Analytical Study of KOH Wet Etch Surface Passivation for III-Nitride Micropillars

III-Nitride micropillar structures show great promise for applications in micro light-emitting diodes and vertical power transistors due to their excellent scalability and outstanding electrical properties. Typically, III-Nitride micropillars are fabricated through a top-down approach using reactive ion etch which leads to roughened, non-vertical sidewalls that results in significant performance degradation. Thus, it is essential to remove this plasma etch induced surface damage. Here, we show that potassium hydroxide (KOH) acts as a crystallographic etchant for III-Nitride micropillars, preferentially exposing the vertical m-plane, and effectively removing dry etch damage and reducing the structure diameter at up to 36.6 nm/min. Both KOH solution temperature and concentration have a dramatic effect on this wet etch progression. We found that a solution of 20% AZ400K (2% KOH) at 90 C is effective at producing smooth, highly vertical sidewalls with RMS surface roughness as low as 2.59 nm, ideal for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Silicon-Integrated III–V Light Emitters and Absorbers Using Bipolar Diffusion

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Carrier lifetimes in green emitting InGaN/GaN disks‐in‐nanowire and characteristics of green light emitting diodes

Improvement in the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of InGaN/GaN disks‐in‐nanowires by surface passivation is demonstrated. The highest IQE achieved through surface passivation for green emitting (λ=540 nm) InGaN/GaN disks‐in‐nanowires is ∼53%. Radiative and nonradiative carrier lifetimes are calculated for as‐grown and surface passivated green emitting disks‐in‐nanowires. Passivated green sample exhibits a room temperature radiative lifetime of ∼748 ps, which is much smaller than that of equivalent quantum wells. Electroluminescence measurements on passivated green light emitting diodes containing InGaN disks demonstrate no roll over or efficiency droop up to 375 A/cm 2 , and exhibit a blue‐shift of 7 nm in peak wavelength. An enhancement in the light output due to surface passivation is observable in the relative external quantum efficiency of the surface passivated devices as compared with the as‐grown samples. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98222/1/812_ftp.pd

Electron tomography of (In,Ga)N insertions in GaN nanocolumns grown on semi-polar (112̄ 2) GaN templates

We present results of scanning transmission electron tomography on GaN/(In,Ga)N/GaN nanocolumns (NCs) that grew uniformly inclined towards the patterned, semi-polar GaN( 11 2 ̄ 2 ) substrate surface by molecular beam epitaxy. For the practical realization of the tomographic experiment, the nanocolumn axis has been aligned parallel to the rotation axis of the electron microscope goniometer. The tomographic reconstruction allows for the determination of the three-dimensional indium distribution inside the nanocolumns. This distribution is strongly interrelated with the nanocolumn morphology and faceting. The (In,Ga)N layer thickness and the indium concentration differ between crystallographically equivalent and non-equivalent facets. The largest thickness and the highest indium concentration are found at the nanocolumn apex parallel to the basal planes

Electron tomography of (In,Ga)N insertions in GaN nanocolumns grown on semi-polar (11(2)over-bar2) GaN templates

We present results of scanning transmission electron tomography on GaN/(In,Ga)N/GaN nanocolumns (NCs) that grew uniformly inclined towards the patterned, semi-polar GaN( 112̄ 2 ) substrate surface by molecular beam epitaxy. For the practical realization of the tomographic experiment, the nanocolumn axis has been aligned parallel to the rotation axis of the electron microscope goniometer. The tomographic reconstruction allows for the determination of the three-dimensional indium distribution inside the nanocolumns. This distribution is strongly interrelated with the nanocolumn morphology and faceting. The (In,Ga)N layer thickness and the indium concentration differ between crystallographically equivalent and non-equivalent facets. The largest thickness and the highest indium concentration are found at the nanocolumn apex parallel to the basal planes