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High‐Temperature Annealing and Patterned AlN/Sapphire Interfaces
2021, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Mogilatenko, Anna, Walde, Sebastian, Pacak, Daniel, Weinrich, Jonas, Hartmann, Carsten, Weyers, Markus
Using the example of epitaxial lateral overgrowth of AlN on trench-patterned AlN/sapphire templates, the impact of introducing a high-temperature annealing step into the process chain is investigated. Covering the open surfaces of sapphire trench sidewalls with a thin layer of AlN is found to be necessary to preserve the trench shape during annealing. Both the influence of annealing temperature and annealing duration are investigated. To avoid the deformation of the AlN/sapphire interface during annealing, the annealing duration or annealing temperature must be low enough. Annealing for 1 h at 1730 °C is found to allow for the lowest threading dislocation density of 3.5 × 108 cm−2 in the subsequently grown AlN, while maintaining an uncracked smooth surface over the entire 2 in. wafer. Transmission electron microscopy study confirms the defect reduction by high-temperature annealing and reveals an additional strain relaxation mechanism by accumulation of horizontal dislocation lines at the interface between annealed and nonannealed AlN. By applying a second annealing step, the dislocation density can be further reduced to 2.5 × 108 cm−2.
Improved Efficiency of Ultraviolet B Light-Emitting Diodes with Optimized p-Side
2020, Kolbe, Tim, Knauer, Arne, Rass, Jens, Cho, Hyun Kyong, Mogilatenko, Anna, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Lobo Ploch, Neysha, Einfeldt, Sven, Weyers, Markus
The effects of design and thicknesses of different optically transparent p-current spreading layers [short-period superlattice, superlattice (SL), and bulk p- (Formula presented.)] as well as the type and thickness of the p-GaN cap layer on the electrical and optical characteristics of 310 nm ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are investigated. Scanning transmission electron microscopy measurements display self-organized composition variations in the nonpseudomorphically grown SLs, reducing the effect of increased hole injection efficiency of a SL. In addition, the effect leads to an increased operation voltage. In contrast, the bulk p-AlGaN layer has a uniform composition and the corresponding LEDs show only a slightly lower output power along with a lower operating voltage. If the thickness of the p-AlGaN bulk layer in the LED is reduced from 150 nm to 50 nm, the output power increases and the operating voltage decreases. Finally, LEDs with a nonuniform (Formula presented.) -GaN cap layer from a 3D island-like growth mode feature the highest output power and operating voltage. In contrast, the output power and operating voltage of LEDs with a smooth and closed cap depend on the thickness of (Formula presented.) -GaN. The highest output power and lowest operating voltage are achieved for LEDs with the thinnest (Formula presented.) -GaN cap. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
Nanopatterned sapphire substrates in deep-UV LEDs : is there an optical benefit?
2020, Manley, Phillip, Walde, Sebastian, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Hammerschmidt, Martin, Burger, Sven, Becker, Christiane
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the deep ultra-violet (DUV) offer new perspectives for multiple applications ranging from 3D printing to sterilization. However, insufficient light extraction severely limits their efficiency. Nanostructured sapphire substrates in aluminum nitride based LED devices have recently shown to improve crystal growth properties, while their impact on light extraction has not been fully verified. We present a model for understanding the impact of nanostructures on the light extraction capability of DUV-LEDs. The model assumes an isotropic light source in the semiconductor layer stack and combines rigorously computed scattering matrices with a multilayer solver. We find that the optical benefit of using a nanopatterned as opposed to a planar sapphire substrate to be negligible, if parasitic absorption in the p-side of the LED is dominant. If losses in the p-side are reduced to 20%, then for a wavelength of 265 nm an increase of light extraction efficiency from 7.8% to 25.0% is possible due to nanostructuring. We introduce a concept using a diffuse (’Lambertian’) reflector as p-contact, further increasing the light extraction efficiency to 34.2%. The results underline that transparent p-sides and reflective p-contacts in DUV-LEDs are indispensable for enhanced light extraction regardless of the interface texture between semiconductor and sapphire substrate. The optical design guidelines presented in this study will accelerate the development of high-efficiency DUV-LEDs. The model can be extended to other multilayer opto-electronic nanostructured devices such as photovoltaics or photodetectors. © 2020 OSA - The Optical Society. All rights reserved.
High-Temperature Annealing of AlGaN
2020, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Khan, Taimoor, Netzel, Carsten, Hartmann, Carsten, Walde, Sebastian, Weyers, Markus
In the past few years, high-temperature annealing of AlN has become a proven method for providing AlN layers with low dislocation densities. Herein, the example of Al0.77Ga0.23N is used to investigate whether annealing can also improve the material quality of the ternary alloy. A detailed analysis of the influence of annealing temperature on structural and optical material properties is presented. It is found that with increasing annealing temperature, the threading dislocation density can be lowered from an initial value of 6.0 × 109 down to 2.6 × 109 cm−2. Ga depletion at the AlGaN surface and Ga diffusion into the AlN buffer layer are observed. After annealing, the defect luminescence between 3 and 4 eV is increased, accompanied by an increase in the oxygen concentration by about two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, due to annealing optical absorption at 325 nm (3.8 eV) occurs, which increases with increasing annealing temperature. It is assumed that the reason for this decrease in ultraviolet (UV) transmittance is the increasing number of vacancies caused by the removal of group-III and N atoms from the AlGaN lattice during annealing.
