Microcavities can confine light on the sub-wavelength scale resulted in dramatically enhanced light field intensity and prolonged photon lifetime of microdisks and microring as a platform for light and matter interaction,such as laser devices[
Acta Photonica Sinica, Volume. 53, Issue 5, 0553116(2024)
InGaN/GaN Quantum Well LED Based on Floating Microdisk Cavity
Although microcavity lasers with different structures have been proposed, the on-chip laser is still a critical bottleneck restricting the development of integrated optoelectronic systems. Ⅲ?-Ⅴ semiconductors Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and Laser Diodes (LDs) on Si substrates, featured with suitable for large-scale and large-wafer-size manufacturing, are a convenient option for on-chip light sources. With the development of material fabrication, the quality of GaN wafers is high enough, optically pumped lasing has been realized in Si-based GaN microcavity, and more effort has been put into studying electrically pumped lasers. The reported electrically pumped lasing devices could be classified as Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and waveguide lasers according to the type of structures. Until now, the electrically pumped GaN lasing has also been realized in the Fabry-Perot (F-P) cavity and Whispering Gallery Modes (WGM) cavity. Many issues, such as the optical loss between the gain materials and the substrate, the improvement of the cavity quality, and the photon-electron coupling in the cavity region, can highly influence the optical performance of the device. In general, the floating process of the device will reduce the optical loss significantly, and improving the cavity quality is a critical issue in realizing high-quality lasing. Hence, the structure design will be essential in achieving a high-quality GaN laser.In this paper, we designed and fabricated three types of electrically pumped InGaN/GaN Quantum Well (QW) microdisk devices to analyze and optimize their optical gain and loss and balance the coupling of the gain region and optical resonant region. The samples are fabricated using a standard microfabrication process, including photolithography, ICP etching, and wet etching based on 1nGaN/GaN epitaxial wafer on Si substrate. All the devices show well-circular structures. The device Ⅰ, with a planar structure, was designed with a cylindrical p-type GaN region on the inner side of the microdisk. The inner and outer radius is 95 μm and 200 μm for Device Ⅰ. Device Ