Hydrogen Sensing Performance of ZnO Schottky Diodes in Humid Ambient Conditions with PMMA Membrane Layer.

Enhanced hydrogen sensing performance of Pt Schottky diodes on ZnO single crystal wafers in humid ambient conditions is reported using a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) membrane layer. ZnO diode sensors showed little change in forward current when switching to wet ambient H2 conditions with 100% relative humidity. This sensitivity drop in the presence of water vapor can be attributed to surface coverage of hydroxyl groups on the Pt surface in humid ambient conditions. The hydrogen sensitivity of PMMA-coated diode sensors recovered up to 805% in wet H2 ambient conditions at room temperature. The PMMA layer can selectively filter water vapor and allow H2 molecules to pass through the membrane layer. It is clear that the PMMA layer can effectively serve as a moisture barrier because of low water vapor permeability and its hydrophobicity. In both dry and wet conditions, ZnO diodes exhibited relatively fast and stable on/off switching in each cycle with good repeatability.

Effect of ribbon width on electrical transport properties of graphene nanoribbons.

There has been growing interest in developing nanoelectronic devices based on graphene because of its superior electrical properties. In particular, patterning graphene into a nanoribbon can open a bandgap that can be tuned by changing the ribbon width, imparting semiconducting properties. In this study, we report the effect of ribbon width on electrical transport properties of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). Monolayer graphene sheets and Si nanowires (NWs) were prepared by chemical vapor deposition and a combination of nanosphere lithography and metal-assisted electroless etching from a Si wafer, respectively. Back-gated GNR field-effect transistors were fabricated on a heavily p-doped Si substrate coated with a 300 nm-thick SiO2 layer, by O2 reactive ion etching of graphene sheets using etch masks based on Si NWs aligned on the graphene between the two electrodes by a dielectrophoresis method. This resulted in GNRs with various widths in a highly controllable manner, where the on/off current ratio was inversely proportional to ribbon width. The field-effect mobility decreased with decreasing GNR widths due to carrier scattering at the GNR edges. These results demonstrate the formation of a bandgap in GNRs due to enhanced carrier confinement in the transverse direction and edge effects when the GNR width is reduced.

Structural Anisotropy and Optical Properties of Nonpolar a-Plane GaN Epitaxial Layers.

In-plane structural anisotropy is characteristic of nonpolar (1120) a-plane GaN (a-GaN) films grown on r-plane sapphire substrates. The anisotropic peak broadenings of X-ray rocking curves (XRCs) are clearly observed with M- or W-shaped dependence on the azimuth angles. We investigated the optical properties of both M- and W-shaped a-GaN samples with room and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The W-shaped a-GaN film showed higher PL intensity and more compressive strain compared to the M-shaped a-GaN film, whereas the XRC peak widths of the M-shaped a-GaN film on the azimuth angles are lower than those of W-shaped specimens, indicating that better crystalline quality was obtained. We speculate that the PL intensity and strain state of a-GaN layers may be more influenced by the crystallinity of a specific crystal orientation or direction, especially along the m-axis as opposed to the c-axis. This occurrence is most likely due to anisotropic defect distributions, resulting from differences in dangling bond densities of (0001) and {1-100} facets.

Chemical etching behaviors of semipolar (11̄22) and nonpolar (11̄20) gallium nitride films.

Wet chemical etching using hot KOH and H3PO4 solutions was performed on semipolar (11̄22) and nonpolar (11̄20) GaN films grown on sapphire substrates. An alternating KOH/H3PO4/KOH etch process was developed to control the orientation of the facets on the thin-film surface. The initial etch step in KOH produced c- and m-plane facets on the surface of both semipolar (11̄22) and nonpolar (11̄20) GaN thin-films. A second etch step in H3PO4 solution additionally exposed a (̄1̄12̄2) plane, which is chemically stable in H3PO4 solution. By repeating the chemical etch with KOH solution, the m-plane facets as seen in the original KOH etch step were recovered. The etching methods developed in our work can be used to control the surface morphologies of nonpolar and semipolar GaN-based optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells.

A facile method for highly uniform GaN-based nanorod light-emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN multi-quantum-wells.

We report on a simple and reproducible method for fabricating InGaN/GaN multi-quantum-well (MQW) nanorod light-emitting diodes (LEDs), prepared by combining a SiO2 nanosphere lithography and dry-etch process. Focused-ion-beam (FIB)-deposited Pt was contacted to both ends of the nanorod LEDs, producing bright electroluminescence from the LEDs under forward bias conditions. The turn-on voltage in these nanorod LEDs was higher (13 V) than in companion thin film devices (3 V) and this can be attributed to the high contact resistance between the FIB-deposited Pt and nanorod LEDs and the damage induced by inductively-coupled plasma and Ga + -ions. Our method to obtain uniform MQW nanorod LEDs shows promise for improving the reproducibility of nano-optoelectronics.

GaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with AuCl3-doped graphene electrodes.

We demonstrate AuCl3-doped graphene transparent conductive electrodes integrated in GaN-based ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an emission peak of 363 nm. AuCl3 doping was accomplished by dipping the graphene electrodes in 5, 10 and 20 mM concentrations of AuCl3 solutions. The effects of AuCl3 doping on graphene electrodes were investigated by current-voltage characteristics, sheet resistance, scanning electron microscope, optical transmittance, micro-Raman scattering and electroluminescence images. The optical transmittance was decreased with increasing the AuCl3 concentrations. However, the forward currents of UV LEDs with p-doped (5, 10 and 20 mM of AuCl3 solutions) graphene transparent conductive electrodes at a forward bias of 8 V were increased by ~48, 63 and 73%, respectively, which can be attributed to the reduction of sheet resistance and the increase of work function of the graphene. The performance of UV LEDs was drastically improved by AuCl3 doping of graphene transparent conductive electrodes.

Enhanced electroluminescence of a-plane InGaN light emitting diodes grown on oxide-patterned r-plane sapphire substrates.

We report on the new fabrication method of a-plane InGaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) using the epitaxy on patterned insulator on sapphire substrate (EPISS). Cathodoluminescence spectrum of the fully coalesced a-plane GaN template showed that band edge emission intensity of the wing region was four times higher than that of the window region. Threading dislocations and basal stacking faults densities in wing region were ~1×107 cm⁻² and ~5☓104 cm⁻¹, respectively. Blue-emitting (443.4 nm) a-plane InGaN LED employing EPISS showed the optical power of 3.1 mW and the EL FWHM of 25.2 nm at the injection current of 20 mA.

Design and fabrication of vertical-injection GaN-based light-emitting diodes.

The fabrication process and design issues for the fabrication of vertical-injection GaN-based light-emitting diodes were investigated. The process yield was reduced according to the adhesion of reflective p-electrodes, the exposure of electroplated metal in plasma, and wet-etching induced surface textures. The chip design utilizing current blocking layer and branched n-electrode was found to significantly affect the power efficiency of LEDs.

Orange a-plane InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes grown on r-plane sapphire substrates.

We report on orange a-plane light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with InGaN single quantum well (SQW) grown on r-plane sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The peak wavelength and the full-width at half maximum (FWHM) at a drive current of 20mA were 612.2 nm and 72 nm, respectively. The device demonstrated a blue shift in emission wavelength from 614.6 nm at 10 mA to 607.5 nm at 100 mA, representing a net shift of 7.1 nm over a 90 mA range, which is the longest wavelength compared with reported values in nonpolar LEDs. The polarization ratio values obtained from the orange LED varied between 0.36 and 0.44 from 10 to 100mA and a weak dependence of the polarization ratio on the injection current was observed.

Opposite carrier dynamics and optical absorption characteristics under external electric field in nonpolar vs. polar InGaN/GaN based quantum heterostructures.

We report on the electric field dependent carrier dynamics and optical absorption in nonpolar a-plane GaN-based quantum heterostructures grown on r-plane sapphire, which are surprisingly observed to be opposite to those polar ones of the same materials system and similar structure grown on c-plane. Confirmed by their time-resolved photoluminescence measurements and numerical analyses, we show that carrier lifetimes increase with increasing external electric field in nonpolar InGaN/GaN heterostructure epitaxy, whereas exactly the opposite occurs for the polar epitaxy. Moreover, we observe blue-shifting absorption spectra with increasing external electric field as a result of reversed quantum confined Stark effect in these polar structures, while we observe red-shifting absorption spectra with increasing external electric field because of standard quantum confined Stark effect in the nonpolar structures. We explain these opposite behaviors of external electric field dependence with the changing overlap of electron and hole wavefunctions in the context of Fermi's golden rule.

Enhanced light extraction of nonpolar a-plane (11-20) GaN light emitting diodes on sapphire substrates by photo-enhanced chemical wet etching.

The extraction efficiency of nonpolar a-plane (11-20) GaN LEDs on sapphire substrates has been enhanced by selectively etching the mesa sidewall faces and the n-type GaN surfaces with photoenhanced chemical wet etching. Submicron-sized trigonal prisms having prismatic planes of {1-100} were clearly displayed on the n-type GaN surfaces as well as the sidewall face after 5 min etching at 60 degrees C. The radiation patterns have shown that more light is extracted in all directions and the output powers of surface textured a-plane GaN LEDs have increased by 25% compared with control samples. PEC wet etching produced unique feature of etching morphology on the mesa sidewall faces and the n-type GaN surface.