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On the Luminescence Properties and Surface Passivation Mechanism of III- and N-Polar Nanopillar Ultraviolet Multiple-Quantum-Well Light Emitting Diodes

The non-centrosymmetricity of III-nitride wurtzite crystals enables metal or nitrogen polarity with dramatically different surface energies and optical properties. In this work, III-polar and N-polar nanostructured ultraviolet multiple quantum wells (UV-MQWs) were fabricated by nanosphere lithograph...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sheikhi, Moheb, Dai, Yijun, Cui, Mei, Li, Liang, Liu, Jianzhe, Lan, Wenan, Jiang, Rongrong, Guo, Wei, Chee, Kuan W.A., Ye, Jichun
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7345201/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32516889
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11060572
Descripción
Sumario:The non-centrosymmetricity of III-nitride wurtzite crystals enables metal or nitrogen polarity with dramatically different surface energies and optical properties. In this work, III-polar and N-polar nanostructured ultraviolet multiple quantum wells (UV-MQWs) were fabricated by nanosphere lithography and reactive ion etching. The influence of KOH etching and rapid thermal annealing treatments on the luminescence behaviors were carefully investigated, showing a maximum enhancement factor of 2.4 in emission intensity for III-polar nanopillars, but no significant improvement for N-polar nanopillars. The discrepancy in optical behaviors between III- and N-polar nanopillar MQWs stems from carrier localization in III-polar surface, as indium compositional inhomogeneity is discovered by cathodoluminescence mapping, and a defect-insensitive emission property is observed. Therefore, non-radiative recombination centers such as threading dislocations or point defects are unlikely to influence the optical property even after post-fabrication surface treatment. This work lays solid foundation for future study on the effects of surface treatment on III- and N-polar nanostructured light-emitting-diodes and provides a promising route for the design of nanostructure photonic devices.