which we attribute to the band gap energy, and the other peak around 3.15 eV, which we attributed to the In localized state level. We had proposed an atomic structure of the localized state based on an isoelectronic trap theory. However, it is necessary to estimate the order of potential fluctuation of the grown InGaN microcrystal is small in order to assure the isoelectronic trap theory. PLE spectra of InGaN:Zn were measured and compared with that of GaN:Zn to estimate the degree of energy gap fluctuation. As the shape of a PLE peak of InGaN:Zn at around 3.47 eV was comparable to that of GaN:Zn, we concluded that the isoelectronic trap model holds for the grown InGaN microcrystals.

The extent of damage recovery by N2 plasma treatment of previously damaged n- and p-GaN has been examined using current-voltage (I-V) characteristics from Schottky diodes. There are two contributions to the observed improvement in the I-V characteristics, namely a simple annealing effect and also a chemical effect from reactive nitrogen. However the N2 plasma treatment does not fully restore the initial electrical properties of the near-surface region.

In this study, we use a quantum well (QW) probe structure to explore the size dependent effects of sidewall recombination in GaN. Mesas 0.8-7 μm in width with pitches of 4 μm, 8 μm, and 12 μm were etched into the QW probe structure, exposing the QW at the sidewalls. Several etch conditions were investigated. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements, using a He-Cd laser as an excitation source and laser spot size of approximately 230 μm, were taken before and after the mesas were etched. The effects of sidewall formation were quantified by comparing the maximum PL intensity of the QW before and after etch. Higher remaining PL intensity was observed for etch conditions which used both Ar ions and Cl2 gas instead of only Ar ions. The fraction of remaining PL decreased with decreasing mesa width, however the remaining PL intensity was relatively large even for small features. The preliminary data suggested that GaN is relatively insensitive to sidewall damage.

Temperature-variable Hall and Shubnikov- de Haas effects have been used to study persistent photoconductivity in an AlGaN/GaN heterojunction. At liquid helium temperatures, the mobility in this structure was close to 55000 cm2/Vs. A blue GaN-based light emitting diode was used to illuminate the sample. This illumination resulted in a persistent photocurrent, which allowed us to vary the carrier density and study the dependence of the mobility on the carrier concentration. Exposing the sample to this light resulted in an increase in the carrier density. For small increases in the density, the mobility also increased. However, unlike in previous reports by other authors, extended illumination resulted in an increase in the density and a decrease in the mobility. The initial increase in the mobility is attributed to increased screening due to the increase in the carrier density, while the decrease in the mobility may be attributed to alloy scattering.

Cross sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation has been performed for specimens of ELO-GaN (ELO: epitaxial-lateral-overgrowth) in order to analyze the behavior of dislocations, with special reference to the effect of facet plane orientation and the size of mask. An ELO-GaN layer was grown overlying on a thick GaN layer with a patterned mask by MOVPE with a carrier gas of hydrogen (H2) under a low-ambient pressure. The growth temperature and the reactor-pressure were controlled in a two-step way during the growth of ELO-GaN layer in order to change the dominant facet-planes and the aspect ratio in growth rate. The experimental results revealed that (a+c)-type threading dislocations (TDs) show a 90-degree-bending in the specimen with slanting facets (2 1 1 2), but not in those with vertical ones (2110). a-type TDs run upward without bending irrespective of the orientation of the facet planes. Dislocations lying on (0001) planes, or horizontal dislocations (HDs), have been generated in the specimens with wide mask-terraces. It is thought that the formation of HDs relieved stresses in the ELO-GaN and then suppressed the bending of a-type TDs. In the specimens with narrow terraces, the both type TDs penetrate upward without bending and few HDs are generated. The behavior of dislocations is attributable to the fact that the small size of terrace generates small stresses and promotes a fast meeting of wings of ELO-GaN.

The interaction of growth intrinsic stacking faults with inversion domain boundaries in GaN epitaxial layers is studied by high resolution electron microscopy. It is observed that stacking faults may mediate a structural transformation of inversion domain boundaries, from the low energy types, known as IDB boundaries, to the high energy ones, known as Holt-type boundaries. Such interactions may be attributed to the different growth rates of adjacent domains of inverse polarity.

