• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.130-134
• /
• 2016

The influence of Au/Ni-based contact formed on a lightly-doped (7.3×1017cm−3, Zn-doped) InGaAsP layer for electrical compensation of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) propagation under various rapid thermal annealing (RTA) conditions has been studied. The active control of SPP propagation is realized by electrically pumping the InGaAsP multiple quantum wells (MQWs) beneath the metal planar waveguide. The metal planar film acts as the electric contact layer and SPP waveguide, simultaneously. The RTA process can lower the metal-semiconductor electric contact resistance. Nevertheless, it inevitably increases the contact interface morphological roughness, which is detrimental to SPP propagation. Based on this dilemma, in this work we focus on studying the influence of RTA conditions on electrical control of SPPs. The experimental results indicate that there is obvious degradation of electrical pumping compensation for SPP propagation loss in the devices annealed at 400℃ compared to those with no annealing treatment. With increasing annealing duration time, more significant degradation of the active performance is observed even under sufficient current injection. When the annealing temperature is set at 400℃ and the duration time approaches 60s, the SPP propagation is nearly no longer supported as the waveguide surface morphology is severely changed. It seems that eutectic mixture stemming from the RTA process significantly increases the metal film roughness and interferes with the SPP signal propagation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2000.02a
• /
• pp.111-111
• /
• 2000

최근 질화물 반도체를 이용한 단파장 laser diode (LD)와 ultraviolet light emitting diode (LED)에 관한 관심의 증가로 인하여 AlGaN의 성장에 관한 연구가 많이 진행되고 있다. Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)법을 이용한 AlGaN 성장에 있어서는 Al의 전구체로 널리 사용되고 있는 trimethylaluminum (TMAl)과 암모니아와의 기상에서의 adduct 형성을 억제하기 위하여 주로 저압에서 성장을 하거나 원료 가스의 유속을 증가시키는 방법으로 연구가 되고 있다. 또한, AlN의 경우 GaN보다 녹는점이 매우 높기 때문에 일반적으로 Al을 포함하는 질화물 반도체의 성장에 있어서는 GaN보다 녹는점이 매우 높기 때문에 일반적으로 Al을 포함하는 질화물 반도체의 성장에 있어서는 GaN 성장 시보다 높은 온도에서 성장이 이루어지고 있다. MOCND법을 이용하여 AlGaN를 성장시키는 대부분의 연구들은 100$0^{\circ}C$ 이상의 고온에서의 성장 온도가 AlGaN특성에 미치는 영향에 대한 것으로 국한되고 있다. 그러나, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) 구조의 LD나 LED를 성장시키는 경우 In의 desorption을 억제하기 위하여 MQWs층 위에 저온에서 AlGaN를 성장하는 데 있어서 AlGaN의 성장 온도를 500-102$0^{\circ}C$로 변화시키면서 AlGaN의 성장거동을 고찰하였다. GaN는 사파이어 기판을 수소분위기하에서 고온에서 가열한 후 저온에서 GaN를 이용한 핵생성층을 성장하고 102$0^{\circ}C$의 고온에서 1.2$\mu\textrm{m}$정도의 두께로 성장하였다. AlGaN는 고온에서 성장된 GaN 위에 200Torr의 성장기 압력 하에서 trimethylgallium (TMGa)과 TMAl의 유속을 각각 70 $\mu$mol/min 으로 고정한 후 성장온도만을 변화시키며 증착하였다. 성장 온도가 낮아짐에 따라 AlGaN의 표면거칠기가 증가하고, 결함과 관련된 포토루미네슨스가 현저히 증가하는 것이 관찰되었다. 그러나, 성장온도가 50$0^{\circ}C$정도로 낮아진 경우에 있어서는 표면 거칠기가 다시 감소하는 것이 관찰되었다. 이러한 현상은 저온에서 표면흡착원자의 거동에 제한이 따르기 때문으로 생각되어진다. 또한, 성장 온도가 낮아짐에 따라 AlGaN의 성장을 저해하기 때문으로 판단된다. 성장 온도 변화에 따라 성장된 V의 구조적 특성 및 표면 거칠기 변화를 관찰하여 AlGaN의 성장 거동을 논의하겠다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.02a
• /
• pp.147-147
• /
• 2011

