Localized Excitons in InGaN

Emission mechanisms of the device-quality quantum well (QW) structure and bulk three dimensional (3D) InGaN materials grown on sapphire substrates without any epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN (ELOG) base layers were investigated. The InxGx1−xN layers showed various degree of spatial potential (bandgap) fluctuation, which is probably due to a compositional inhomogeneity or monolayer thickness fluctuation produced by some kinetic driving forces initiated by the threading dislocations (TDs) or growth steps during the growth. The degree of fluctuation changed remarkably around nominal InN molar fraction x=0.2, which changes to nearly 8–10 % for the strained InxGa1−xN. This potential fluctuation induces energy tail states both in QW and 3D InGaN, showing a large Stokes-like shift combined with the red shift due to quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) induced by the piezoelectric field. The spontaneous emission from undoped InGaN single quantum well (SQW) light-emitting diodes (LED's), undoped 3D double heterostructure (DH) LED's, and multiple quantum well (MQW) laser diode (LD) wafers was assigned as being due to the recombination of excitons localized at the potential minima, whose area was determined by cathodoluminescence (CL) mapping to vary from less than 60 nm to 300 nm in lateral size in the case of QW's. The lasing mechanisms of the cw In0.15Gao.85N MQW LD's having small potential fluctuation, whose bandgap broadenings are less than about 50 meV, can be described by the well-known electron-hole-plasma (EIHP) picture with Coulomb enhancement. The inhomogenous MQW LD's are considered to lase by EHP in segmented QW's or Q-disks. It is desirable to use entire QW planes with small potential inhomogeneity as gain media for higher performance LD operation.