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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 865 records · Page 48
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

The impact of trench defects in InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes and implications for the “green gap” problem

The impact of trench defects in blue InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) has been investigated. Two mechanisms responsible for the structural degradation of the multiple quantum well (MQW) active region were identified. It was found that during the growth of the p-type GaN capping layer, loss of part of the active region enclosed within a trench defect occurred, affecting the top-most QWs in the MQW stack. Indium platelets and voids were also found to form preferentially at the bottom of the MQW stack. The presence of high densities of trench defects in the LEDs was found to relate to a significant reduction in photoluminescence and electroluminescence emission efficiency, for a range of excitation power densities and drive currents. This reduction in emission efficiency was attributed to an increase in the density of non-radiative recombination centres within the MQW stack, believed to be associated with the stacking mismatch boundaries which form part of the sub-surface structure of the trench defects. Investigation of the surface of green-emitting QW structures found a two decade increase in the density of trench defects, compared to its blue-emitting counterpart, suggesting that the efficiency of green-emitting LEDs may be strongly affected by the presence of these defects. Our results are therefore consistent with a model that the “green gap” problem might relate to localized strain relaxation occurring through defects.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

InGaN/GaN tunnel junctions for hole injection in GaN light emitting diodes

InGaN/GaN tunnel junction contacts were grown using plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on top of a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown InGaN/GaN blue (450 nm) light emitting diode. A voltage drop of 5.3 V at 100 mA, forward resistance of 2 × 10{sup −2} Ω cm{sup 2}, and a higher light output power compared to the reference light emitting diodes (LED) with semi-transparent p-contacts were measured in the tunnel junction LED (TJLED). A forward resistance of 5 × 10{sup −4} Ω cm{sup 2} was measured in a GaN PN junction with the identical tunnel junction contact as the TJLED, grown completely by MBE. The depletion region due to the impurities at the regrowth interface between the MBE tunnel junction and the MOCVD-grown LED was hence found to limit the forward resistance measured in the TJLED.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Stress-induced piezoelectric field in GaN-based 450-nm light-emitting diodes

We investigated the influence of the built-in piezoelectric field induced by compressive stress on the characteristics of GaN-based 450-nm light-emitting diodes (LEDs) prepared on sapphire substrates of different thicknesses. As the sapphire substrate thickness was reduced, the compressive stress in the GaN layer was released, resulting in wafer bowing. The wafer bowing-induced mechanical stress altered the piezoelectric field, which in turn reduced the quantum confined Stark effect in the InGaN/GaN active region of the LED. The flat-band voltage was estimated by measuring the applied bias voltage that induced a 180° phase shift in the electro-reflectance (ER) spectrum. The piezoelectric field estimated by the ER spectra changed by ∼110 kV/cm. The electroluminescence spectral peak wavelength was blue-shifted, and the internal quantum efficiency was improved by about 22% at a high injection current of 100 mA. The LED on the 60-μm-thick sapphire substrate exhibited the highest light output power of ∼59 mW at an injection current of 100 mA, with the operating voltage unchanged.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-power low-droop violet semipolar (303{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}) InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes with thick active layer design

Devices grown on nonpolar and semipolar planes of GaN offer key performance advantages over devices grown on the conventional c-plane, including reduced polarization fields. This allows for a wider design space on semipolar planes for light emitting diodes (LEDs) to address the problem of efficiency droop at high current densities. LED structures with very thick (10–100 nm) InGaN single-quantum-well/double heterostructure active regions were grown using conventional metal organic chemical vapor deposition on semipolar (303{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}) free-standing GaN substrates and processed and packaged using conventional techniques. Simulated band diagrams showed reduced polarization fields on the (303{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}) plane. The calculated critical thickness for misfit dislocation formation is higher on the (303{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}) plane than on other semipolar planes, such as (202{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}), allowing for thicker active regions than our previous work to further reduce droop. The higher critical thickness was confirmed with defect characterization via cathodoluminescence. A trend is demonstrated in lower efficiency droop for devices with thicker active regions. Thermal droop characteristics of these devices are also presented. These observed results were utilized to demonstrate over 1 W of output power at a current density of 1 kA/cm{sup 2} from a single 0.1 mm{sup 2} LED device.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Remarkably reduced efficiency droop by using staircase thin InGaN quantum barriers in InGaN based blue light emitting diodes

