• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.20.2-20.2
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• 2011

III-nitrides have attracted much attention for optoelectronic device applications whose emission wavelengths ranging from green to ultraviolet due to their wide band gap. However, due to the strong polarization properties of conventional c-plane III-nitrides, the built-in polarization-induced electric field limits the performance of optical devices. Therefore, there has been a renewed interest in the growth of nonpolar III-nitride semiconductors for polarization free heterostructure optoelectronic and electronic devices. However, the crystal and the optical quality of nonpolar/semipolar GaN have been poorer than those of conventional c-plane GaN, resulting in the relative poor optical and electrical properties of light emitting diodes (LEDs). In this presentation, I will discuss the growth and characterization of high quality nonpolar a-plane and semipolar (11-22) GaN and InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown on r- and m-plane sapphire substrates, respectively, by using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) without a low temperature GaN buffer layer. Especially, the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) technique will be also discussed to reduce the dislocation density and enhance the performance of nonpolar and semipolar GaN-based LEDs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.145-145
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• 2011

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on III-nitrides compound semiconductors have achieved a high performance device available for display and illumination sector. However, the conventional c-plane oriented LED structures are still showing several problems given by the quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) due to the effects of strong piezoelectric and spontaneous polarizations. The QCSE results in spatial separation of electron and hole wavefunctions in quantum wells, thereby decreasing the internal quantum efficiency and red-shifting the emission wavelength. Due to demands for improvement of device performance, nonpolar structure has been attracting attentions, since the quantum wells grown on nonpolar templates are free from the QCSE. However, current device performance for nonpolar LEDs is still lower than those for conventional LEDs. In this study, we discuss the potential possibilities of nonpolar LEDs for commercialization. In this study, we characterized current-light output power relation of the a-plane InGaN/GaN LEDs structures with the variation of quantum well structures. On-wafer electroluminescence measurements were performed with short pulse (10 us) and low duty factor (1 %) conditions applied for eliminating thermal effects. The well and barrier widths, and indium compositions in quantum well structures were changed to analyze the efficiency droop phenomenon.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.175-179
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• 2017

In this study, we investigate the $SiO_2$ current blocking layer (CBL) to improve light output power efficiency in nonpolar a-plane (11-20) GaN LEDs on a r-plane sapphire substrate. The $SiO_2$ CBL was produced under the p-pad layer using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The results show that nonpolar GaN LED light output power with the $SiO_2$ CBL is considerably enhanced compared without the $SiO_2$ CBL. This can be attributed to reduced light absorption at the p-pad due to current blocking to the active layer by the $SiO_2$ CBL.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2009

In this paper, a selective area growth (SAG) of a GaN/AlGaN double heterostructure (DH) has been performed on r-plane sapphire substrate by using the mixed-source hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) with multi-sliding boat system. The SAG-GaN/AlGaN DH consists of GaN buffer layer, Te-doped AlGaN n-cladding layer, GaN active layer, Mg-doped AlGaN p-cladding layer, and Mg-doped GaN p-capping layer. The electroluminescence (EL) characteristics show an emission peak of wavelength, 439 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of approximately 0.64 eV at 20 mA. The I-V measurements show that the turn-on voltage of the SAG-GaN/AlGaN DH is 3.4 V at room temperature. We found that the mixed-source HVPE method with a multi-sliding boat system was one of promising growth methods for III-Nitride LEDs.

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

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.161-167
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• 2013

The ZnO thin films were grown on GaN template substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at different RF powers and n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction LEDs were fabricated to investigate the effect of the RF power on the characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-GaN LEDs. For the growth of the ZnO thin films, the substrate temperature was kept constant at $200^{\circ}C$ and the RF power was varied within the range of 200 to 500W at different growth times to deposit films of 100 nm thick. The electrical, optical and structural properties of ZnO thin films were investigated by ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and by assessing the Hall effect. The characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-GaN LEDs were evaluated by current-voltage (I-V) and electroluminescence (EL) measurements. ZnO thin films were grown with a preferred c-axis orientation along the (0002) plane. The XRD peaks shifted to low angles and the surface roughness became non-uniform with an increase in the RF power. Also, the PL emission peak was red-shifted. The carrier density and the mobility decreased with the RF power. For the n-ZnO/p-GaN LED, the forward current at 20 V decreased and the threshold voltage increased with the RF power. The EL emission peak was observed at approximately 435 nm and the luminescence intensity decreased. Consequently, the crystallinity of the ZnO thin films grown with RF sputtering powers were improved. However, excess Zn affected the structural, electrical and optical properties of the ZnO thin films when the optimal RF power was exceeded. This excess RF power will degrade the characteristics of light emitting devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.16-16
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• 2010

GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are attracting great interest as candidates for next-generation solid-state lighting, because of their long lifetime, small size, high efficacy, and low energy consumption. However, for general illumination applications, the external quantum efficiency of LEDs, determined by the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and the light extraction efficiency, must be further increased. The IQE is determined by crystal quality and epitaxial layer structure and high value of IQE more than 70% for blue LEDs have been already reported. However, there is much room for improvement of light extraction efficiency because most of the generated photons from active layer remain inside LEDs by total internal reflection at the interface of semiconductor with air due to the high refractive index difference between LEDs epilayer (for GaN, n=2.5) and air (n=1). The light confining in LEDs will be reabsorbed by the metal electrode or active layer, reducing the efficacy of LEDs. Here, we present the first demonstration of enhanced light extraction by forming a MgO nano-pyramids structure on the surface of vertical-LEDs. The MgO nano-pyramids structure was successfully fabricated at room temperature using conventional electron-beam evaporation without any additional process. The nano-sized pyramids of MgO are formed on the surface during growth due to anisotropic characteristics between (111) and (200) plane of MgO. The ZnO layer with quarter-wavelength in thickness is inserted between GaN and MgO layers to increase the critical angle for total internal reflection, because the refractive index of ZnO (n=1.94) could be matched between GaN (n=2.5) and MgO (n=1.73). The MgO nano-pyramids structure and ZnO refractive-index modulation layer enhanced the light extraction efficiency ofV-LEDs with by 49%, comparing with the V-LEDs with a flat n-GaN surface. The angular-dependent emission intensity shows the enhanced light extraction through the side walls of V-LEDs as well as through the top surface of the n-GaN, because of the increase in critical angle for total internal reflection as well as light scattering at the MgO nano-pyramids surface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.173-173
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• 2010

Recently, a patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) has been intensively used as one of the effective ways to reduce the dislocation density for the III-nitride epitaxial layers aiming for the application of high-performance, especially high-brightness, light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this paper, we analyze the growth kinetics of the atoms and crystalline quality for the undopped-GaN depending on the facets of the pattern fabricated on a sapphire substrate. The effects of the PSS on the device characteristics of InGaN/GaN LEDs were also investigated. Several GaN samples were grown on the PSS under the different growth conditions. And the undoped-GaN layer was grown on a planar sapphire substrate as a reference. For the (002) plane of the undoped-GaN layer, as an example, the line-width broadening of the x-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum on a planar sapphire substrate is 216.0 arcsec which is significantly narrower than that of 277.2 arcsec for the PSS. However, the line-width broadening for the (102) plane on the planar sapphire substrate (363.6 arcsec) is larger than that for the PSS (309.6 arcsec). Even though the growth parameters such as growth temperature, growth time, and pressure were systematically changed, this kind of trend in the line-width broadening of XRD spectrum was similar. The emission wavelength of the undoped-GaN layer on the PSS was red-shifted by 5.7 nm from that of the conventional LEDs (364.1 nm) under the same growth conditions. In addition, the intensity for the GaN layer on the PSS was three times larger than that of the planar case. The spatial variation in the emission wavelength of the undoped-GaN layer on the PSS was statistically ${\pm}0.5\;nm$ obtained from the photoluminescence mapping results throughout the whole wafer. These results will be discussed in terms of the mixed dislocation depending on the facets and the period of the patterns.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.157-157
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• 2010

Vertical-structure light-emitting diodes (V-LEDs) by laser lift-off (LLO) have been exploited for high-efficiency GaN-based LEDs of solid-state lightings. In V-LEDs, emitted light from active regions is reflected-up from reflective ohmic contacts on p-GaN. Therefore, silver (Ag) is very suitable for reflective contacts due to its high reflectance (>95%) and surface plasmon coupling to visible light emissions. In addition, low contact resistivity has been obtained from Ag-based ohmic contacts annealed in oxygen ambient. However, annealing in oxygen ambient causes Ag to be oxidized and/or agglomerated, leading to degradation in both electrical and optical properties. Therefore, preventing Ag from oxidation and/or agglomeration is a key aspect for high-performance V-LEDs. In this work, we demonstrate the enhanced thermal stability of Ag-based Ohmic contact to p-GaN by reducing the thermal compressive stress. The thermal compressive stress due to the large difference in CTE between GaN ($5.6{\times}10^{-6}/^{\circ}C$) and Ag ($18.9{\times}10^{-6}/^{\circ}C$) accelerate the diffusion of Ag atoms, leading to Ag agglomeration. Therefore, by increasing the additional residual tensile stress in Ag film, the thermal compressive stress could be reduced, resulting in the enhancement of Ag agglomeration resistance. We employ the thin Ni layer in Ag film to form Ni/Ag mutli-layer structure, because the lattice constant of NiO ($4.176\;{\AA}$ is larger than that of Ag ($4.086\;{\AA}$). High-resolution symmetric and asymmetric X-ray diffraction was used to measure the in-plane strain of Ag films. Due to the expansion of lattice constant by oxidation of Ni into NiO layer, Ag layer in Ni/Ag multi-layer structure was tensilely strained after annealing. Based on experimental results, it could be concluded that the reduction of thermal compressive stress by additional tensile stress in Ag film plays a critical role to enhance the thermal stability of Ag-based Ohmic contact to p-GaN.

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