Green luminescence of InGaN nanowires grown on silicon substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3575323· OSTI ID:21560188

Goodman, Kevin D; Protasenko, Vladimir V; Verma, Jai; Kosel, Thomas H; Xing, Huili G; Jena, Debdeep ^[1]

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1. Department of Electrical Engineering, 131 Stinson-Remick Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States)

Indium gallium nitride nanowires show promise as being prime candidates for optical devices since they can be grown with band gaps spanning the visible spectra, while at the same time can be composed of stress free material. The goal of the work presented here was to obtain InGaN nanowires producing green emission at room temperature. Two growth recipes were found to yield InGaN nanowire growth on silicon substrates using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. At room temperature the photoluminescence (PL) of wire ensembles indeed peaked at 530 nm but, in addition, it was discovered that at low temperatures the emission often covered a broader (360-700 nm) spectrum. This broad optical range indicated indium content fluctuations in individual wires, wire-to-wire fluctuations, or a combination of the two. EDX measurements performed on single wires confirmed this hypothesis and correlated well with PL data. Low temperature PL studies of InGaN individual wires also revealed interwire and intrawire inhomogeneity of emission spectra stemming from a nonuniform indium distribution. The emission quantum yield for bright single wires was extracted to be more than 50% at 4 K. The findings suggest that the wire surfaces do not efficiently quench optical emission at low temperatures. These defect-free wires offer not only a potential path for green emitters, but also as integrated phosphors for broad spectral emission.

• OSTI ID: 21560188
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 109; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COHERENT SCATTERING
CRYSTAL DEFECTS
CRYSTAL GROWTH METHODS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DEPOSITION
DIFFRACTION
DISTRIBUTION
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
EMISSION SPECTRA
EPITAXY
FLUCTUATIONS
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
GALLIUM NITRIDES
HYPOTHESIS
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
LUMINESCENCE
MATERIALS
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
NANOSTRUCTURES
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHOTON EMISSION
PNICTIDES
QUANTUM WIRES
SCATTERING
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SPECTRA
STRESSES
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
TEMPERATURE RANGE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0000-0013 K
VARIATIONS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION