Growth of zinc-blende GaN on muscovite mica by molecular beam epitaxy.

The mechanisms of plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaN on muscovite mica were investigated. Using a battery of techniques, including scanning and transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, cathodoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction, it was possible to establish that, in spite of the lattice symmetry mismatch, GaN grows in epitaxial relationship with mica, with the [11-20] GaN direction parallel to [010] direction of mica. GaN layers could be easily detached from the substrate via the delamination of the upper layers of the mica itself, discarding the hypothesis of a van der Waals growth mode. Mixture of wurtzite (hexagonal) and zinc blende (ZB) (cubic) crystallographic phases was found in the GaN layers with ratios highly dependent on the growth conditions. Interestingly, almost pure ZB GaN epitaxial layers could be obtained at high growth temperature, suggesting the existence of a specific GaN nucleation mechanism on mica and opening a new way to the growth of the thermodynamically less stable ZB GaN phase.

UV Emission from GaN Wires with m-Plane Core-Shell GaN/AlGaN Multiple Quantum Wells.

The present work reports high-quality nonpolar GaN/Al0.6Ga0.4N multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown in core-shell geometry by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy on the m-plane sidewalls of c̅-oriented hexagonal GaN wires. Optical and structural studies reveal ultraviolet (UV) emission originating from the core-shell GaN/AlGaN MQWs. Tuning the m-plane GaN QW thickness from 4.3 to 0.7 nm leads to a shift of the emission from 347 to 292 nm, consistent with Schrödinger-Poisson calculations. The evolution of the luminescence with temperature displays signs of strong localization, especially for samples with thinner GaN QWs and no evidence of quantum-confined Stark effect, as expected for nonpolar m-plane surfaces. The internal quantum efficiency derived from the photoluminescence (PL) intensity ratio at low and room temperatures is maximum (∼7.3% measured at low power excitation) for 2.6 nm thick quantum wells, emitting at 325 nm, and shows a large drop for thicker QWs. An extensive study of the PL quenching with temperature is presented. Two nonradiative recombination paths are activated at different temperatures. The low-temperature path is found to be intrinsic to the heterostructure, whereas the process that dominates at high temperature depends on the QW thickness and is strongly enhanced for QWs larger than 2.6 nm, causing a rapid decrease in the internal quantum efficiency.

Monolithic integration of ultraviolet microdisk lasers into photonic circuits in a III-nitride-on-silicon platform.

Ultraviolet microdisk lasers are integrated monolithically into photonic circuits using a III-nitride-on-silicon platform with gallium nitride (GaN) as the main waveguide layer. The photonic circuits consist of a microdisk and a pulley waveguide, terminated by out-coupling gratings. In this Letter, we measure quality factors up to 3500 under continuous-wave excitation. Lasing is observed from 374 to 399 nm under pulsed excitation, achieving low-threshold energies of 0.14mJ/cm2 per pulse (threshold peak powers of 35kW/cm2). A large peak-to-background dynamic of around 200 is observed at the out-coupling grating for small gaps of 50 nm between the disk and the waveguide. These devices operate at the limit of what can be achieved with GaN in terms of operation wavelength.

Enhanced UV Emission of GaN Nanowires Functionalized by Wider Band Gap Solution-Processed p-MnO Quantum Dots.

GaN-based UV light-emitting devices suffer from low efficiency. To mitigate this issue, we hybridized GaN nanowires (NWs) grown on Si substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy with solution-processed p-type MnO quantum dots (QDs) characterized by a wider band gap (∼5 eV) than that of GaN. Further investigations reveal that the photoluminescence intensity of the GaN NWs increases up to ∼3.9-fold (∼290%) after functionalizing them with p-MnO QDs, while the internal quantum efficiency is improved by ∼1.7-fold. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) incorporated into transmission electron microscopy reveals an increase in the density of states in QD-decorated NWs compared to the bare ones. The advanced optical and EELS analyses indicate that the energy transfer from the wider band gap p-MnO QDs to n-GaN NW can lead to substantial emission enhancement and greater radiative recombination contribution because of the good band alignment between MnO QDs and GaN NWs. This work provides valuable insights into an environmentally friendly strategy for improving UV device performance.

Correlated Electro-Optical and Structural Study of Electrically Tunable Nanowire Quantum Dot Emitters.

Quantum dots inserted in semiconducting nanowires are an interesting platform for the fabrication of single photon devices. To fully understand the physical properties of these objects, we need to correlate the optical, transport, and structural properties on the same nanostructure. In this work, we study the spectral tunability of the emission of a single quantum dot in a GaN nanowire by applying external bias. The nanowires are dispersed and contacted on electron beam transparent Si3N4 membranes, so that transmission electron microscopy observations, photocurrent, and micro-photoluminescence measurements under bias can be performed on the same specimen. The emission from a single dot blue or red shifts when the external electric field compensates or enhances the internal electric field generated by the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization. A detailed study of two nanowire specimens emitting at 327.5 and 307.5 nm shows spectral shifts at rates of 20 and 12 meV/V, respectively. Theoretical calculations facilitated by the modeling of the exact heterostructure provide a good description of the experimental observations. When the bias-induced band bending is strong enough to favor tunneling of the electron in the dot toward the stem or the cap, the spectral shift saturates and additional transitions associated with charged excitons can be observed.