High crystalline nonpolar a-plane (11-20) nitride light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been fabricated on r-plane (1-102) sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD). The multi-quantum wells (MQWs) active region is consists of 4 periods the nonpolar a-plane InGaN/GaN(a-InGaN/GaN) on a high quality a-plane GaN (a-GaN) template grown by using the multibuffer layer technique. The full widths at half maximum (FWHMs) of x-ray rocking curve (XRC) obtained from phiscan of the specimen that was grown up to nonpolar a-plane GaN LED layers with double crystal x-ray diffraction. The FWHM values were decreased down to 477 arc sec for $0^{\circ}$ and 505 arc sec for $-90^{\circ}$, respectively. After fabricating a conventional lateral LED chip which size was $300{\times}600{\mu}m^2$, we measured the optical output power by on-wafer measurements. N-electrode was made with Cr/Au contact, and ITO on p-GaN was formed with Ohmic contact using Ni/Au followed by inductively coupled plasma etching for mesa isolation. The optical output power of 1.08 mW was obtained at drive current of 20 mA with the peak emission wavelength of 502 nm.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.79-85
• /
• 2017

The crack-free AlGaN template has been successfully grown by using selective area growth with triangular GaN facet. The triangular GaN stripe structure was obtained by vertical growth rate enhanced mode with low growth temperature of $950^{\circ}C$ and high growth pressure of 500 torr. The lateral growth rate enhanced mode of AlGaN for crack-free and flat surface was also investigated. Low pressure of 30 torr and high V/III ratio of 4400 were favorable for lateral growth of AlGaN. It was confirmed that the $4{\mu}m$ -thick $Al_{0.2}Ga_{0.8}N$ was crack-free over entire 2-inch wafer. The dislocation density of $Al_{0.2}Ga_{0.8}N$ was as low as ${\sim}7.6{\times}10^8/cm^2$ measured by cathodoluminescence. Based on the high quality AlGaN with low dislocation density, the ultraviolet laser diode epitaxy with cladding, waveguide and GaN/AlGaN multiple quantum well (MQW) was grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The stimulated emission at 349 nm with full width at half maximum of 1.8 nm from the MQW was observed through optical pumping experiment with 193 nm KrF laser. We also have fabricated the deep ridge type ultraviolet laser diode (UV-LD) with $5{\mu}m-wide$ and $700{\mu}m-long$ cavity for electrical properties. The turn on voltage was below 5 V and the resistance was ${\sim}55{\Omega}$ at applied voltage of 10 V. The amplified spontaneous emission spectrum of UV-LD was also observed from pulsed current injection.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.10 no.10
• /
• pp.698-702
• /
• 2000

The characteristics of optical absorption in $Al_{0.24}Ga_{0.76}As/GaAs$ multi-quantum wells(MQWs) structure were investigated by using the surface photovoltage(SPV). The Spy features near 1.42 eV showed two overlapping signals. By chemical etching, we found associated with the GaAs substrate and the GaAs cap layer. The Al composition(x=24 %) was determined by Kuech's composition formula. In order to identify the transition energies. the experimentally observed energies were compared with results of the envelope function approximation for a rectangular quantum wells An amplitude variation of the relative Spy intensity from the GaAs substrate, llH, and llL was observed at different light intensities. A variation in the SPY line shape of the transition energies were observed with decreasing tempera­t ture.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.08a
• /
• pp.172-173
• /
• 2012

Currently GaN based LED is known to show high internal or external efficiency at low current range. However, this LED operation occurs at high current range and in this range, a significant performance degradation known as 'efficiency droop' occurs. Auger process, carrier leakage process, field effect due to lattice mismatch and thermal effects have been discussed as the causes of loss of efficiency, and these phenomena are major hindrance in LED performance. In order to investigate the main effects of efficiency loss and overcome such effects, it is essential to obtain relative proportion of measurements of internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and various radiative and nonradiative recombination processes. Also, it is very important to obtain radiative and non-radiative recombination times in LEDs. In this research, we measured the IQE of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) LEDs with PSS and Planar substrate using modified ABC equation, and investigated the physical mechanism behind by analyzing the emission energy, full-width half maximum (FWHM) of the emission spectra, and carrier recombination dynamic by time-resolved electroluminescence (TREL) measurement using pulse current generator. The LED layer structures were grown on a c-plane sapphire substrate and the active region consists of five 30 ${\AA}$ thick In0.15Ga0.85N QWs. The dimension of the fabricated LED chip was $800um{\times}300um$. Fig. 1. is shown external quantum efficiency (EQE) of both samples. Peak efficiency of LED with PSS is 92% and peak efficiency of LED with planar substrate is 82%. We also confirm that droop of PSS sample is slightly larger than planar substrate sample. Fig. 2 is shown that analysis of relation between IQE and decay time with increasing current using TREL method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2009.06a
• /
• pp.23-23
• /
• 2009