Status and Prospects of AlN Templates on Sapphire for Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes
2020, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Walde, Sebastian, Knauer, Arne, Susilo, Norman, Pacak, Daniel, Cancellara, Leonardo, Netzel, Carsten, Mogilatenko, Anna, Hartmann, Carsten, Wernicke, Tim, Kneissl, Michael, Weyers, Markus
Herein, the scope is to provide an overview on the current status of AlN/sapphire templates for ultraviolet B (UVB) and ultraviolet C (UVC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with focus on the work done previously. Furthermore, approaches to improve the properties of such AlN/sapphire templates by the combination of high-temperature annealing (HTA) and patterned AlN/sapphire interfaces are discussed. While the beneficial effect of HTA is demonstrated for UVC LEDs, the growth of relaxed AlGaN buffer layers on HTA AlN is a challenge. To achieve relaxed AlGaN with a low dislocation density, the applicability of HTA for AlGaN is investigated. © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Comparison of Ultraviolet B Light‐Emitting Diodes with Single or Triple Quantum Wells
2021, Kolbe, Tim, Knauer, Arne, Ruschel, Jan, Rass, Jens, Kyong Cho, Hyun, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Glaab, Johannes, Lobo Ploch, Neysha, Einfeldt, Sven, Weyers, Markus
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an emission wavelength of 310 nm containing either a single or a triple quantum well are compared regarding their efficiency and long-term stability. In addition, the influence of the thickness of the lower quantum well barrier and the quantum well thickness in single quantum well (SQW) LEDs is investigated. Electroluminescence measurements show a 28% higher initial output power for the SQW LEDs compared with the triple quantum well (TQW) LEDs because of larger spatial overlap of the carriers in the SQW as revealed by electro-optical simulations of the LED heterostructures. However, TQW LEDs show a higher output power than SQW LEDs after 1 h operation under harsh conditions. For SQW LEDs, it is found that for a thicker lower quantum well barrier (65 nm instead of 25 nm) the initial output power decreases by ≈15%. A thicker SQW (3 nm instead of 1.6 nm) reduces the initial output power by even 45% but increases the lifetime by a factor of 6 which is attributed to reduced Auger recombination from an enhanced spatial separation of electrons and holes in the quantum wells due to the quantum-confined Stark effect.
Improving AlN Crystal Quality and Strain Management on Nanopatterned Sapphire Substrates by High-Temperature Annealing for UVC Light-Emitting Diodes
2020, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Walde, Sebastian, Susilo, Norman, Netzel, Carsten, Tillner, Nadine, Unger, Ralph-Stephan, Manley, Phillip, Ziffer, Eviathar, Wernicke, Tim, Becker, Christiane, Lugauer, Hans-Jürgen, Kneissl, Michael, Weyers, Markus
Herein, AlN growth by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy on hole-type nanopatterned sapphire substrates is investigated. Cracking occurs for an unexpectedly thin-layer thickness, which is associated to altered nucleation conditions caused by the sapphire pattern. To overcome the obstacle of cracking and at the same time to decrease the threading dislocation density by an order of magnitude, high-temperature annealing (HTA) of a 300 nm-thick AlN starting layer is successfully introduced. By this method, 800 nm-thick, fully coalesced and crack-free AlN is grown on 2 in. nanopatterned sapphire wafers. The usability of such templates as basis for UVC light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is furthermore proved by subsequent growth of an UVC-LED heterostructure with single peak emission at 265 nm. Prerequisites for the enhancement of the light extraction efficiency by hole-type nanopatterned sapphire substrates are discussed. © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
The 2020 UV emitter roadmap
2020, Amano, Hiroshi, Collazo, Ramón, De Santi, Carlo, Einfeldt, Sven, Funato, Mitsuru, Glaab, Johannes, Hagedorn, Sylvia, Hirano, Akira, Hirayama, Hideki, Ishii, Ryota, Kashima, Yukio, Kawakami, Yoichi, Kirste, Ronny, Kneissl, Michael, Martin, Robert, Mehnke, Frank, Meneghini, Matteo, Ougazzaden, Abdallah, Parbrook, Peter J., Rajan, Siddharth, Reddy, Pramod, Römer, Friedhard, Friedhard, Jan, Sarkar, Biplab, Scholz, Ferdinand, Schowalter, Leo J, Shields, Philip, Sitar, Zlatko, Sulmoni, Luca, Wang, Tao, Wernicke, Tim, Weyers, Markus, Witzigmann, Bernd, Wu, Yuh-Renn, Wunderer, Thomas, Zhang, Yuewei
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. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.