An effective approach to overcome inherently poor light extraction efficiency of AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is presented. We demonstrated the 5 x 5 array micro-ring DUV LED having an inclined sidewall at the outer perimeter and a p-GaN-removed inner circle of the micro-ring, together with MgF2/Al omnidirectional reflectors. The micro-ring array DUV LED shows remarkably higher light output power by 70% than the reference, consistent with the calculated result, as well as comparable turn-on and operational voltages, which are attributed to the effective extraction of strong transverse-magnetic polarized anisotropic emission and the reduction of the absorption loss by the p-GaN contact layer, simultaneously. (C) 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics

We demonstrated AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV LEDs) with periodic air-voids-incorporated nanoscale patterns enabled by nanosphere lithography and epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) on a 4-in. sapphire substrate. The nanoscale ELO improved the crystal quality of overgrown epitaxial layers at a relatively low growth temperature of 1050 °C and at small coalescence thickness less than 2 μm. The light output power of the DUV LED was enhanced significantly by 67% at an injection current of 20 mA. We attribute such a remarkable enhancement to the formation of embedded periodic air voids which cause simultaneous improvements in the crystal quality of epitaxial layers by ELO and light extraction efficiency enabled by breaking the predominant in-plane guided propagation of DUV photons.

The temperature-dependent external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) were investigated for a 620 nm AlGaInP red light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a 450 nm GaInN blue LED, and a 285 nm AlGaN deep-ultraviolet (DUV) LED. We observed distinct differences in the variation of the EQE with temperature and current density for the three types of LEDs. Whereas the EQE of the AlGaInP red LED increases as temperature decreases below room temperature, the EQEs of GaInN blue and AlGaN DUV LEDs decrease for the same change in temperature in a low-current density regime. The free carrier concentration, as determined from the dopant ionization energy, shows a strong material-system-specific dependence, leading to different degrees of asymmetry in carrier concentration for the three types of LEDs. We attribute the EQE variation of the red, blue, and DUV LEDs to the different degrees of asymmetry in carrier concentration, which can be exacerbated at cryogenic temperatures. As for the EQE variation with temperature in a high-current density regime, the efficiency droop for the AlGaInP red and GaInN blue LEDs becomes more apparent as temperature decreases, due to the deterioration of the asymmetry in carrier concentration. However, the EQE of the AlGaN DUV LED initially decreases, then reaches an EQE minimum point, and then increases again due to the field-ionization of acceptors by the Poole-Frenkel effect. The results elucidate that carrier transport phenomena allow for the understanding of the droop phenomenon across different material systems, temperatures, and current densities.

While there is an urgent need for semiconductor-based efficient deep ultraviolet (DUV) sources, the efficiency of AlGaN DUV light-emitting diodes (LEDs) remains very low because the extraction of DUV photons is significantly limited by intrinsic material properties of AlGaN. Here, we present an elegant approach based on a DUV LED having multiple mesa stripes whose inclined sidewalls are covered by a MgF2/Al omni-directional mirror to take advantage of the strongly anisotropic transverse-magnetic polarized emission pattern of AlGaN quantum wells. The sidewall-emission-enhanced DUV LED breaks through the fundamental limitations caused by the intrinsic properties of AlGaN, thus shows a remarkable improvement in light extraction as well as operating voltage. Furthermore, an analytic model is developed to understand and precisely estimate the extraction of DUV photons from AlGaN DUV LEDs, and hence to provide promising routes for maximizing the power conversion efficiency.

Despite a rapidly-growing demand for efficient man-made DUV light sources, widespread adoption of AlGaN-based DUV LEDs is currently obstructed by extremely poor extraction of DUV photons due to the intrinsic material properties of AlGaN including low hole concentration and poor light extraction efficiency (LEE). Conventional LEE-enhancing techniques used for GaInN-based visible LEDs turned out to be ineffective for DUV LEDs due to a strong absorption of DUV light by p-GaN contact layer, and predominant TM polarized anisotropic emission from Al-rich AlGaN multi-quantum well (MQW) active region grown on c-plane sapphire substrate. Therefore, a new LEE-enhancing approach addressing the unique intrinsic property of AlGaN DUV LEDs is strongly desired.In this study, we present DUV LEDs having arrays of TC shaped active mesas coated with MgF2/Al reflectors on the inclined sidewalls to extract strong TM-polarized in-plane emission trough the sapphire substrate. Ray tracing simulations reveal that the TC DUV LEDs show an isotropic emission pattern and much enhanced light-output power in comparison with stripe-type DUV LEDs with the same MgF2/Al reflectors. Consistent with the ray tracing simulation results, the TC DUV LEDs show an isotropic emission pattern with 37.1% higher light-output power as well as lower operating voltage than the stripe-type DUV LEDs. Based on our results, we suggest strategies to design an optimized DUV LEDs for further enhancing the optical and electrical performances simultaneously. In addition, we propose a next generation DUV LED with an array of Al nanoparticles capable of enhancing IQE and LEE simultaneously by surface plasmon resonance coupling.