GaN-based nitride semiconductors have attracted considerable attention in high-brightness light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) covering from green to ultraviolet spectral range. LED and LD heterostructures are usually grown on (0001)-$Al_2O_3$. The large lattice mismatch between $Al_2O_3$ substrates and the GaN layers leads to a high density of defects(dislocations and stacking faults). Moreover, Ga and N atoms are arranged along the polar [0001] crystallographic direction, which leads to spontaneous polarization. In addition, in the InGaN/GaN MQWs heterostructures, stress applied along the same axis can also give rise to piezoelectric polarization. The total polarization, which is the sum of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations, is aligned along the [0001] direction of the wurtzite heterostructures. The change in the total polarization across the heterolayers results in high interface charge densities and spatial separation of the electron and hole wave functions, redshifting the photoluminescence peak and decreasing the peak intensity. The effect of polarization charges in the GaN-based heterostructures can be eliminated by growing along the non-polar [$11\bar{2}0$] (a-axis) or [$1\bar{1}00$] (m-axis) orientation instead of thecommonly used polar [0001] (c-axis). For non-polar GaN growth on non-polar substrates, the GaN films have high density of planar defects (basal stacking fault BSFs, prismatic stacking fault PSFs), because the SFs are formed on the basal plane (c-plane) due to their low formation energy. A significant reduction in defect density was recently achieved by applying blocking layer such as SiN, AlN, and AlGaN in non-polar GaN. In this work, we were performed systematic studies of the defects in the nonpolar GaN by conventional and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.99-99
• /
• 2013

In this talk, I will present two research works in progress, which are: i) mapping of piezoelectric polarization and associated charge density distribution in the heteroepitaxial InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well (MQW) structure of a light emitting diode (LED) by using inline electron holography and ii) in-situ observation of the polarization switching process of an ferroelectric Pb(Zr1-x,Tix)O3 (PZT) thin film capacitor under an applied electric field in transmission electron microscope (TEM). In the first part, I will show that strain as well as total charge density distributions can be mapped quantitatively across all the functional layers constituting a LED, including n-type GaN, InGaN/GaN MQWs, and p-type GaN with sub-nm spatial resolution (~0.8 nm) by using inline electron holography. The experimentally obtained strain maps were verified by comparison with finite element method simulations and confirmed that not only InGaN QWs (2.5 nm in thickness) but also GaN QBs (10 nm in thickness) in the MQW structure are strained complementary to accommodate the lattice misfit strain. Because of this complementary strain of GaN QBs, the strain gradient and also (piezoelectric) polarization gradient across the MQW changes more steeply than expected, resulting in more polarization charge density at the MQW interfaces than the typically expected value from the spontaneous polarization mismatch alone. By quantitative and comparative analysis of the total charge density map with the polarization charge map, we can clarify what extent of the polarization charges are compensated by the electrons supplied from the n-doped GaN QBs. Comparison with the simulated energy band diagrams with various screening parameters show that only 60% of the net polarization charges are compensated by the electrons from the GaN QBs, which results in the internal field of ~2.0 MV cm-1 across each pair of GaN/InGaN of the MQW structure. In the second part of my talk, I will present in-situ observations of the polarization switching process of a planar Ni/PZT/SrRuO3 capacitor using TEM. We observed the preferential, but asymmetric, nucleation and forward growth of switched c-domains at the PZT/electrode interfaces arising from the built-in electric field beneath each interface. The subsequent sideways growth was inhibited by the depolarization field due to the imperfect charge compensation at the counter electrode and preexisting a-domain walls, leading to asymmetric switching. It was found that the preexisting a-domains split into fine a- and c-domains constituting a $90^{\circ}$ stripe domain pattern during the $180^{\circ}$ polarization switching process, revealing that these domains also actively participated in the out-of-plane polarization switching. The real-time observations uncovered the origin of the switching asymmetry and further clarified the importance of charged domain walls and the interfaces with electrodes in the ferroelectric switching processes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2010.06a
• /
• pp.31-31
• /
• 2010

