Indium Gallium Nitride (InGaN) based PV have the best fit to the solar spectrum of any alloy system and emerging LED lighting based on InGaN technology and has the potential to reduce energy consumption by nearly one half while enabling significant carbon emission reduction. However, getting the maximum benefit from GaN diode -based PV and LEDs will require wide-scale adoption. A key bottleneck for this is the device cost, which is currently dominated by the substrate (i.e. sapphire) and the epitaxy (i.e. GaN). This work investigates two schemes for reducing such costs. First, we investigated the integration of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) in InGaN-based diodes. (Successful growth of GaN on ZnO template layers (on sapphire) was illustrated. These templates can then be used as sacrificial release layers for chemical lift-off. Such an approach provides an alternative to laser lift-off for the transfer of GaN to substrates with a superior cost-performance profile, plus an added advantage of reclaiming the expensive single-crystal sapphire. It was also illustrated that substitution of low temperature n-type ZnO for n-GaN layers can combat indium leakage from InGaN quantum well active layers in inverted p-n junction structures. The ZnO overlayers can also double as transparent contacts with a nanostructured surface which enhances light in/out coupling. Thus ZnO was confirmed to be an effective GaN substitute which offers added flexibility in device design and can be used in order to simultaneously reduce the epitaxial cost and boost the device performance. Second, we investigated the use of GaN templates on patterned Silicon (100) substrates for reduced substrate cost LED applications. Controlled local metal organic chemical vapor deposition epitaxy of cubic phase GaN with on-axis Si(100) substrates was illustrated. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy techniques were used to investigate uniformity and examine the defect structure in the GaN. Our results suggest that groove structures are very promising for controlled local epitaxy of cubic phase GaN. Overall, it is concluded that there are significant opportunities for cost reduction in novel hybrid diodes based on ZnO-InGaN-Si hybridization.
We demonstrate phosphor-free light-emitting diode (LED) by growing InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) on
the n-GaN microfacets. The white emission was realized by combining emissions from InGaN/GaN MQWs grown on cplane
(0001), semipolar {11-22} and {1-101} facets which are selectively grown on n-GaN with trapezoidal shape
arrays. The photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) measurement revealed that the long wavelength light
was emitted from InGaN/GaN MQWs grown on c-plane (0001), while the short wavelength light was emitted from that
of semipolar microfacets. The change in the emission wavelengths from each microfacets was due to the difference in
the well thickness and In composition of each MQWs. The LED showed white emission at an injection current between
180 and 230 mA. These results suggested that white emission is possible without using the phosphor by combining
emission lights emitted from microfacets.
PdZn was used to improve the electrical properties of p-GaN annealed at low activation temperature for high efficiency
green light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A hole concentration of p-GaN annealed at 600 °C with PdZn was almost 28 times
higher than that of p-GaN annealed at 800 °C without PdZn. SIMS analysis showed that hydrogen concentration in p-GaN annealed with PdZn is decreased compared to that without using PdZn because the PdZn enhances hydrogen
desorption from the Mg-doped p-GaN film at low temperature. The green MQW LED annealed at 600 °C using PdZn
showed improved electrical characteristic and optical output power compared to that annealed at 800 °C without using
PdZn. These results are attributed to the increase of hole concentration of p-GaN due to removal of hydrogen in p-GaN by PdZn and the decrease in thermal damage of MQW at low activation temperature.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.