Influence of barrier thickness on the structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

The structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells （MQWs） with different barrier thick-nesses are studied by means of high resolution X-ray diffraction （HRXRD）, a cross-sectional transmission electron mi-croscope （TEM）, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence （PL） measurements. HRXRD and cross-sectional TEM measurements show that the interfaces between wells and barriers are abrupt and the entire MQW region has good periodic- ity for all three samples. As the barrier thickness is increased, the temperature of the turning point from blueshift to redshift of the S-shaped temperature-dependent PL peak energy increases monotonously, which indicates that the localization po- tentials due to In-rich clusters is deeper. From the Arrhenius plot of the normalized integrated PL intensity, it is found that there are two kinds of nonradiative recombination processes accounting for the thermal quenching of photoluminescence, and the corresponding activation energy （or the localization potential） increases with the increase of the barrier thickness. The dependence on barrier thickness is attributed to the redistribution of In-rich clusters during the growth of barrier layers, i.e., clusters with lower In contents aggregate into clusters with higher In contents.

Direct Observation of Carrier Transportation Process in InGaAs/GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells Used for Solar Cells and Photodetectors

The resonant excitation is used to generate photo-excited carriers in quantum wells to observe the process of the carriers transportation by comparing the photoluminescence results between quantum wells with and without a p-n junction. It is observed directly in experiment that most of the photo-excited carriers in quantum wells with a p-n junction escape from quantum wells and form photoeurrent rather than relax to the ground state of the quantum wells. The photo absorption coei^cient of multiple quantum wells is also enhanced by a p-n junction. The results pave a novel way for solar cells and photodetectors making use of low-dimensional structure.

Efficiency droop suppression in GaN-based light-emitting diodes by chirped multiple quantum well structure at high current injection

Gallium nitride （GaN） based light-emitting diodes （LEDs） with chirped multiple quantum well （MQW） structures have been investigated experimentally and numerically in this paper. Compared to conventional LEDs with uniform quantum wells （QWs）, LEDs with chirped MQW structures have better internal quantum efficiency （IQE） and carrier injection efficiency. The droop ratios of LEDs with chirped MQW structures show a remarkable improvement at 600 mA/mm2, reduced down from 28.6% （conventional uniform LEDs） to 23.7% （chirped MQWs-a） and 18.6% （chirped MQWs-b）, respectively. Meanwhile, the peak IQE increases from 76.9% （uniform LEDs） to 83.7% （chirped MQWs-a） and 88.6% （chirped MQWs-b）. The reservoir effect of chirped MQW structures is the significant reason as it could increase hole injection efficiency and radiative recombination. The leakage current and Auger recombination of chirped MQW structures can also be suppressed. Furthermore, the chirped MQWs-b structure with lower potential barriers can enhance the reservoir effect and obtain further improvement of the carrier injection efficiency and radiative recombination, as well as further suppressing efficiency droop.

Low driving voltage in an organic light-emitting diode using MoO_3/NPB multiple quantum well structure in a hole transport layer

The driving voltage of an organic light-emitting diode（OLED） is lowered by employing molybdenum trioxide（MoO3）/N,N＇-bis（naphthalene-1-yl）-N,N＇-bis（phe-nyl）-benzidine（NPB） multiple quantum well（MQW） structure in the hole transport layer.For the device with double quantum well（DQW） structure of ITO/[MoO3（2.5 nm）/NPB（20 nm）]2/Alq3（50 nm）/LiF（0.8 nm）/Al（120 nm）],the turn-on voltage is reduced to 2.8 V,which is lowered by 0.4 V compared with that of the control device（without MQW structures）,and the driving voltage is 5.6 V,which is reduced by 1 V compared with that of the control device at the 1000 cd/m2.In this work,the enhancement of the injection and transport ability for holes could reduce the driving voltage for the device with MQW structure,which is attributed not only to the reduced energy barrier between ITO and NPB,but also to the forming charge transfer complex between MoO3 and NPB induced by the interfacial doping effect of MoO3.

Room-temperature direct-bandgap photoluminescence from strain-compensated Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells on silicon

Strain-compensated Ge/Si0.15Ge0.85 multiple quantum wells were grown on an Si0.1 Ge0.9 virtual substrate using ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition technology on an n＋-Si（001） substrate. Photoluminescence measurements were performed at room temperature, and the quantum confinement effect of the direct-bandgap transitions of a Ge quantum well was observed, which is in good agreement with the calculated results. The luminescence mechanism was discussed by recombination rate analysis and the temperature dependence of the luminescence spectrum.

Room-Temperature Annealing of 1 MeV Electron Irradiated Lattice Matched In0.53Ga0.47As/InP Multiple Quantum Wells

Long-term room-temperature annealing effects of InGaAs/InP quantum wells with different wells （namely triple wells and five wells embedded） and bulk InCaAs are investigated after high energy electron irradiation. It is observed that the photoluminescence （PL） intensity of bulk InGaAs materials is enhanced after low dose electron irradiation and the PL intensity for all the three samples is degraded dramatically when the electron dose is relatively high. With respect to the room-temperature annealing, we find that the PL intensity for both samples recovers relatively fast at the initial stage. The PL performance of multiple quantum-well samples shows better recovery after irradiation compared with the results of bulk InGaAs materials. Meanwhile, the recovery speed factors of multiple quantum-well samples are relatively faster than those of the bulk InGaAs materials as well. We infer that the recovery difference between the quantum-well materials and bulk materials originates from the fact that the radiation induced defects are confined in the quantum wells as a consequence of the free energy barrier between the In0.53Ga0.47 As wells and InP barrier layers.

Direct-bandgap electroluminescence from tensile-strained Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells at room temperature

Tensile-strained Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells （MQWs） were grown on a Ge-on-Si virtual substrate using ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition on an n＋-Si （001） substrate. Direct-bandgap electroluminescence from the MQWs light emitting diode was observed at room temperature. The quantum confinement effect of the direct-bandgap transitions is in good agreement with the theoretical calculated results. The redshift mechanism of emission wavelength related to the thermal effect is discussed,

Intra-acceptor hole relaxation in Be δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells

This paper studies the dynamics of intra-acceptor hole relaxation in Be δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells （MQW） with doping at the centre by time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy using a picosecond free electron laser for infrared experiments. Low temperature far-infrared absorption measurements clearly show three principal absorption lines due to transitions of the Be acceptor from the ground state to the first three odd-parity excited states respectively. The pump-probe experiments are performed at different temperatures and different pump pulse wavelengths. The hole relaxation time from 2p excited state to ls ground state in MQW is found to be much shorter than that in bulk GaAs, and shown to be independent of temperature but strongly dependent on wavelength. The zone-folded acoustic phonon emission and slower decay of the wavefunctions of impurity states are suggested to account for the reduction of the 2p excited state lifetime in MQW. The wavelength dependence of the 2p lifetime is attributed to the diffusion of the Be atom δ-layer in quantum wells.

A Novel Investigation on Using Strain in Barriers of 1.3 μm AlGaInAs-InP Uncooled Multiple Quantum Well Lasers

In this study we investigate strain effect in barriers of 1.3 μm AlCalnAs-InP uncooled multiple quantum well lasers. Single effective mass and Kohn-Luttinger Harniltonian equations have been solved to obtain quantum states and envelope wave functions in the structure. In the case of unstrained barriers, our simulations results have good agreement with a real device fabricated and presented in one of the references. Our main work is proposal of 0.2% compressive strain in the structure Barriers that causes significant reduction in Leakage current density and Auger current density characteristics in 85 ℃. 20% improvement in mode gain-current density characteristic is also obtained in 85 ℃.

The enhancement of light-emitting efficiency using GaN-based multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes with nanopillar arrays

The quest for higher modulation speed and lower energy consumption has inevitably promoted the rapid development of semiconductor-based solid lighting devices in recent years. GaN-based light-emitting diodes （LEDs） have emerged as promising candidates for achieving high efficiency and high intensity, and have received increasing attention among many researchers in this field. In this paper, we use a self-assembled array-patterned mask to fabricate InGaN/GaN multi- quantum well （MQW） LEDs with the intention of enhancing the light-emitting efficiency. By utilizing inductively coupled plasma etching with a self-assembled Ni cluster as the mask, nanopillar arrays are formed on the surface of the InGaN/GaN MQWs. We then observe the structure of the nanopillars and find that the V-defects on the surface of the conventional structure and the negative effects of threading dislocation are effectively reduced. Simultaneously, we make a comparison of the photoluminescence （PL） spectrum between the conventional structure and the nanopillar arrays, achieved under an experimental set-up with an excitation wavelength of 325 mm. The analysis demonstrates that MQW-LEDs with nanopillar arrays achieve a PL intensity 2.7 times that of conventional LEDs. In response to the PL spectrum, some reasons are proposed for the enhancement in the light-emitting efficiency as follows： 1） the improvement in crystal quality, namely the reduction in V-defects; 2） the roughened surface effect on the expansion of the critical angle and the attenuated total reflection; and 3） the enhancement of the light-extraction efficiency due to forward scattering by surface plasmon polariton modes in Ni particles deposited above the p-type GaN layer at the top of the nanopillars.

InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cells with an enhanced open-circuit voltage

In this paper, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cells （MQWSCs） with an In content of 0.15 are fabricated and studied. The short-circuit density, fill factor and open-circuit voltage （Voc） of the device are 0.7 mA/cm2, 0.40 and 2.22 V, respectively. The results exhibit a significant enhancement of Voc compared with those of InGaN-based hetero and homojunction cells. This enhancement indicates that the InGaN/GaN MQWSC offers an effective way for increasing Voc of an In-rich InxGal-~N solar cell. The device exhibits an external quantum efficiency （EQE） of 36% （7%） at 388 nm （430 nm）. The photovoltaic performance of the device can be improved by optimizing the structure of the InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well.

Optimization of a GaN-based irregular multiple quantum well structure for a dichromatic white LED

GaN-based irregular multiple quantum well （IMQW） structures assembled two different types of QWs emitting complementary wavelengths for dichromatic white light-emitting diodes （LEDs） are optimized in order to obtain near white light emissions. The hole distributions and spontaneous emission spectra of the IMQW structures are analysed in detail by fully considering the effects of strain, well-coupling, valence band-mixing and polarization effect through employing a newly developed theoretical model from the k. p theory. Several structure parameters such as well material component, well width, layout of the wells and the thickness of harrier between different types of QWs are employed to analyse how these parameters together with the polarization effect influence the electronic and the optical properties of IMQW structure. Numerical results show that uniform hole distributions in different types of QWs are obtained when the number of the QWs emitting blue light is two, the number of the QWs emitting yellow light is one and the barrier between different types of QWs is 8nm in thickness. The near white light emission is realized using GaN-based IMQW structure with appropriate design parameters and injection level.

Epitaxial evolution on buried cracks in a strain-controlled AlN/GaN superlattice interlayer between AlGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells and a GaN template

Epitaxial evolution of buried cracks in a strain-controlled AIN/GaN superlattice interlayer （IL） grown on GaN tem- plate, resulting in crack-free AIGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells （MQW）, was investigated. The processes of filling the buried cracks include crack formation in the IL, coalescence from both side walls of the crack, build-up of an MQW-layer hump above the cracks, lateral expansion and merging with the surrounding MQW, and two-dimensional step flow growth. It was confirmed that the filling content in the buried cracks is pure GaN, originating from the deposition of the GaN thin layer directly after the IL. Migration of Ga adatoms into the cracks plays a key role in the filling the buried cracks.

Analysis of localization effect in blue-violet light emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells with different well widths

Four blue-violet light emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well（MQW） structures with different well widths are grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. The carrier localization effect in these samples is investigated mainly by temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements. It is found that the localization effect is enhanced as the well width increases from 1.8 nm to 3.6 nm in our experiments. The temperature induced PL peak blueshift and linewidth variation increase with increasing well width, implying that a greater amplitude of potential fluctuation as well as more localization states exist in wider wells. In addition, it is noted that the broadening of the PL spectra always occurs mainly on the low-energy side of the PL spectra due to the temperature-induced band-gap shrinkage, while in the case of the widest well, a large extension of the spectral curve also occurs in the high energy sides due to the existence of more shallow localized centers.

InxGa1-xN/GaN Multiple Quantum Well Solar Cells with Conversion Efficiency of 3.77%

We report on fabrication and photovoltaic characteristics of InxGa1-xN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cells with different indium compositions and barrier thicknesses. The as-grown samples are characterized by high- resolution x-ray diffraction and reciprocal space mapping. The results show that the sample with a thick barrier thickness （lO.Onm） and high indium composition （0.23） has better crystalline quality. In addition, the dark current density-voltage （J-V） measurement of this device shows a significant decrease of leakage current, which leads to high open-circuit voltage Vow. Through the J-V characteristics under an Air Mass 1.5 Global （AM 1.5 G） illumination, this device exhibits a Voc of 1.89 V, a short-circuit current density Ysc of 3.92mA/cm2 and a fill factor of 50.96%. As a result, the conversion efficiency （77） is enhanced to be 3.77% in comparison with other devices.

Shannon information entropies for rectangular multiple quantum well systems with constant total lengths

We first study the Shannon information entropies of constant total length multiple quantum well systems and then explore the effects of the number of wells and confining potential depth on position and momentum information entropy density as well as the corresponding Shannon entropy.We find that for small full width at half maximum（FWHM） of the position entropy density,the FWHM of the momentum entropy density is large and vice versa.By increasing the confined potential depth,the FWHM of the position entropy density decreases while the FWHM of the momentum entropy density increases.By increasing the potential depth,the frequency of the position entropy density oscillation within the quantum barrier decreases while that of the position entropy density oscillation within the quantum well increases.By increasing the number of wells,the frequency of the position entropy density oscillation decreases inside the barriers while it increases inside the quantum well.As an example,we might localize the ground state as well as the position entropy densities of the1 st,2 nd,and 6 th excited states for a four-well quantum system.Also,we verify the Bialynicki–Birula–Mycieslki（BBM）inequality.