We investigated temperature dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of GaN/Al0.08Ga0.92N multi-quantum wells (MQWs) with variations of Si-doping condition and threading dislocation density. Si-doping in the GaN/Al0.08Ga0.92N MQWs, especially in the barrier layer improves the PL efficiency. In addition, reduction of threading dislocation density also improves the PL intensity. The PL intensity of the GaN/Al0.08Ga0.92N MQW is drastically increased at least by a factor of 40, by a combination of the Si-doping and reduction of threading dislocation density. We fabricated a light emitting diode (LED) emitting at 357 nm using such a GaN/Al0.08Ga0.92N MQWs. Electro-luminescence intensity from the region with threading dislocation density of less than 108 cm−2 was much larger than that from the region with threading dislocation density of 6×109 cm−2.

We demonstrate room temperature intense ultraviolet (UV) emission wavelength ranging 300- 340 nm from InxAlyGa1-x-yN quaternary alloys grown by metal-organic vapor-phase-epitaxy (MOVPE). We found that the UV emission is drastically enhanced by introducing several percent of In into AlGaN. We fabricated single quantum well (SQW) consisting of InxAlyGa1-x-yN quaternary well and barrier, and clearly observed In segregation of sub-micron size from a cathode luminescence (CL) images. The intensity of 320nm-band emission from InAlGaN/InAlGaN QWs were as strong as those of 410nm-band emission from InGaN based QWs, at room temperature. The temperature dependence of photoluminescence (PL) emission for InAlGaN based QWs were much improved in comparison with GaN or AlGaN based QWs. We also grew Mg-doped InxAlyGa1-x-yN quaternary, and obtained hole concentration of 3×1017cm−3 by Hall measurement for high Al content (more than 50%) InxAlyGa1-x-yN quaternary.

AlGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells (MQW's) were optically studied in this work. Photoluminescence spectra revealed a quantum Stark effect in the samples. Calculated builtin electric fields were found to be significantly less than the values expected from theoretical models. An approach concerning the existence of free charges responsible for screening of the electric field is made, where we find carrier densities very similar to values described in other works.

High-temperature treatments are necessary for luminescence ‘activation’ of sputterdeposited, RE-doped, III-nitride phosphor materials. We report an investigation of the activation process in crystalline and amorphous Tb-doped AlN films. These films were characterized before and after thermal activation at temperatures up to 1000° C by cathodoluminescence (CL), static and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The results suggest that the absence of luminescence in unactivated and in old activated samples is due to rapid quenching of the RE excited state. Furthermore, the quenching in the activated, aged samples appears to be due to sorption of ambient water vapor. Energy transfer to a harmonic of the O-H vibration is a likely quenching pathway in these samples. Unfortunately, this water-related quenching mechanism is implausible as a candidate in freshly-made, unactivated samples since water is excluded from the growth chamber.

Ultraviolet (UV) photoconductive detectors based on InxAlyGa1−x−yN quaternary alloy lattice-matched to GaN have been fabricated and characterized. The detectors consisted of about 0.1 μm thick InxAlyGa1−x−yN quaternary alloy of different In (x) and Al (y) compositions grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The films were characterized by different techniques including x-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Hall-effect and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. The characteristics of these UV detectors including the cut-off wavelength, photoresponsivity and device speed have been measured. The cut-off wavelength of the InxAlyGa1−x−yN detectors was found to vary to the deep UV range with varying In and Al compositions. The most important and intriguing result is that the responsivity of the InxAlyGa1−xyN quaternary alloy exceeded that of AlGaN alloy of comparable cut-off wavelength by a factor of five. This makes the nitride quaternary alloy very important material for solar blind UV detector applications in the deep UV range where Al rich AlGaN alloys have problems with low quantum efficiency and cracks due in part to lattice mismatch with GaN.

InAlGaN quaternary material is very attractive for realizing ultraviolet (UV) emitting devices working at 300 – 350 nm wavelength range. We demonstrate current injection into 340 nm-band InAlGaN based UV light emitting diodes (LEDs), for the first time, fabricated by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). We performed current injection into AlGaN/AlGaN multi quantum well (MQW), bulk InAlGaN quaternary and InAlGaN/InAlGaN MQW LEDs through Mg-doped AlGaN/GaN superlattice hole conductive layers. The injected current density was ranging 0 – 0.5 kA/cm2 under pulsed or CW operation. The intensity of both photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence for InAlGaN quaternary-based LED was much higher than that for AlGaN based LEDs at room temperature. From these results InAlGaN quaternary-based QWs are expected to realize high intensity UV LEDs and LDs.