Vertically aligned InGaN/GaN nanorod (NR)-based phosphor-free light emitting diodes (LEDs) using SiO2 nanohole patterns are demonstrated. The highly ordered SiO2 nanoholes were realized on a 2 μm-thick n+GaN template by a two-step dry etching process. The use of C4F8/O2/Ar plasma chemistries under the low pressure is found to greatly enlarge the bottom diameter of each hole, exhibiting high aspect ratio (AR ∼ 9) and vertical etch profile (∼89°). SAG technique was used to define the height of the GaN NRs while the width is determined by the trimethylgallium flow rate and growth temperature. An LED structure consisted of three-pairs of InGaN/GaN quantum well and AlGaN electron blocking layer on the sidewall of the nanorod in a core-shell structure. The wavelengths were successfully tuned by controlling pitches of the rods, which was caused by the different growth rate and indium incorporation of conformally overgrown InGaN multiquantum wells. At the operating current density of 1.5 A/cm2 (65 mA), NR-based single-chip phosphor-free white LEDs with the dimension of 630 × 970 μm2 show highly stable white emission characteristics which are attractive for future solid-state lighting and full-color display applications.

While the demand for deep ultraviolet (DUV) light sources is rapidly growing, the efficiency of current AlGaN-based DUV light-emitting diodes (LEDs) remains very low due to their fundamentally limited light-extraction efficiency (LEE), calling for a novel LEE-enhancing approach to deliver a real breakthrough. Here, we propose sidewall emission-enhanced (SEE) DUV LEDs having multiple light-emitting mesa stripes to utilize inherently strong transverse-magnetic polarized light from the AlGaN active region and three-dimensional reflectors between the stripes. The SEE DUV LEDs show much enhanced light output power with a strongly upward-directed emission due to the exposed sidewall of the active region and Al-coated selective-area-grown n-type GaN micro-reflectors. The devices also show reduced operating voltage due to better n-type ohmic contact formed on the regrown n-GaN stripes when compared with conventional LEDs. Accordingly, the proposed approach simultaneously improves optical and electrical properties. In addition, strategies to further enhance the LEE up to the theoretical optimum value and control emission directionality are discussed.

The efficiency of an AlGaN deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diode with peak emission wavelength of 285 nm is investigated as a function of current over a wide range of temperatures (110 K to 300 K). We find that the efficiency-versus-current curve exhibits unique and distinct features over the entire temperature range including three points of inflection. At low temperatures, the change in slope in the efficiency-versus-current curve is particularly pronounced producing a minimum in the efficiency after which the efficiency rises again. Furthermore, at high current density, the low-temperature efficiency exceeds the room-temperature efficiency. The feature-rich efficiency-versus-current curve is consistent with an enhancement in p-type conductivity by field-ionization of acceptors that occurs in the high-injection regime and is particularly pronounced at low temperatures. Differential conductivity measurements show a marked rise in the high-injection regime that is well correlated to the minimum point in the efficiency-versus-current curve.

AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have attracted a great attention for their potential applications such as purification of air and water, sterilization in food processing, UV curing, medical-, and defense-related light sources [1]. However, external quantum efficiency (EQE) of AlGaN-based DUV LEDs is very poor particularly due to low hole concentration and light extraction efficiency (LEE) [2]. Conventional LEE-enhancing techniques used for GaInN-based visible LEDs turned out to be ineffective for DUV LEDs due to difference in intrinsic material property between GaInN and AlGaN (Al>~30%) [3]. Unlike GaInN visible LEDs, DUV light from a high Al-content AlGaN active region is strongly transverse-magnetic (TM) polarized, that is, the electric field vector is parallel to the (0001) c-axis and shows strong sidewall emission through mor a-plane due to crystal-field split-off hole band being top most valence band [3,4]. Therefore, a new LEE-enhancing approach addressing the unique intrinsic property of AlGaN DUV LEDs is strongly desired. In this study, we propose a new type of LEE-enhancing method for AlGaN-based DUV LEDs by utilizing its strong side emission, called sidewall-emission-enhanced (SEE) DUV LEDs [5]. The Al0.55Ga0.45N/Al0.4Ga0.6N multiple quantum well LED structure with peak wavelength of ~280nm is grown by MOCVD on a c-plane sapphire substrate. The proposed SEE DUV LEDs include multiple narrow active-region mesa stripes with Albased reflectors. The geometries of the SEE DUV LED are designed to extract the strong TM-polarized sidewall emission and to reflect UV photons, either up to the free space by Al-on-regrown-GaN reflector (top-emitting SEE DUV LEDs) or down to the free space by MgF2/Al omnidirectional reflector on inclined surface of trapezoidal active mesa stripes (bottom-emitting SEE DUV LEDs). We experimentally observed that the light output power increases upon increasing the active-region sidewall perimeter, which is elucidated by the strong sidewall emission of the AlGaN active layer with high Al content. In addition, the operating voltage of SEE DUV LEDs is much lower than that of the reference, and decreases with increasing the active-region sidewall perimeter due to a less resistive n-contact on larger contact area. Therefore, the optically and electrically improved AlGaN DUV LEDs are demonstrated by means of a greater LEE and lower operating voltage. The effect of enhanced sidewall emission and the DUV reflection by the Al coated reflectors is analyzed by using finite element method and analytical modeling. Finally, strategies to further enhance the LEE up to the theoretical optimum value and control emission directionality are discussed.

We demonstrate new design of Deep-UV LEDs extracting strong sidewall-emission redirect top direction. We observe considerably enhanced optical and improved electrical properties and expect this model can provide key idea in current DUV LEDs for enhancing light extraction efficiency.

We report on the changes in the interfacial phases between SiO2 and InSb caused by various deposition temperatures and heat treatments. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy were used to evaluate the relative amount of each phase present at the interface. The effect of interfacial phases on the electrical properties of SiO2/InSb metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures was investigated by capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. The amount of both In and Sb oxides increased with the deposition temperature. The amount of interfacial In oxide was larger for all samples, regardless of the deposition and annealing temperatures and times. In particular, the annealed samples contained less than half the amount of Sb oxide compared with the as-deposited samples, indicating a strong interfacial reaction between Sb oxide and the InSb substrate during annealing. The interface trap density sharply increased for deposition temperatures above 240°C. The C–V measurements and Raman spectroscopy indicated that elemental Sb accumulation due to the interfacial reaction of Sb oxide with InSb substrate was responsible for the increased interfacial trap densities in these SiO2/InSb MOS structures.

We report the enhanced interface properties between passivation layers and InSb by using remote PECVD system. SiO2 and Si3N4 layers deposited by remote PECVD showed lower interface trap densities than layers deposited by normal PECVD. SiO2 layers deposited by remote PECVD showed 7.1x 10(11) cm(-2)eV(-1) of interface trap density at midgap which is slightly lower than SiO2 layers deposited by PECVD. Si3N4 layers deposited by remote PECVD showed 1.6 similar to 1.7x 10(12) cm(-2) eV(-1) at midgap which is 3 times lower than Si3N4 layers deposited by PECVD. Interface properties of SiO2 are superior to that of Si3N4 in both case of PECVD and remote PECVD. To investigate the interface properties between SiO2 and InSb, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was conducted. Indium and antimony oxide phases were found at the interface and these oxide phases could act as the origin of interface traps.

The mechanism for suppressing the formation of abnormally large islands during the conventional quantum dot (QD) growth was investigated. In comparison of the periodic arsine interruption method to the conventional method, InAs QDs grown on GaAs substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition has a higher density and aspect ratio without large islands. The formation of large islands was related to the inhomogeneity in the nucleation and growth process of QDs. The surface modification from As-stabilized to In-stabilized surfaces during arsine interruption modulated the surface energy and resulted in more homogeneous and simultaneous nucleation of QDs. The arsine interruption time was found to be a critical parameter for the homogeneous QD growth without abnormally large islands.