The efficiency droop of InGaN/GaN(InGaN) multiple quantum well (MQW) light emitting diodes (LEDs) with thin quantum barriers (QB) is studied. With thin GaN QB (3 nm–6 nm thickness), the efficiency droop is not improved, which indicates that hole transport cannot be significantly enhanced by the thin GaN QBs. On the contrary, the efficiency droop was remarkably reduced by using a InGaN staircase QB (InGaN SC-QB) MQWs structure where InGaN SC-QBs lower the transport energy barrier of holes. The efficiency droop ratio was as low as 3.3% up to 200 A/cm{sup 2} for the InGaN SC-QB LED. By using monitoring QW with longer wavelength we observe a much uniform carrier distribution in the InGaN SC-QB LEDs, which reveals the mechanism of improvement in the efficiency droop.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Direct transparent electrode patterning on layered GaN substrate by screen printing of indium tin oxide nanoparticle ink for Eu-doped GaN red light-emitting diode

Transparent electrodes were formed on Eu-doped GaN-based red-light-emitting diode (GaN:Eu LED) substrates by the screen printing of indium tin oxide nanoparticle (ITO np) inks as a wet process. The ITO nps with a mean diameter of 25 nm were synthesized by the controlled thermolysis of a mixture of indium complexes and tin complexes. After the direct screen printing of ITO np inks on GaN:Eu LED substrates and sintering at 850 °C for 10 min under atmospheric conditions, the resistivity of the ITO film was 5.2 mΩ cm. The fabricated LED up to 3 mm square surface emitted red light when the on-voltage was exceeded.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Controlling potential barrier height by changing V-shaped pit size and the effect on optical and electrical properties for InGaN/GaN based light-emitting diodes

The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with blue light emission was improved by inserting an InGaN/GaN superlattice (SL) beneath the MQWs. While the SL technique is useful for improving the light-emitting diode (LED) performance, its effectiveness from a multilateral point of view requires investigation. V-shaped pits (V-pits), which generate a potential barrier and screen the effect of the threading dislocation, are one of the candidates for increasing the light emission efficiency of LEDs exceptionally. In this research, we investigated the relationship between the V-pit and SL and revealed that the V-pit diameter is strongly correlated with the IQE by changing the number of SL periods. Using scanning near-field optical microscopy and photoluminescence measurements, we demonstrated the distinct presence of the potential barrier formed by the V-pits around the dislocations. The relationship between the V-pit and the number of SL periods resulted in changing the potential barrier height, which is related to the V-pit diameter determined by the number of SL periods. In addition, we made an attempt to insert pit expansion layers (PELs) composed of combination of SL and middle temperature grown GaN layer instead of only SL structure. As a result of the evaluation of LEDs using SL or PEL, the EL intensity was strongly related to pit diameter regardless of the structures to form the V-pits. In addition, it was clear that larger V-pits reduce the efficiency droop, which is considered to be suppression of the carrier loss at high injection current.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Alternating InGaN barriers with GaN barriers for enhancing optical performance in InGaN light-emitting diodes

InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with some specific designs on the quantum barrier layers by alternating InGaN barriers with GaN barriers are proposed and studied numerically. In the proposed structure, simulation results show that the carriers are widely dispersed in the multi-quantum well active region, and the radiative recombination rate is efficiently improved and the electron leakage is suppressed accordingly, due to the appropriate band engineering. The internal quantum efficiency and light-output power are thus markedly enhanced and the efficiency droop is smaller, compared to the original structures with GaN barriers or InGaN barriers. Moreover, the gradually decrease of indium composition in the alternating quantum barriers can further promote the LED performance because of the more uniform carrier distribution, which provides us a simple but highly effective approach for high-performance LED applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Strong carrier localization effect in carrier dynamics of 585 nm InGaN amber light-emitting diodes

Temperature dependence and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) have been carried out to study carrier dynamics for 585 nm InGaN amber light-emitting diodes (LEDs). It is found that in InGaN amber LEDs, peak emission energy only shows a slight blueshift from 588 to 575 nm, as temperature increased from 10 K to 300 K. Moreover, radiative recombination lifetime has demonstrated independent of temperature based TRPL results. These two features indicate that a strong carrier localization effect plays a dominant role in carrier dynamics for InGaN amber LEDs. Also, activation energy of 40.3 meV is obtained through Arrhenius plot of PL intensity versus temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Investigating the origin of efficiency droop by profiling the temperature across the multi-quantum well of an operating light-emitting diode

