• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.687-694
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• 2015

A photoluminescence (PL) imaging method using a vision camera was employed to inspect InGaN/GaN quantum-well light-emitting diode (LED) epi-wafers. The PL image revealed dark spot defective regions (DSDRs) as well as a spatial map of integrated PL intensity of the epi-wafer. The Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) nonradiative recombination coefficient increased with the size of the DSDRs. The high nonradiative recombination rates of the DSDRs resulted in degradation of the optical properties of the LED chips fabricated at the defective regions. Abnormal current-voltage characteristics with large forward leakages were also observed for LED chips with DSDRs, which could be due to parallel resistances bypassing the junction and/or tunneling through defects in the active region. It was found that the SRH nonradiative recombination process was dominant in the voltage range where the forward leakage by tunneling was observed. The results indicated that the DSDRs observed by PL imaging of LED epi-wafers were high density SRH nonradiative recombination centers which could affect the optical and electrical properties of the LED chips, and PL imaging can be an inspection method for evaluation of the epi-wafers and estimation of properties of the LED chips before fabrication.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.434-440
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• 2020

Based on single-mode rate equations, we present an improved equivalent-circuit model for distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers that accounts for the effects of parasitic parameters and nonradiative recombination. This equivalent-circuit model is composed of a parasitic circuit, an electrical circuit, an optical circuit, and a phase circuit, modeling the circuit equations transformed from the rate equations. The validity of the proposed circuit model is verified by comparing simulation results to measured results. The results show that the slope efficiency and threshold current of the model are 0.22 W/A and 13 mA respectively. It is also shown that increasing bias current results in the increase of the relaxation-oscillation frequency. Moreover, we show that the larger the bias current, the lower the frequency chirp, increasing the possibility of extending the transmission distance of an optical-fiber communication system. The results indicate that the proposed circuit model can accurately predict a DFB laser's static and dynamic characteristics.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1292-1301
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• 2006

This article investigates numerically the carrier-phonon interactions in thin gallium arsenide (GaAs) film structures irradiated by subpicosecond laser pulses to figure out the role of several recombination processes on the energy transport during laser pulses and to examine the effects of laser fluences and pulses on non-equilibrium energy transfer characteristics in thin film structures. The self-consistent hydrodynamic equations derived from the Boltzmann transport equations are established for carriers and two different types of phonons, i.e., acoustic phonons and longitudinal optical (LO) phonons. From the results, it is found that the two-peak structure of carrier temperatures depends mainly on the pulse durations, laser fluences, and nonradiative recombination processes, two different phonons are in nonequilibrium state within such lagging times, and this lagging effect can be neglected for longer pulses. Finally, at the initial stage of laser irradiation, SRH recombination rates increases sufficiently because the abrupt increase in carrier number density no longer permits Auger recombination to be activated. For thin GaAs film structures, it is thus seen that Auger recombination is negligible even at high temperature during laser irradiation.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.329-336
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• 1997

Photoacoustic spectroscopy was utilized to investigate the carrier transport and the thermal diffusivity in GaAs and Si. From the frequency dependence of the photoacoustic signal, it is found that heat source was originated from the instantaneous thermalization process in low frequency region. In high frequency region, however, the heat was generated by the nonradiative bulk recombination and the nonradiative surface recombination processes. It was also shown that the photoacoustic effects in GaAs of a direct band gap were governed by all three processes and those in Si of an indirect band gap were produced by the instantaneous thermalization and the nonradiative bulk recombination only. The phase of the photoacoustic signal showed a minimum value in GaAs. In Si, the phase of the photoacoustic signal was monotonically decreased as the modulation frequency was increased, demonstrating the above-mentioned mechanisms of the generation of heat. By measuring the photoacoustic signal, thermal diffusivities of semiconductors were determined to be ∼0.35 ㎠/s for GaAs and ∼1.24 ㎠/s for Si. In addition, the similar values of thermal diffusivities were obtained from the curve fitting of photoacoustic phase spectra.

• Proceedings of the Optical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.02a
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• pp.525-526
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• 2009

we investigated the effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) temperature on photoluminescence (PL) of 635 nm InGaP/InGaAlP multiple quantum well structure. RTA is performed with the quantum well structure with 5.5 nm of well width. The highest PL peak intensity is shown at 1 min. of RTA at $720^{\circ}C$ sample as 3 times higher as compared to the as-grown sample. The effect may be assigned to an expected reduction in number of nonradiative recombination centers in the quantum well.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.833-843
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• 2008

The effect of forward and reverse electrostatic discharge (ESD) on the electro-optical characteristics of oxide vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers is investigated using a human body model for the purpose of understanding degradation behavior. Forward ESD-induced degradation is complicated, showing three degradation phases depending on ESD voltage, while reverse ESD-induced degradation is relatively simple, exhibiting two phases of degradation divided by a sudden distinctive change in electro-optical characteristics. We demonstrate that the increase in the threshold current is mainly due to the increase in leakage current, nonradiative recombination current, and optical loss. The decrease in the slope efficiency is mainly due to the increase in optical loss.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.292-298
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• 2012

The epitaxial layer structures for blue InGaN light emitting diodes have been optimized for high brightness applications with the output power levels exceeding 1000 $W/cm^2$ by using a self-consistent finite element method. The light-current-voltage relationship has been directly estimated from the multiband Hamiltonian for wurtzite crystals. To analyze the efficiency droop at high injection levels, the major nonradiative recombination processes and carrier spillover have also been taken into account. The wall-plug efficiency at high injection levels up to several thousand $A/cm^2$ has been successfully evaluated for various epilayer structures facilitating optimization of the epitaxial structures for desired output power levels.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.211-220
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• 2014

In this paper, we present a review of optical and structural studies of $GaBi_xAs_{1-x}$ epilayers grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) on (311)B and (001) GaAs substrates with different As fluxes. The results indicate that under near-stoichiometric conditions the bismuth incorporation is higher for samples grown on (311)B GaAs substrates than for those grown on (001) GaAs. In addition, carrier localization effects in GaBiAs layers are clearly revealed for both samples by optical measurements. The (311)B samples showed evidence of higher density of defects. It has also been found that the nonradiative centers play a significant role in the recombination process in this material system. The influence of post-growth annealing on the microstructural, optical, and magneto-optical properties was also investigated. An important improvement of optical and spin properties after thermal annealing due to the reduction of defects in the GaBiAs layers was observed.

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

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.321-326
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• 2013

The effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical properties of digital-alloy InGaAlAs multiple quantum well (MQW) structures have been investigated by using photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL measurements as a function of RTA temperature. The MQW samples were annealed from $700^{\circ}C$ to $850^{\circ}C$ for 30 s in a nitrogen atmosphere. The MQW sample annealed at $750^{\circ}C$ exhibited the strongest PL intensity and the narrowest FWHM (Full width at half maximum), indicating the reduced nonradiative recombination centers and the improved interfaces between the wells and barriers. The MQW samples annealed at $800^{\circ}C$ and $850^{\circ}C$ showed the decreased PL intensities and blueshifted PL peaks compared to $750^{\circ}C$-annealed sample. The blueshift of PL peak with increasing RTA temperatures are ascribed to the increase of aluminum due to intermixing of gallium (Ga) and aluminum (Al) in the interfaces of InGaAs/InAlAs short-period superlattices. The decrease of PL intensity after annealing at $800^{\circ}C$ and $850^{\circ}C$ are attributed to the interface roughening and lateral composition modulation caused by the interdiffusion of Ga and Al and indium segregation, respectively. With increasing RTA temperature the PL decay becomes slower, indicating the decrease of nonradiative defect centers. The optical properties of digital-alloy InGaAlAs MQW structures can be improved significantly with optimum RTA conditions.