Applications based on Discrete Fourier Transforms (DFT) are extensively used in various areas of signal and digital image processing. Of particular interest is the two-dimensional (2D) DFT which is more computation- and bandwidth-intensive than the one-dimensional (1D) DFT. Traditionally, a 2D DFT is computed using Row-Column (RC) decomposition, where 1D DFTs are computed along the rows followed by 1D DFTs along the columns. Both application specific and reconfigurable hardware have been used for high-performance implementations of 2D DFT. However, architectures based on RC decomposition are not efficient for large input size data due to memory bandwidth constraints. In this paper, we propose an efficient architecture to implement the 2D DFT for large-sized input data based on a novel 2D decomposition algorithm. This architecture achieves very high throughput by exploiting the inherent parallelism due to the algorithm decomposition and by utilizing the row-wise burst access pattern of the external memory. A high throughput memory interface has been designed to enable maximum utilization of the memory bandwidth. In addition, an automatic system generator is provided for mapping this architecture onto a reconfigurable platform of Xilinx Virtex 5 devices. For a 2 K times 2 K input size, the proposed architecture is 1.96 x times faster than RC decomposition based implementation under the same memory constraints, and also outperforms other existing implementations.

We investigated the effect of the post growth interruption (GI) on InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on InxGa1−xAs strained buffer layers (SBL). When QDs were grown on the 5 and 10% In content SBLs by using post GI, the size of QDs increased as its density decreased. Based on the 50meV red-shift of PL in these cases, the transport of materials between QDs leads to the increase of QD size with maintaining its composition during the post GI. On the other hand, when using SBLs with the 15 and 20% In contents, the size of QDs increased, but its density was a little reduced. In addition, PL results were observed blue-shifted by about 20meV and 2meV, respectively. Considering the interruption of source gases during the post GI, these observations are strong evidence of the Ga incorporation from 15 and 20% In content SBLs. Therefore, these results imply that the dominant mechanism which increases the size of QDs during the post GI depends on the growth condition of SBL.

We investigated the effects of low temperature (LT) Ge buffer layers on the two-step Ge growth by varying the thickness of buffer layers. Whereas the two-step Ge layers using thin (<40nm) Ge buffer layers were roughened due to the formation of SiGe alloy, pure and flat Ge layers were grown by using thick (>50nm) LT Ge buffer layers. The lowest threading dislocation density of 1.2×106cm−2 was obtained when 80-nm-thick LT Ge buffer layer was used. We concluded that the minimum thickness of buffer layer was required to grow uniform two-step Ge layers on Si and its quality was subject to the thickness of buffer layer.

유기금속화학기상증착법으로 적층 InAs/$In_{0.1}Ga_{0.9}As$ DWELL (dot-in-a-well) 구조를 성장하여 n-i-n 구조의 적외선 수광소자를 제작하였으며, PL (photoluminescence) 발광 특성 및 암전류 특성을 분석하였다. 동일한 조건으로 양자점을 적층하였을 때 크기 및 밀도의 변화에 의한 이중 PL peak을 관찰하였으며, TMIn의 유량을 조절함으로써 단일 peak을 갖는 균일한 크기의 양자점 적층 구조를 성장할 수 있었다. 적외선 수광소자 구조를 성장함에 있어서, 상부의 n-형 GaAs의 성장 온도가 600도 이상인 경우 PL 발광 세기가 급격히 감소하였고 이에 따른 암전류의 증가를 관찰하였다. 0.5 V 인가 전압에서 암전류의 온도 의존성에 대한 활성화 에너지의 크기는 성장온도가 580도인 경우 106 meV이고, 650도의 경우는 48 meV로 급격이 낮아졌다. 이는 고온의 성장 온도에 의한 InAs 양자점과 $In_{0.1}Ga_{0.9}As$ 양자우물구조 계면에서의 열적 상호 확산에 의하여 비발광 천이가 증가되었기 때문이다. We grew multi-stacked InAs/$In_{0.1}Ga_{0.9}As$ DWELL (dot-in-a-well) structure by metal organic chemical vapor deposition and investigated optical properties by photoluminescence and I-V characteristics by dark current measurement. When stacking InAs quantum dots (QDs) with same growth parameter, the size and density of QDs were changed, resulting in the bimodal emission peak. By decreasing the flow rate of TMIn, we achieved the uniform multi-stacked QD structure which had the single emission peak and high PL intensity. As the growth temperature of n-type GaAs top contact layer (TCL) is above $600^{\circ}C$, the PL intensity severely decreased and dark current level increased. At bias of 0.5 V, the activation energy for temperature dependence of dark current decreased from 106 meV to 48 meV with increasing the growth temperature of n-type GaAs TCL from 580 to $650^{\circ}C$. This suggest that the thermal escape of bounded electrons and non-radiative transition become dominant due to the thermal inter-diffusion at the interface between InAs QDs and $In_{0.1}Ga_{0.9}As$ well layer.