Deep ultraviolet (DUV) AlN-delta-GaN quantum well (QW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with emission wavelengths of 234 nm and 246 nm are proposed and demonstrated in this work. Our results reveal that the use of AlN-delta-GaN QW with $1-3 monolayer GaN delta-layer can achieve a large transverse electric (TE)-polarized spontaneous emission rate instead of transverse magneticpolarized emission, contrary to what is observed in conventional AlGaN QW in the 230-250 nm wavelength regime. The switching of light polarization in the proposed AlN-delta-GaN QW active region is attributed to the rearrangement of the valence subbands near the C-point. The light radiation patterns obtained from angle-dependent electroluminescence measurements for the Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)-grown 234 nm and 246 nm AlN-delta-GaN QW LEDs show that the photons are mainly emitted towards the surface rather than the edge, consistent with the simulated patterns achieved by the finite-difference time-domain modeling. The results demonstrate that the proposed AlN-delta-GaN QWs would potentially lead to high-efficiency TE-polarized surface-emitting DUV LEDs.

This work investigates the physics and polarization characteristics of 298 nm AlN-delta-GaN quantum well (QW) ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The physics analysis shows that the use of the AlN-delta-GaN QW structure can ensure dominant conduction band (C) to heavy-hole (HH) subband transition and significantly improve the electron and top HH subband wave function overlap. As a result, up to 30-times enhancement in the transverse-electric (TE)polarized spontaneous emission rate of the proposed structure can be obtained as compared to a conventional AlGaN QW structure. The polarization properties of molecular beam epitaxy-grown AlN/GaN QW-like UV LEDs, which consist of 3-4 monolayer (QW-like) delta-GaN layers sandwiched by 2.5-nm AlN sub-QW layers, are investigated in this study. The polarization-dependent electroluminescence measurement results are consistent with the theoretical analysis. Specifically, the TE-polarized emission intensity is measured to be much larger than the transverse-magnetic emission, indicating significant potential for our proposed QW structure for high-efficiency TE-polarized mid-UV LEDs.

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We report on the silicon delta doping of metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy grown β-Ga 2 O 3 thin films using silane as a precursor. The delta-doped β-Ga 2 O 3 epitaxial films are characterized using capacitance-voltage profiling and secondary-ion mass spectroscopy. The sheet charge density is in the range of 2.9 × 10 12 cm −2 to 9 × 10 12 cm −2 with an HWHM (towards the substrate) ranging from 3.5 nm to 6.2 nm. We also demonstrate a high-density (n s : 6.4 × 10 12 cm −2 ) degenerate electron sheet charge in a delta-doped β-(Al 0.26 Ga 0.74 ) 2 O 3 /β-Ga 2 O 3 heterostructure. The total charge could also include a contribution from a parallel channel in the β-(Al 0.26 Ga 0.74 ) 2 O 3 alloy barrier.

Currently, Fe doping in the ~10 18 cm-3 range is the most widely-available method for producing semi-insulating single crystalline-Ga 2 O 3 substrates. Red luminescence features have been reported from multiple types of Ga 2 O 3 samples including Fe-doped-Ga 2 O 3 , and attributed to Fe or N O. Herein, however, we demonstrate that the high-intensity red luminescence from Fe-doped β-Ga 2 O 3 commercial substrates consisting of two sharp peaks at 689 nm and 697 nm superimposed on a broader peak centered at 710 nm originates from Cr impurities present at a concentration near 2 ppm. The red emission exhibits twofold symmetry, peaks in intensity for excitation near absorption edge, seems to compete with Ga 2 O 3 emission at higher excitation energy and appears to be intensified in the presence of Fe. Based on polarized absorption, luminescence observations and Tanabe-Sugano diagram analysis, we propose a resonant energy transfer of photogenerated carriers in-Ga 2 O 3 matrix to octahedrally-coordinated Cr 3+ to give red luminescence, possibly also sensitized by Fe 3+ .

This study investigates polarization-dependent light extraction efficiency (η extraction ) of AlGaN-based flip-chip ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at 230 nm and 280 nm with microdome-shaped patterning on sapphire substrate based on 3-D finite-difference time-domain simulations. Three types of patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) have been analyzed: bottom-side PSS, top-side PSS, and double-sided PSS. Our results show that microdome-shaped patterning on sapphire substrate is predominantly beneficial in enhancing transverse-magnetic (TM)-polarized output. Specifically, TM-polarized η extraction enhancement of up to ∼4.5 times and ∼2.2 times can be obtained for 230 nm and 280 nm UV LEDs with bottom-side PSS, respectively, and ∼6.3 times and ∼1.8 times for 230 nm and 280 nm UV LEDs with top-side PSS, respectively. By employing double-sided PSS, up to ∼11.2 times and ∼2.6 times enhancement in TM-polarized η extraction can be achieved for 230 nm and 280 nm UV LEDs, respectively. In contrast, the microdome-shaped PSS act as a reflector for transverse-electric-polarized photons which leads to severe limitation in light extraction for both 230 nm and 280 nm flip-chip UV LEDs. Thus, it is expected that this study will serve as a guidance in designing PSS for high-efficiency mid-and deep-UV LEDs.

The use of AlInN-delta-GaN quantum wells (QWs) active region for ultraviolet (UV) laser with wavelength (λ) ∼ 250–300 nm was proposed and investigated in this work. The design of active region consists of 24 Å staggered Al0.91In0.09N/Al0.82In0.18N layers with a 3 Å lattice-matched GaN delta layer, which enables dominant conduction band (C) to heavy hole (HH) subband transition. In addition, the insertion of the ultra-thin delta GaN layer will strongly localize the electron-hole wave functions toward the center of the QW, which leads to large transverse electric (TE) polarized optical gain. In comparison to the use of a conventional AlGaN QW system, the proposed AlInN-delta-GaN QW structure results in ∼3 times improvement in TE-gain at 255 nm. By tuning the delta-GaN thickness, the TE-polarized optical gain up to 3700 cm−1 can be obtained for λ ∼ 280–300 nm, which is very promising to serve as an alternative active region for high-efficiency UV lasers.

Phosphor-free monolithic white light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on InGaN/ InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) on ternary InGaN substrates are proposed and analyzed in this study. Simulation studies show that LED devices composed of multi-color-emitting InGaN/ InGaN quantum wells (QWs) employing ternary InGaN substrate with engineered active region exhibit stable white color illumination with large output power (∼ 170 mW) and high external quantum efficiency (EQE) (∼ 50%). The chromaticity coordinate for the investigated monolithic white LED devices are located at (0.30, 0.28) with correlated color temperature (CCT) of ∼ 8200 K at J = 50 A/cm2. A reference LED device without any nanostructure engineering exhibits green color emission shows that proper engineered structure is essential to achieve white color illumination. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that high-efficiency and cost-effective phosphor-free monolithic white LED is feasible by the use of InGaN/ InGaN MQWs on ternary InGaN substrate combined with nanostructure engineering, which would be of great impact for solid state lighting.