The growth of the high-quality GaN epilayers is of significant technological importance because of their commercializedoptoelectronic applications as high-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) in the visible and ultraviolet spectral range. The GaN-based heterostructural epilayers have the polar c-axis of the hexagonal structure perpendicular to the interfaces of the active layers. The Ga and N atoms in the c-GaN are alternatively stacked along the polar [0001] crystallographic direction, which leads to spontaneous polarization. In addition, in the InGaN/GaN MQWs, the stress applied along the same axis contributes topiezoelectric polarization, and thus the total polarization is determined as the sum of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. The total polarization in the c-GaN heterolayers, which can generate internal fields and spatial separation of the electron and hole wave functions and consequently a decrease of efficiency and peak shift. One of the possible solutions to eliminate these undesirable effects is to grow GaN-based epilayers in nonpolar orientations. The polarization effects in the GaN are eliminated by growing the films along the nonpolar [$11\bar{2}0$] ($\alpha$-GaN) or [$1\bar{1}00$] (m-GaN) orientation. Although the use of the nonpolar epilayers in wurtzite structure clearly removes the polarization matters, however, it induces another problem related to the formation of a high density of planar defects. The large lattice mismatch between sapphiresubstrates and GaN layers leads to a high density of defects (dislocations and stacking faults). The dominant defects observed in the GaN epilayers with wurtzite structure are one-dimensional (1D) dislocations and two-dimensional (2D) stacking faults. In particular, the 1D threading dislocations in the c-GaN are generated from the film/substrate interface due to their large lattice and thermal coefficient mismatch. However, because the c-GaN epilayers were grown along the normal direction to the basal slip planes, the generation of basal stacking faults (BSFs) is localized on the c-plane and the generated BSFs did not propagate into the surface during the growth. Thus, the primary defects in the c-GaN epilayers are 1D threading dislocations. Occasionally, the particular planar defects such as prismatic stacking faults (PSFs) and inversion domain boundaries are observed. However, since the basal slip planes in the $\alpha$-GaN are parallel to the growth direction unlike c-GaN, the BSFs with lower formation energy can be easily formed along the growth direction, where the BSFs propagate straightly into the surface. Consequently, the lattice mismatch between film and substrate in $\alpha$-GaN epilayers is mainly relaxed through the formation of BSFs. These 2D planar defects are placed along only one direction in the cross-sectional view. Thus, the nonpolar $\alpha$-GaN films have different atomic arrangements along the two orthogonal directions ($[0001]_{GaN}$ and $[\bar{1}100]_{GaN}$ axes) on the $\alpha$-plane, which are expected to induce anisotropic biaxial strain. In this study, the anisotropic strain relaxation behaviors in the nonpolar $\alpha$-GaN epilayers grown on ($1\bar{1}02$) r-plane sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVO) were investigated, and the formation mechanism of the abnormal zigzag shape PSFs was discussed using high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.02a
• /
• pp.425-426
• /
• 2013

