Effect of surface treatment of GaN based light emitting diode wafers on the leakage current of light emitting diode devices

To form low-resistance Ohmic contact to p-type GaN, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light emitting diode wafers are treated with boiled aqua regia prior to Ni/Au (5 nm/5 nm) film deposition. The surface morphology of wafers and the current-voltage characteristics of fabricated light emitting diode devices are investigated. It is shown that surface treatment with boiled aqua regia could effectively remove oxide from the surface of the p-GaN layer, and reveal defect-pits whose density is almost the same as the screw dislocation density estimated by x-ray rocking curve measurement. It suggests that the metal atoms of the Ni/Au transparent electrode of light emitting diode devices may diffuse into the p-GaN layer along threading dislocation lines and form additional leakage current channels. Therefore, the surface treatment time with boiled aqua regia should not be too long so as to avoid the increase of threading dislocation-induced leakage current and the degradation of electrical properties of light emitting diodes

Design of Low-Loss Surface-Plasmon Quantum Cascade Lasers

National Research Projects of China 60525406 60736031 60806018 60906026 2006CB604903 2007AA03Z446 2009AA03Z403

MBE InAs quantum dots grown on metamorphic InGaAs for long wavelength emitting

GaAs-based InAs quantum dots using InGaAs composition-graded metamorphic layers have been investigated by molecular beam epitaxy. Emission with the wavelength similar to 1.5 mu m from the dots was obtained at room temperature with the relatively large full width at half maximum. The emission wavelength is relatively stable when subjected to fast annealing. The number density of dots reached similar to 6 x 10(10) cm(-2). Undulated morphology was observed on the surface of the sample, which has some influence on the dot size and distribution. In epilayers, misfit dislocations were confined within the step-graded InGaAs metamorphic buffer layer. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Substrate surface atomic structure influence on the growth of InAlAs quantum dots

We have examined the influence of substrate surface orientation on self-assembled InAlAs/AlGaAs quantum dots grown on (0 0 1) and (n 1 1) A/B (n = 3, 5) GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Preliminary characterizations have been performed using photoluminescence (PL) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The PL emission energies of quantum dots on high Miller index surface are found to be strongly dependent on the atomic-terminated surface (A or B surface) of the substrate. We observed that there were planar ordering larger islands on (3 1 1)B surface compared to (0 0 1) surface, in contrast, a rough interface and smaller "grains" on (3 1 1)A surface, this result is identical with PL emission energy from these islands. We propose that the rapid strain-induced surface "roughening" impedes the formation of 3D islands on A surface, and indicating that this is a promising approach of the realization of ordering distribution on (3 1 1)B plane for devices such as red-emitting semiconductor quantum dots lasers. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well lasers grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy

The growth of GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells (QW) was investigated by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. N was introduced by a dc-active plasma source. The effect of growth conditions such as on the N incorporation and photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the QWs has been studied. The PL peak intensity decreased and the PL fun width at half maximum increased with increasing N concentrations. The highest N concentration of 2.6% in a GaInNAs/GaAs QW was obtained, and corresponding to a PL peak wavelength of 1.57 mum at 10K. Rapid thermal annealing at 850degreesC significantly improved the crystal quality of the QWs. An optimum annealing time of 5s at 850degreesC was obtained. A GaInNAs/GaAs SQW laser with the emitting wavelength of 1.2 mum and a high characteristic temperature of 115 K was achieved at room temperature.

Growth and fabrication of high performance 980nm strained InGaAs quantum well lasers using novel hybrid material system of InGaAsP and AlGaAs

In this paper, we report on the design, growth and fabrication of 980nm strained InGaAs quantum well lasers employing novel material system of Al-free active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. The use of AlGaAs cladding instead of InGaP provides potential advantages in laser structure design, improvement of surface morphology and laser performance. We demonstrate an optimized broad-waveguide structure for obtaining high power 980nm quantum well lasers with low vertical beam divergence. The laser structure was grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, which exhibit a high internal quantum efficiency of similar to 90% and a low internal loss of 1.5-2.5 cm(-1). The broad-area and ridge-waveguide laser devices are both fabricated. For 100 mu m wide stripe lasers with cavity length of 800 mu m, a low threshold current of 170mA, a high slope efficiency of 1.0W/A and high output power of more than 3.5W are achieved. The temperature dependences of the threshold current and the emitting spectra demonstrate a very high characteristic temperature coefficient (T-o) of 200-250K and a wavelength shift coefficient of 0.34nm/degrees C. For 4 mu m-width ridge waveguide structure laser devices, a maximum output power of 340mW with GOD-free thermal roll-over characteristics is obtained.

Performance Enhancement of Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes by Using Ultrathin Fluorinated Polyimide Modifying the Surface of Poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):Poly(styrenesulfonate)

Herein, an insulating fluorinated polyimide (F-PI) is utilized as an ultrathin buffer layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) in polymer light-emitting diodes to enhance the device performance. The selective solubility of F-PI in common solvents avoids typical intermixing interfacial problems during the sequential multilayer spin-coating process. Compared to the control device, the F-PI modification causes the luminous and power efficiencies of the devices to be increased by a factor of 1.1 and 4.7, respectively, along with almost 3-fold device lifetime enhancement. Photovoltaic measurement, single-hole devices, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, are utilized to investigate the underlying, mechanisms, and it is found that the hole injection barrier is lowered owing to the interactions between the PEDOT:PSS and F-PI. The F-PI modified PEDOT:PSS layer demonstrates step-up ionization potential profiles from the intrinsic bulk PEDOT:PSS side toward the F-PI-modified PEDOT:PSS surface, which facilitate the hole injection.

Formation of low surface energy separators with undercut structures via a full-solution process and its application in inkjet printed matrix of polymer light-emitting diodes

In this paper, low surface energy separators With undercut structures were fabricated through a full solution process, These low Surface energy separators are more suitable for application in inkjet printed passive-matrix displays of polymer light-emitting diodes. A patterned PS film was formed on the P4VP/photoresist film by microtransfer printing firstly. Patterned Au-coated Ni film was formed on the uncovered P4VP/photoresist film by electroless deposition. This metal film was used as mask to pattern the photoresist layer and form undercut structures with the patterned photoresist layer. The surface energy of the metal film also decreased dramatically from 84.6 mj/m(2) to 21.1 mJ/m(2) by modification of fluorinated mercaptan self-assemble monolayer on Au surface. The low surface energy separators were used to confine the flow of inkjet printed PFO solution and improve the patterning resolution of inkjet printing successfully. Separated PFO stripes, complement with the pattern of the separators, formed through inkjet printing.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE AU SURFACE-STRUCTURE OF AL-L-AU LIGHT-EMITTING TUNNEL-JUNCTIONS

Visible light is emitted from the Au-air interface of Al-I-Au thin-film tunnel junctions (deposited over a thin layer of CaF2 on glass) as a result of the decay of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). We show the surface topography of such a Au film and relate its large-scale features to the outcoupling of fast SPP's to photons. The absence of short-scale roughness features is explained by thier disappearance through surface diffusion. To confirm this a controlled sequence of 5-nm, 20-ms scanning tunneling microscope (STM) W tip crashes has been used to produce indentations 3 nm deep with a lateral dimension of 5-7 nm on a Au crystal in air at room temperature. Four sequences of indentations were drawn in the form of a square box. Right from the start, feature decay is observed and over a period of 2 h a succession of images shows that the structure disappears into the background as a result of surface diffusion. The surface diffusion constant is estimated to be 10(-18) cm2 s-1. The lack of light output via slow mode SPPs is an inevitable consequence of surface annealing.

High-Speed Semiconductor Lasers based on Low-Dimensional Active Materials for Optical Telecommunication

The scope of this work is the fundamental growth, tailoring and characterization of self-organized indium arsenide quantum dots (QDs) and their exploitation as active region for diode lasers emitting in the 1.55 µm range. This wavelength regime is especially interesting for long-haul telecommunications as optical fibers made from silica glass have the lowest optical absorption. Molecular Beam Epitaxy is utilized as fabrication technique for the quantum dots and laser structures. The results presented in this thesis depict the first experimental work for which this reactor was used at the University of Kassel. Most research in the field of self-organized quantum dots has been conducted in the InAs/GaAs material system. It can be seen as the model system of self-organized quantum dots, but is not suitable for the targeted emission wavelength. Light emission from this system at 1.55 µm is hard to accomplish. To stay as close as possible to existing processing technology, the In(AlGa)As/InP (100) material system is deployed. Depending on the epitaxial growth technique and growth parameters this system has the drawback of producing a wide range of nano species besides quantum dots. Best known are the elongated quantum dashes (QDash). Such structures are preferentially formed, if InAs is deposited on InP. This is related to the low lattice-mismatch of 3.2 %, which is less than half of the value in the InAs/GaAs system. The task of creating round-shaped and uniform QDs is rendered more complex considering exchange effects of arsenic and phosphorus as well as anisotropic effects on the surface that do not need to be dealt with in the InAs/GaAs case. While QDash structures haven been studied fundamentally as well as in laser structures, they do not represent the theoretical ideal case of a zero-dimensional material. Creating round-shaped quantum dots on the InP(100) substrate remains a challenging task. Details of the self-organization process are still unknown and the formation of the QDs is not fully understood yet. In the course of the experimental work a novel growth concept was discovered and analyzed that eases the fabrication of QDs. It is based on different crystal growth and ad-atom diffusion processes under supply of different modifications of the arsenic atmosphere in the MBE reactor. The reactor is equipped with special valved cracking effusion cells for arsenic and phosphorus. It represents an all-solid source configuration that does not rely on toxic gas supply. The cracking effusion cell are able to create different species of arsenic and phosphorus. This constitutes the basis of the growth concept. With this method round-shaped QD ensembles with superior optical properties and record-low photoluminescence linewidth were achieved. By systematically varying the growth parameters and working out a detailed analysis of the experimental data a range of parameter values, for which the formation of QDs is favored, was found. A qualitative explanation of the formation characteristics based on the surface migration of In ad-atoms is developed. Such tailored QDs are finally implemented as active region in a self-designed diode laser structure. A basic characterization of the static and temperature-dependent properties was carried out. The QD lasers exceed a reference quantum well laser in terms of inversion conditions and temperature-dependent characteristics. Pulsed output powers of several hundred milli watt were measured at room temperature. In particular, the lasers feature a high modal gain that even allowed cw-emission at room temperature of a processed ridge wave guide device as short as 340 µm with output powers of 17 mW. Modulation experiments performed at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) showed a complex behavior of the QDs in the laser cavity. Despite the fact that the laser structure is not fully optimized for a high-speed device, data transmission capabilities of 15 Gb/s combined with low noise were achieved. To the best of the author`s knowledge, this renders the lasers the fastest QD devices operating at 1.55 µm. The thesis starts with an introductory chapter that pronounces the advantages of optical fiber communication in general. Chapter 2 will introduce the fundamental knowledge that is necessary to understand the importance of the active region`s dimensions for the performance of a diode laser. The novel growth concept and its experimental analysis are presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 finally contains the work on diode lasers.

Development of directly modulated high speed telecommunication lasers based on surface defined feedback gratings

High-speed semiconductor lasers are an integral part in the implemen- tation of high-bit-rate optical communications systems. They are com- pact, rugged, reliable, long-lived, and relatively inexpensive sources of coherent light. Due to the very low attenuation window that exists in the silica based optical fiber at 1.55 μm and the zero dispersion point at 1.3 μm, they have become the mainstay of optical fiber com- munication systems. For the fabrication of lasers with gratings such as, distributed bragg reflector or distributed feedback lasers, etching is the most critical step. Etching defines the lateral dimmensions of the structure which determines the performance of optoelectronic devices. In this thesis studies and experiments were carried out about the exist- ing etching processes for InP and a novel dry etching process was de- veloped. The newly developed process was based on Cl2/CH4/H2/Ar chemistry and resulted in very smooth surfaces and vertical side walls. With this process the grating definition was significantly improved as compared to other technological developments in the respective field. A surface defined grating definition approach is used in this thesis work which does not require any re-growth steps and makes the whole fabrication process simpler and cost effective. Moreover, this grating fabrication process is fully compatible with nano-imprint lithography and can be used for high throughput low-cost manufacturing. With usual etching techniques reported before it is not possible to etch very deep because of aspect ratio dependent etching phenomenon where with increasing etch depth the etch rate slows down resulting in non-vertical side walls and footing effects. Although with our de- veloped process quite vertical side walls were achieved but footing was still a problem. To overcome the challenges related to grating defini- tion and deep etching, a completely new three step gas chopping dry etching process was developed. This was the very first time that a time multiplexed etching process for an InP based material system was demonstrated. The developed gas chopping process showed extra ordinary results including high mask selectivity of 15, moderate etch- ing rate, very vertical side walls and a record high aspect ratio of 41. Both the developed etching processes are completely compatible with nano imprint lithography and can be used for low-cost high-throughput fabrication. A large number of broad area laser, ridge waveguide laser, distributed feedback laser, distributed bragg reflector laser and coupled cavity in- jection grating lasers were fabricated using the developed one step etch- ing process. Very extensive characterization was done to optimize all the important design and fabrication parameters. The devices devel- oped have shown excellent performance with a very high side mode suppression ratio of more than 52 dB, an output power of 17 mW per facet, high efficiency of 0.15 W/A, stable operation over temperature and injected currents and a threshold current as low as 30 mA for almost 1 mm long device. A record high modulation bandwidth of 15 GHz with electron-photon resonance and open eye diagrams for 10 Gbps data transmission were also shown.

Effect of dental surface treatment with Nd:YAG and Er:YAG lasers on bond strength of resin composite to recently bleached enamel

The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of surface treatment with Er:YAG and Nd:YAG lasers on resin composite bond strength to recently bleached enamel. In this study, 120 bovine incisors were distributed into two groups: group C: without bleaching treatment; group B: bleached with 35% hydrogen peroxide. Each group was divided into three subgroups: subgroup N: without laser treatment; subgroup Nd: irradiation with Nd:YAG laser; subgroup Er: irradiation with Er:YAG laser. The adhesive system (Adper Single Bond 2) was then applied and composite buildups were constructed with Filtek Supreme composite. The teeth were sectioned to obtain enamel-resin sticks (1 x 1 mm) and submitted to microtensile bond testing. The data were statistically analyzed by the ANOVA and Tukey tests. The bond strength values in the bleached control group (5.57 MPa) presented a significant difference in comparison to the group bleached and irradiated with Er:YAG laser (13.18 MPa) or Nd:YAG (25.67 MPa). The non-bleached control group presented mean values of 30.92 MPa, with statistical difference of all the others groups. The use of Nd:YAG and Er:YAG lasers on bleached specimens was able to improve the bond strengths of them.

Holographic imaging with multimode, large free spectral range lasers in photorefractive sillenite crystals

The holographic imaging of rigid objects with diode lasers emitting in many wavelengths in a sillenite Bi12TiO20 photorefractive crystal is both theoretically an experimentally investigated. It is shown that, due to the multi-wavelength emission and the typically large free spectral range of this light source, contour fringes appear on the holographic image corresponding to the surface relief, even in single-exposure recordings. The influence of the number of emitted modes on the fringe width is analysed, and the possible applications of the contour fringes in the field of optical metrology are pointed out.

Single-exposure, photorefractive holographic surface contouring with multiwavelength diode lasers

We studied the use of multiwavelength diode lasers for surface profilometry through holographic recording in sillenite Bi(12)TiO(20) crystals. When such lasers are used, the holographic image from single-exposure recordings appears covered with interference fringes providing information on the surface relief of the object. By taking advantage of the narrow interference fringes due to the multiwavelength emission of the laser, we obtained interferograms by holographic recording with two reference beams, which improves the surface analysis by visual inspection and enhances the profilometry sensitivity. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Effect of Dental Surface Treatment with Nd:YAG and Er:YAG Lasers on Bond Strength to Recently Bleached Dentin

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of surface treatment with Er:YAG and Nd:YAG lasers on resin composite bond strength to recently bleached dentin. A total of 120 bovine incisors were distributed into two groups: C- without bleaching; and B- bleached with 35% hydrogen peroxide. Each group was divided into three subgroups: N- without laser treatment; Nd- Nd:YAG laser irradiation; and Er- Er:YAG laser irradiation. The adhesive system (Adper Single Bond 2) was applied and composite build-ups were constructed with Filtek Supreme (3M/ESPE). The teeth were sectioned to obtain dentin-resin sticks (1x1mm(2)) and tested by microtensile bond testing. The bond strength values in group B, subgroup N (16.1 +/- 3.5MPa) presented no significant difference compared with group B, subgroup Er (14.7 +/- 6.1MPa). Group C, subgroup N (26.8 +/- 7.4MPa) presented no significant difference compared with group B, subgroup Nd (28.8 +/- 5.6MPa). Group C, subgroup Nd (36.1 +/- 7.9MPa) presented a significant increase in bond strength compared with the other groups. The Er:YAG laser did not influence the bond strength of bleached specimens, and the use of the Nd:YAG laser on bleached specimens was able to reverse the immediate effects of bleaching, obtaining bond strength values similar to those of the control group.