Enhanced light extraction from InGaN/GaN quantum wells with silver gratings

We demonstrate that an extraction enhancement by a factor of 2.8 can be obtained for a GaN quantum well structure using metallic nanostructures, compared to a flat semiconductor. The InGaN/GaN quantum well is inserted into a dielectric waveguide, naturally formed in the structure, and a silver grating is deposited on the surface and covered with a polymer film. The polymer layer greatly improves the extraction compared to a single metallic grating. The comparison of the experiments with simulations gives strong indications on the key role of weakly guided modes in the polymer layer diffracted by the grating.Peer reviewe

Impurity breakdown and terahertz luminescence in n-GaN epilayers under external electric field

We report on the observation and experimental studies of impurity breakdown and terahertz luminescence in n-GaN epilayers under external electric field. The terahertz electroluminescence is observed in a wide range of doping levels (at noncompensated donor density from 4.5×10[sup 16] to 3.4×10[sup 18] cm[sup −3]). Spectra of terahertz luminescence and photoconductivity are studied by means of Fourier transform spectrometry. Distinctive features of the spectra can be assigned to intracenter electron transitions between excited and ground states of silicon and oxygen donors and to hot electron transitions to the donor states.Peer reviewe

Surface Morphology Evolution Mechanisms of InGaN/GaN Multiple Quantum Wells with Mixture N2/H2-Grown GaN Barrier

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Surface morphology evolution mechanisms of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) during GaN barrier growth with different hydrogen (H2) percentages have been systematically studied. Ga surface-diffusion rate, stress relaxation, and H2 etching effect are found to be the main affecting factors of the surface evolution. As the percentage of H2 increases from 0 to 6.25%, Ga surface-diffusion rate and the etch effect are gradually enhanced, which is beneficial to obtaining a smooth surface with low pits density. As the H2 proportion further increases, stress relaxation and H2 over- etching effect begin to be the dominant factors, which degrade surface quality. Furthermore, the effects of surface evolution on the interface and optical properties of InGaN/GaN MQWs are also profoundly discussed. The comprehensive study on the surface evolution mechanisms herein provides both technical and theoretical support for the fabrication of high-quality InGaN/GaN heterostructures.Peer reviewe

Mechanism of disyllabic tonal reduction in Taiwan Mandarin

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that time pressure is a direct cause of tonal reduction in Taiwan Mandarin. Tonal reduction refers to the phenomenon of the tones of a disyllabic unit being contracted into a monosyllabic unit. An experiment was carried out in which six native Taiwan Mandarin male speakers produced sentences containing disyllabic compound words /ma/+/ma/ with varying tonal combinations at different speech rates. Analyses indicated that increasing time pressure led to severe tonal reductions. Articulatory effort, measured by the slope of F0 peak velocity of unidirectional movement over F0 movement amplitude, is insufficient to compensate for duration-dependent undershoot (in particular, when time pressure exceeds certain thresholds). Mechanisms of tonal reduction were further examined by comparing F0 velocity profiles against the Edge-in model, a rule-based phonological model. Results showed that the residual tonal variants in contracted syllables are gradient rather than categorical—as duration is shortened, the movement towards the desired targets is gradually curtailed