Nanoselective area growth of GaN by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy on 4H-SiC using epitaxial graphene as a mask

International audienceWe report the growth of high-quality triangular GaN nanomesas, 30-nm thick, on the C-face of 4H-SiC using nano selective area growth (NSAG) with patterned epitaxial graphene grown on SiC as an embedded mask. NSAG alleviates the problems of defective crystals in the heteroepitaxial growth of nitrides, and the high mobility graphene film can readily provide the back low-dissipative electrode in GaN-based optoelectronic devices. The process consists in first growing a 5-8 graphene layers film on the C-face of 4H- SiC by confinement-controlled sublimation of silicon carbide. The graphene film is then patterned and arrays of 75-nanometer-wide openings are etched in graphene revealing the SiC substrate. 30-nanometer-thick GaN is subsequently grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. GaN nanomesas grow epitaxially with perfect selectivity on SiC, in openings patterned through graphene, with no nucleation on graphene. The up-or-down orientation of the mesas on SiC, their triangular faceting, and cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy show that they are biphasic. The core is a zinc blende monocrystal surrounded with single-crystal hexagonal wurtzite. The GaN crystalline nanomesas have no threading dislocations, and do not show any V-pit. This NSAG process potentially leads to integration of high-quality III-nitrides on the wafer scalable epitaxial graphene / silicon carbide platform

The 2020 UV emitter roadmap

Solid state UV emitters have many advantages over conventional UV sources. The (Al,In,Ga)N material system is best suited to produce LEDs and laser diodes from 400 nm down to 210 nm—due to its large and tuneable direct band gap, n- and p-doping capability up to the largest bandgap material AlN and a growth and fabrication technology compatible with the current visible InGaN-based LED production. However AlGaN based UV-emitters still suffer from numerous challenges compared to their visible counterparts that become most obvious by consideration of their light output power, operation voltage and long term stability. Most of these challenges are related to the large bandgap of the materials. However, the development since the first realization of UV electroluminescence in the 1970s shows that an improvement in understanding and technology allows the performance of UV emitters to be pushed far beyond the current state. One example is the very recent realization of edge emitting laser diodes emitting in the UVC at 271.8 nm and in the UVB spectral range at 298 nm. This roadmap summarizes the current state of the art for the most important aspects of UV emitters, their challenges and provides an outlook for future developments

Self-induced laterally modulated GaInP/InAsP structure grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy

Zero-net strained multilayer alternating tensile GaInP and compressive InAsP have been grown on (001)InP by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy. A structural analysis using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is reported. A remarkably regular laterally modulated structure has been observed. GaInP- and InAsP-rich vertical zones alternate with a periodicity of 0.28 μm along the lateral [110] direction, thus balancing the mismatch along the [110] rather than the [001] growth direction. TEM experiments suggest that each vertical zone is partially elastically relaxed

Contribution to solar concentrators design for photovoltaic application

International audienceSome properties of solar concentrator based on a Fresnel lens, a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) and a cone are investigated. The effect of the source incidence angle on the focal point of the lens is highlighted and a procedure for a cone design is presented. This later defines also the sizes of the primary opti