Demonstration of critical coupling in an active III-nitride microdisk photonic circuit on silicon.

On-chip microlaser sources in the blue constitute an important building block for complex integrated photonic circuits on silicon. We have developed photonic circuits operating in the blue spectral range based on microdisks and bus waveguides in III-nitride on silicon. We report on the interplay between microdisk-waveguide coupling and its optical properties. We observe critical coupling and phase matching, i.e. the most efficient energy transfer scheme, for very short gap sizes and thin waveguides (g = 45 nm and w = 170 nm) in the spontaneous emission regime. Whispering gallery mode lasing is demonstrated for a wide range of parameters with a strong dependence of the threshold on the loaded quality factor. We show the dependence and high sensitivity of the output signal on the coupling. Lastly, we observe the impact of processing on the tuning of mode resonances due to the very short coupling distances. Such small footprint on-chip integrated microlasers providing maximum energy transfer into a photonic circuit have important potential applications for visible-light communication and lab-on-chip bio-sensors.

Self-Assembled UV Photodetector Made by Direct Epitaxial GaN Growth on Graphene.

Hybrid systems based on the combination of crystalline bulk semiconductors with 2D crystals are identified as promising heterogeneous structures for new optoelectronic applications. The direct integration of III-V semiconductors on 2D materials is very attractive to make practical devices but the preservation of the intrinsic properties of the underlying 2D materials remains a challenge. In this work, we study the direct epitaxy of self-organized GaN crystals on graphene. We demonstrate that severe metal-organic chemical vapor deposition growth conditions of GaN (chemically aggressive precursors and high temperatures) are not detrimental to the structural quality and the charge carrier mobility of the graphene base plane. Graphene can therefore be used both as an efficient sensitive material and as a substrate for GaN epitaxy to make a self-assembled UV photodetector. A responsivity as high as 2 A W-1 is measured in the UV-A range without any further postprocessing compared to simple deposition of contact electrodes. Our study opens the way to build new self-assembled 2D/III-V hybrid optoelectronic devices by direct epitaxy.

Effect of the nanowire diameter on the linearity of the response of GaN-based heterostructured nanowire photodetectors.

Nanowire photodetectors are investigated because of their compatibility with flexible electronics, or for the implementation of on-chip optical interconnects. Such devices are characterized by ultrahigh photocurrent gain, but their photoresponse scales sublinearly with the optical power. Here, we present a study of single-nanowire photodetectors displaying a linear response to ultraviolet illumination. Their structure consists of a GaN nanowire incorporating an AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructure, which generates an internal electric field. The activity of the heterostructure is confirmed by the rectifying behavior of the current-voltage characteristics in the dark, as well as by the asymmetry of the photoresponse in magnitude and linearity. Under reverse bias (negative bias on the GaN cap segment), the detectors behave linearly with the impinging optical power when the nanowire diameter is below a certain threshold (≈80 nm), which corresponds to the total depletion of the nanowire stem due to the Fermi level pinning at the sidewalls. In the case of nanowires that are only partially depleted, their nonlinearity is explained by a nonlinear variation of the diameter of their central conducting channel under illumination.

Bias-Controlled Spectral Response in GaN/AlN Single-Nanowire Ultraviolet Photodetectors.

We present a study of GaN single-nanowire ultraviolet photodetectors with an embedded GaN/AlN superlattice. The heterostructure dimensions and doping profile were designed in such a way that the application of positive or negative bias leads to an enhancement of the collection of photogenerated carriers from the GaN/AlN superlattice or from the GaN base, respectively, as confirmed by electron beam-induced current measurements. The devices display enhanced response in the ultraviolet A (≈ 330-360 nm)/B (≈ 280-330 nm) spectral windows under positive/negative bias. The result is explained by correlation of the photocurrent measurements with scanning transmission electron microscopy observations of the same single nanowire and semiclassical simulations of the strain and band structure in one and three dimensions.

Thin-Wall GaN/InAlN Multiple Quantum Well Tubes.

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.

InGaN nanowires with high InN molar fraction: growth, structural and optical properties.

The structural and optical properties of axial GaN/InGaN/GaN nanowire heterostructures with high InN molar fractions grown by molecular beam epitaxy have been studied at the nanoscale by a combination of electron microscopy, extended x-ray absorption fine structure and nano-cathodoluminescence techniques. InN molar fractions up to 50% have been successfully incorporated without extended defects, as evidence of nanowire potentialities for practical device realisation in such a composition range. Taking advantage of the N-polarity of the self-nucleated GaN NWs grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si(111), the N-polar InGaN stability temperature diagram has been experimentally determined and found to extend to a higher temperature than its metal-polar counterpart. Furthermore, annealing of GaN-capped InGaN NWs up to 800 °C has been found to result in a 20 times increase of photoluminescence intensity, which is assigned to point defect curing.

Exciton and biexciton luminescence from single GaN/AlN quantum dots in nanowires.

We present a microphotoluminescence study of single GaN/AlN quantum dots embedded in single nanowires. At low excitation power, single exciton lines with full width at half-maximum as narrow as 1 meV are observed. The study of the excitation power dependence of the emission allows us to identify the biexciton transitions with binding energies ranging from 20 to 40 meV.