Fabrication and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light emitting diodes with amorphous BaTiO_3 ferroelectric film

BaTiO3 （BTO） ferroelectric thin films are prepared by the sol,el method. The fabrication and the optical properties of an InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light emitting diode （LED） with amorphous BTO ferroelectric thin film are studied. The photolumineseence （PL） of the BTO ferroelectric film is attributed to the structure. The ferroeleetric film which annealed at 673 K for 8 h has the better PL property. The peak width is about 30 nm from 580 nm to 610 nm, towards the yellow region. The mixed electroluminescence （EL） spectrum of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well LED with 150-nm thick amorphous BTO ferroelectric thin film displays the blue-white light. The Commission Internationale De L＇Eclairage （CIE） coordinate of EL is （0.2139, 0.1627）. EL wavelength and intensity depends on the composition, microstructure and thickness of the ferroelectric thin film. The transmittance of amorphous BTO thin film is about 93% at a wavelength of 450 nm-470 nm. This means the amorphous ferroelectrie thin films can output more blue-ray and emission lights. In addition, the amorphous ferroelectric thin films can be directly fabricated without a binder and used at higher temperatures （200 ℃-400 ℃）. It is very favourable to simplify the preparation process and reduce the heat dissipation requirements of an LED. This provides a new way to study LEDs.

Characteristic Analysis of Diffraction from Restricted Output End Surface of Multiple Quantum Wells Planar Waveguide

Based on Rayleigh-Sommerfeld scalar diffraction formula, analyzed is the diffraction field distribution of the restricted output end surface of multiple quantum wells planar waveguide by slit. Obtained is its analytical expression of field distribution, which permits accurate and effective study on the characteristic of diffraction field from the restricted output end surface of the waveguide by slit. Then, the variation curve of the beam propagation factor M2 versus the slit width is computed by the second moment method. It is useful for understanding the restricted diffraction properties of the multiple quantum wells planar waveguide. When the slit half width is bigger than the core layer's half width, the beam propagation factor M2 value tends to a constant 1.108. Therefore, the corresponding field amplitude distribution is approximated by Gaussian function, and the far field divergence half angle(θ0,G=0.091 8) is calculated by matching efficiency method.

Flexible,stretchable,and transparent InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells/polyacrylamide hydrogel-based light emitting diodes

Visualization is a direct,efficient,and simple interface method to realize the interaction between human and machine,whereas the flexible display unit,as the major bottleneck,still deeply hinders the advances of wearable and virtual reality devices.To obtain flexible optoelectronic devices,one of the effective methods is to transfer a high-efficient and long-lifetime inorganic optoelectronic film from its rigid epitaxial substrate to a foreign flexible/soft substrate.Additionally,piezo-phototronic effect is a fundamental theory for guiding the design of flexible optoelectronic devices.Herein,we demonstrate a flexible,stretchable,and transparent InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells(MQWs)/polyacrylamide(PAAM)hydrogel-based light emitting diode coupling with the piezo-phototronic effect.The quantum well energy band and integrated luminous intensity(increased by more than 31.3%)are significantly modulated by external mechanical stimuli in the device.Benefiting from the small Young's modulus of hydrogel and weak Van der Waals force,the composite film can endure an extreme tensile condition of about 21.1%stretching with negligible tensile strains transmitted to the InGaN/GaN MQWs.And the stable photoluminescence characteristics can be observed.Moreover,the hydrogen-bond adsorption and excellent transparency of the hydrogel substrate greatly facilitate the packaging and luminescence of the optoelectronic device.And thus,such a novel integration scheme of inorganic semiconductor materials and organic hydrogel materials would help to guide the robust stretchable optoelectronic devices,and show great potential in emerging wearable devices and virtual reality applications.

Barrier effects on the optoelectronic properties of GaN-based irregular multiple quantum wells for dichromatic white LEDs

The GaN-based irregular multiple quantum well (IMQW) structures for dichromatic white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are assembled by two different types of QWs emitting complementary blue and yellow light. The electronic and optical properties of the designed GaN-based IMQW structures are investigated in details by fully considering the effects of strain,well-coupling,valence band-mixing and polarization effect by employing a newly modified theoretical model based on the k·p theory. The influences of the height and thickness of the barrier between blue QWs and yellow QWs together with the polarization effect on the optoelectronic properties of GaN-based IMQW structure are analyzed. Numerical results show that the ratio of the two color lights emmited from the IMQW structure for dichromatic white LED can be tuned by changing the height and thickness of the barrier between two types of QWs.