AlGaN/InGaN heterostructure field effect transistors were grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Transmission electron microscopy shows that there are no additional dislocations induced by inserting the InGaN channel while a variation of strain field across the channel is observed. The transistors exhibit good pinch-off characteristics with a threshold voltage of about −2.9 V and a saturation current density of 0.55 A/mm. At room temperature, a peak transconductance of 132 (mS/mm) was obtained for a 1.0 μm-device. Current gain cutoff frequency fT of 9.4 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency fmax of 28.2 GHz were measured for the 1.0 μm-device. As the temperature is increased to 300 °C, the transconductance decreases to 50 mS/mm accompanied by a reduction of saturation current density of 0.24 A/mm due to the enhanced carrier scattering, gate leakage, and drain-source resistance.

The morphology and microstructure of GaN nucleation layers have been studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The nucleation layers were grown at 500°C by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) on (0001) sapphire. Different deposition times were used in order to investigate the evolution of the nucleation layer and try to understand the growth mechanisms. Systematically, it was found that the thinnest layers are mainly defect free and have a cubic structure. The (111) GaN planes are parallel to (0001) sapphire. It is shown that the nucleation follows the Volmer- Weber mechanism and as the islands height increases, the transformation from cubic to wurtzite starts from the substrate surface.

The crystal quality of facet-initiated epitaxial lateral overgrowth (FIELO) -GaN, in particular, that in the vicinity of the GaN surface, is reported. It is shown that the surface smoothness of FIELO-GaN enables us to use it as an “epi-ready” substrate. The crystallinity of FIELO-GaN is evaluated by x-ray rocking curve (XRC) measurements. We indicate that the FWHM of XRC should be reduced with the decrease of the dislocation density. We previously reported that the dislocation behavior of FIELO-GaN causes the tilting of the c-axis in the overgrown regions. By using scanning reflection electron microscopy (SREM), however, we show that the tilting on the surface of thick FIELO-GaN was negligibly small.

GaN crystalline powders have been synthesized by the reaction of a Ga vapor with an ammonia gas at the reaction temperature Tr = 900 - 1100°C in an atmospheric-pressure open-tube reactor. The size of GaN particles ranges from 0.2 to 2νm. It was found that the structural and luminescent properties depend strongly on Tr. The mean size of the GaN particles increased as Tr is raised. The GaN powders exhibited photoluminescence (PL) dominated by the band edge emissions. Thermal quenching is relatively significant for the powders synthesized at lower Tr. This is presumably due to enhanced non-radiative recombination at the surface because of their smaller particle size.

AlN is a very promising deep UV sensing material suitable for space application such as exoatomospheric solar blind detectors due to its large band gap (6.2 eV), excellent radiation and thermal stability. In this paper, a deep UV detector based on AlN photoconductor was successfully grown and characterized. High quality AlN thin films on Sapphire have been confirmed by in-stu RHEED and X-ray diffraction measurements. The film has an optical Eg of 5.96 eV. The detector has extremely low dark current. Different electrodes were investigated as contact materials. Al and Pt are more suitable electrode contacts for AlN photoconductor compared to Ti. The DC responsivity of the detector starts to rise for photon energies of about 255 nm (4.9eV) and reaches its maximum 7×10-5 A/W at 195 nm (6.5eV).

We have examined multiple quantum well AlGaN/GaN structures with several quantum wells of varying widths. The structures had strain-free quantum wells and strained barriers. Strong piezoelectric fields in these structures led to a large red shift of the PL emission energies and long decay times were also observed. While the peak energies could be modelled using the effective mass approximation, the calculated free exciton radiative lifetimes were much shorter than those observed in experiments, indicating an alternative recombination mechanism, tentatively attributed to localised excitons. Cathodoluminescence depth profiling revealed an unusually small penetration range of electrons suggesting that electron-hole pairs preferentially remain within the multiple quantum well region due to the existing electric fields. Spatial fluctuations of the cathodoluminescence intensity were also observed.