Performance degradation resulting from efficiency droop during high-power operation is a critical problem in the development of high-efficiency light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In order to resolve the efficiency droop and increase the external quantum efficiency of LEDs, the droop's origin should be identified first. To experimentally investigate the cause of efficiency droop, we used null-point scanning thermal microscopy to quantitatively profile the temperature distribution on the cross section of the epi-layers of an operating GaN-based vertical LED with nanoscale spatial resolution at four different current densities. The movement of temperature peak towards the p-GaN side as the current density increases suggests that more heat is generated by leakage current than by Auger recombination. We therefore suspect that at higher current densities, current leakage becomes the dominant cause of the droop problem.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Control of electric field in CdZnTe radiation detectors by above-bandgap light

We have studied the possibility of above bandgap light induced depolarization of CdZnTe planar radiation detector operating under high flux of X-rays by Pockels effect measurements. In this contribution, we show a similar influence of X-rays at 80 kVp and LED with a wavelength of 910 nm irradiating the cathode on polarization of the detector due to an accumulation of a positive space charge of trapped photo-generated holes. We have observed the depolarization of the detector under simultaneous cathode-site illumination with excitation LED at 910 nm and depolarization above bandgap LED at 640 nm caused by trapping of drifting photo-generated electrons. Although the detector current is quite high during this depolarization, we have observed that it decreases relatively fast to its initial value after switching off the depolarizing light. In order to get detailed information about physical processes present during polarization and depolarization and, moreover, about associated deep levels, we have performed the Pockels effect infrared spectral scanning measurements of the detector without illumination and under illumination in polarized and optically depolarized states.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electrochemical removal of hydrogen atoms in Mg-doped GaN epitaxial layers

Hydrogen atoms inside of an Mg-doped GaN epitaxial layer were effectively removed by the electrochemical potentiostatic activation (EPA) method. The role of hydrogen was investigated in terms of the device performance of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The effect of the main process parameters for EPA such as solution type, voltage, and time was studied and optimized for application to LED fabrication. In optimized conditions, the light output of 385-nm LEDs was improved by about 26% at 30 mA, which was caused by the reduction of the hydrogen concentration by ∼35%. Further removal of hydrogen seems to be involved in the breaking of Ga-H bonds that passivate the nitrogen vacancies. An EPA process with high voltage breaks not only Mg-H bonds that generate hole carriers but also Ga-H bonds that generate electron carriers, thus causing compensation that impedes the practical increase of hole concentration, regardless of the drastic removal of hydrogen atoms. A decrease in hydrogen concentration affects the current-voltage characteristics, reducing the reverse current by about one order and altering the forward current behavior in the low voltage region.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

White-blue electroluminescence from a Si quantum dot hybrid light-emitting diode

A silicon (Si) quantum dot (QD)-based hybrid inorganic/organic light-emitting diode (LED) was fabricated via solution processing. This device exhibited white-blue electroluminescence at a low applied voltage of 6 V, with 78% of the effective emission obtained from the Si QDs. This hybrid LED produced current and optical power densities 280 and 350 times greater than those previously reported for such device. The superior performance of this hybrid device was obtained by both the prepared Si QDs and the optimized layer structure and thereby improving carrier migration through the hybrid LED and carrier recombination in the homogeneous Si QD layer.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Three-dimensional spectrum mapping of bright emission centers: Investigating the brightness-limiting process in Eu-doped GaN red light emitting diodes

A pulse-driven emission-spectroscopy mapping technique is used to investigate the bright emission centers in Eu-doped GaN (GaN:Eu) red light emitting diodes (LED). The LEDs are operated in pulse-driven mode, and the emission spectra are acquired for a range of pulse frequencies. This ensemble of emission spectral data yields a three-dimensional mapping that allows the origin of emission lines to be identified by visual inspection. The identification was achieved even for a weak {sup 5}D{sub 0} → {sup 7}F{sub 3} transition in conventional photoluminescence measurements. A peculiar split is observed in the {sup 5}D{sub 0} → {sup 7}F{sub 3} transition for the bright emission center referred to as OMVPE 8. Despite the unique transition at this emission center, the emission efficiencies for the {sup 5}D{sub 0} → {sup 7}F{sub 3} and {sup 5}D{sub 0} → {sup 7}F{sub 2} transitions were identical. This finding indicates that the excitation of the emission centers, rather than the radiative transitions, is the limiting process that determines the GaN:Eu red LED brightness.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Modulating dual-wavelength multiple quantum wells in white light emitting diodes to suppress efficiency droop and improve color rendering index

