Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films were grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition with BCl3 and NH3 as the boron and nitrogen sources, respectively, and the influences of growth parameters on the film quality were investigated for samples with a thickness of about 1 µm. The dependence of X-ray diffraction on the growth temperature (T g) indicated that the crystalline quality is most improved in the sample grown at 1200 °C, in which the epitaxial relationship of {100}h-BN ∥ {110}sapphire and {001}h-BN ∥ {001}sapphire was confirmed. This condition enhanced lateral growth, resulting in the formation of grains with flat top surfaces. The T g dependence was discussed in relation to the amorphous AlN formed on the substrate surface and the reaction between BCl3 and NH3 in the vapor phase. The correlation between the structural and luminescent properties, which was found from the T g dependence of CL, was also discussed.

Hexagonal (h) BN is a semiconductor that crystallizes in layers of a two-dimensional honeycomb structure. Since hBN exhibits high quantum efficiency (QE) near-band edge emission at around 5.8 eV in spite of the indirect bandgap, hBN has a potential for the use in deep-ultraviolet light emitters. For elucidating the emission dynamics of indirect excitons (iXs) in hBN, spatially and temporally resolved luminescence measurements were carried out on hBN epilayers grown using carbon-free precursors. In addition to major [Formula: see text]m-side flat-topped (0001) hBN columnar grains, sub-[Formula: see text]m-scale polytypic segments were identified, which were likely formed by certain growth instabilities. The hBN domains exhibited predominant emissions of phonon-assisted fundamental iXs at 5.7–5.9 eV and a less-pronounced 4.0-eV emission band. The photoluminescence lifetime ([Formula: see text]) for the iX emissions was 54 ps, which most likely represents the midgap recombination lifetime ([Formula: see text]) for an iX reservoir. Because [Formula: see text] did not change while the cathodoluminescence (CL) intensity increased with temperature above 100 K, both the immobile character of iXs and strong exciton–phonon interaction seem significant for procreating the high QE. The CL intensity and [Formula: see text] of the 5.5 eV band monotonically decreased with temperature, indicating that [Formula: see text] represents [Formula: see text], most probably a nonradiative lifetime, around the real states. Equally significant emissions at 6.035 eV at 12 K and 6.0–6.1 eV at 300 K were observed from the polytypic segments, most probably graphitic bernal BN, which also exhibited negligible thermal quenching property.

A hexagonal boron nitride thin film was prepared on a c-plane sapphire substrate at a substrate temperature of 1200 °C and a reactor pressure of 5 kPa by chemical vapor deposition using BCl 3 as a boron source. The film, consisting of columnar grains with flat top surfaces, grew epitaxially on the substrate. This sample showed pronounced intrinsic exciton cathodoluminescence (CL) at 215 nm at room temperature, although broad emission at around 350 nm was dominant. Note that the spectrum shape in the band edge region closely matched that observed for a high-quality bulk crystal in terms of peak wavelength and width. The CL images of the surface revealed the correlation between the film structure and the luminescence property, where the intrinsic excitonic luminescence was exhibited only from the columnar grains, whereas the impurity-and/or the defect-related emissions were observed mainly from surface defects with randomly oriented grains.

We demonstrated the fabrication of a peculiar GaN/InGaN-based high-density nanocrystal array on a nitrogen polarity GaN layer using a simple self-assembly process for the first time. The nanocrystals consist of bending InGaN nanoplates and supporting GaN nanocolumns. The nanocrystals are umbrella shaped with diameters of ∼ 200-700 nm; therefore, they are referred to as InGaN nanoumbrellas. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the crystal structures of the nanoumbrellas and provided information about their growth mechanism. The photoluminescence (PL) properties of the InGaN nanoumbrellas were also characterized, and an extremely wide range of optical emission wavelengths (∼360-800 nm) was obtained from a small excitation diameter of ∼ 10 μm. Multiple sharp peaks resembling lasing actions were also observed in the PL spectrum; the resonant mode was likely caused by the whispering gallery mode. These results indicate that the high-density GaN/InGaN-based nanoumbrella array can be used as a source of white light without phosphors.

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