IIIN계 물질 기반의 광 반도체는 직접 천이형 넓은 밴드갭 구조를 갖고 있기 때문에 적외선부터 가시광선 및 자외선까지를 포함한 폭 넓은 발광파장 조절이 가능하여 조명 및 디스플레이 관련 차세대 광원으로 많은 관심을 받고 있다. 일반적인 청색 및 녹색 발광영역의 활성층으로는 InGaN/GaN 다중양자우물구조를 사용하고 있으나, 장파장의 녹색 발광을 얻기 위해서는 인듐의 함유량이 증가하여야 한다. 하지만, 인듐의 함유량이 증가함에 따라서 InGaN/GaN 다중양자우물 구조내에서 인듐의 편석현상의 발생이 용이하게 되어 계면 특성을 저하할 뿐 아니라, 비발광 센터를 증가하여 발광 효율을 급격히 감소시키는 원인이 되고 있다. 또한, InGaN과 GaN의 큰 성장온도의 차이에 따라 800도 부근의 저온 영역에서 성장된 InGaN층이 1,000도 이상의 고온 영역에서 GaN층이 성장시 InGaN층의 열화 현상이 급격히 발생되고 있다. 이를 억제하기 위해서 금속유기화학증착법의 성장 변수 최적화, 응력제어, 도핑 등의 편석 억제기술 및 보호층이 사용되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 인듐함유량이 증가된 녹색 InGaN/GaN 다중양자우물구조에서 InGaN 우물층 상하부에 도입된 GaN 보호층에 따라 발생되는 양자우물구조의 광학 및 결정학적 특성 분석을 통해 GaN 보호층의 역할을 분석하고자 한다. 본 연구에서는 금속유기화학증착장치를 이용하여 사파이어 기판위에 GaN 템플릿을 성장하고, n-형 GaN, InGaN/GaN 다중양자우물구조 및 p-형 층을 성장하였다. 앞선 언급하였듯이, InGaN/GaN 다중양자우물구조내에 GaN 보호층의 역할을 규명하기 위하여 샘플 A의 경우는 보호층이 전혀 없는 구조이고, 샘플 B의 경우는 InGaN 우물층의 상단부에만, 샘플 C의 경우에는 우물층 상부 및 하단부 모두에 약 2.0 nm 두께의 GaN 보호층을 형성하였다. 이 보호층의 유무에 따른 다중양자우물구조의 계면 특성을 확인하기 위한 X-선 회절을 이용하였고, 광학적 특성을 확인하고 상온 포토루미네선스법을 이용하여 녹색 발광 파장의 변화 및 발광세기를 관찰하였다. 우선적으로, 상온 포토루미네선스법을 이용하여 각 샘플의 발광특성을 확인한 바 상하부 모두에 GaN 보호층이 존재하는 샘플 C의 경우 약 510 nm 부근에서 발광이 관찰되었지만, 상단부에 GaN 보호층이 존재하는 샘플 B는 약 495 nm영역에 발광이 확인되었다. 특히, 전혀 보호층이 존재하지 않는 샘플 A의 경우 약 440 nm에서 발광하는 현상을 관찰하였다. 이는 우물층 상단부 및 하단부에 존재하는 GaN 보호층이 In의 확산을 억제하는 것으로 판단된다. 또한, 발광파장 및 세기를 확인한 바, 보호층의 존재하지 않을수록 단파장화가 발생함에도 불구하고 발광세기는 급격히 약해지는 것으로 보아 계면특성이 저하되어 비발광센터가 증가되는 것으로 판단된다. 이를 구조적으로 확인하기 위하여 X-선 회절법을 통한 ${\omega}$/$2{\Theta}$ 스캔의 결과는 In의 0차 피크가 GaN 보호층이 없을 경우 GaN의 피크 방향으로 이동하는 것으로 보아 GaN 보호층은 우물층 성장 후 GaN 장벽층을 성장하기 위해 온도를 증가시키는 과정에서 In의 확산되는 것으로 판단된다. 또한, 하부 GaN 보호층의 경우 GaN 장벽층 성장 후 온도를 감소시키는 과정에서 성장되므로, 우물층으로부터 In의 탈착현상이 아닌 장벽층과의 상호 확산으로 판단된다. 또한, 계면특성을 확인하기 위해 InGaN의 X-선 위성 피크를 확인한 바 샘플 A의 경우 매우 넓고 약한 피크가 관찰된 반면, 보호층이 존재하는 샘플 B와 C의 경우 강하고 얇은 피크가 확인되었다. 이는 GaN 보호층의 도입으로 인해 계면특성이 향상되는 것으로 판단된다. 따라서, 우리는 InGaN/GaN 다중양자우물구조에서 GaN 보호층은 상부의 열화 억제 뿐아니라, 하부의 장벽층 및 우물층 사이의 상호확산을 억제하는 GaN 보호층의 도입을 통하여 우수한 계면 특성 및 비발광센터의 억제를 얻을 수 있을 것으로 생각되며, 이는 향후 GaN계 발광다이오드의 전계 발광특성을 증가하여 우수한 발광소자를 개발할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.