In this paper, gallium nitride (GaN) based white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) with modulated quantities of blue (In{sub 0.15}Ga{sub 0.85}N) quantum wells (QWs) and cyan QWs (In{sub 0.18}Ga{sub 0.82}N) in multiple QW (MQW) structures have been investigated numerically and experimentally. It is demonstrated that the optical performance of LEDs is sensitive to the quantities of cyan QWs in dual-wavelength MQW structures. Compared to the LEDs with respective 0, 4, and 8 cyan QWs (12 QWs in total), the optical performance of the sample with 6 cyan QWs is the best. The deterioration of the optical performance in the sample with less (4 pairs) cyan QWs or more (8 pairs) cyan QWs than 6 cyan QWs may be ascribed to weakened reservoir effect or more defects induced. Compared to conventional blue LEDs (12 blue QWs), the sample with 6 cyan QWs could effectively suppress the efficiency droop (the experimental droop ratio decreases from 50.3% to 39.5% at 80 A/cm{sup 2}) and significantly improve the color rendering index (CRI, increases from 66.4 to 77.0) simultaneously. We attribute the droop suppression to the strengthened reservoir effect and carrier confinement of deeper QWs (higher indium composition) incorporated in the dual-wavelength MQW structures, which lead to the better hole spreading and enhanced radiative recombination. Meanwhile, the remarkable experimental CRI improvement may result from the wider full-width at half-maximum of electroluminescence spectra and higher cyan intensity in WLED chips with dual-wavelength MQW structures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Mid-infrared electroluminescence from InAs type-I quantum wells grown on InAsP/InP metamorphic buffers

We report room-temperature (RT) electroluminescence (EL) from InAs/InAs{sub x}P{sub 1−x} quantum well (QW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) over a wide wavelength range of 2.50–2.94 μm. We demonstrate the ability to accurately design strained InAs QW emission wavelengths while maintaining low threading dislocation density, coherent QW interfaces, and high EL intensity. Investigation of the optical properties of the LEDs grown on different InAs{sub x}P{sub 1−x} metamorphic buffers showed higher EL intensity and lower thermal quenching for QWs with higher barriers and stronger carrier confinement. Strong RT EL intensity from LEDs with narrow full-width at half-maximum shows future potential for InAs QW mid-infrared laser diodes on InAsP/InP.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Tailoring the highest occupied molecular orbital level of poly(N-vinylcarbazole) hole transport layers in organic multilayer heterojunctions

We report the tailoring of the electronic structure of poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) using a mixture layer of polyaniline:poly(p-styrenesulfonic acid) (PANI:PSS) in organic multilayer PVK/PANI:PSS/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):PSS heterojunctions. The overall electronic structure of the PVK overlayer was systematically down-shifted while the work function of PANI:PSS increased as a function of the PSS-to-PANI weight ratio for the ratio range from 1 to 11 in the PANI:PSS film. The down-shift in the highest occupied molecular orbital of PVK markedly reduced the hole injection barrier from PVK to quantum-dot (QD) layers in QD-light emitting diode (QD-LED) structures, resulting in superior electrical and electroluminescent characteristics for QD-LEDs. The influences of PANI:PSS thickness on the electronic structure of PVK and the performance of QD-LEDs are also discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Synthesis and photoluminescence properties of LiSrPO{sub 4}:Eu{sup 2+} phosphor for solid state lighting

A novel method to prepare orthophosphate LiSrPO{sub 4}: Eu{sup 2+} phosphor for white light-emitting diodes (w-LEDs) is given in this paper. Phosphor was successfully synthesized by Pechini (citrate gel) method which is efficient than conventional high temperature solid state reaction. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the single phase formation of LiSrPO{sub 4}:Eu{sup 2+} with monoclinic crystal structure. Luminescence results showed that the phosphor could be efficiently excited by near UV and exhibited bright blue emission at λ{sub em} = 420 nm corresponding to 5d– 4f transition of Eu{sup 2+}. The phosphor exhibits blue emission bands under 350 nm excitation. This mercury-free excitation is useful for solid state lighting and light-emitting diode (LED). Hence it could be useful for solid state lighting and light-emitting diode (LED) application.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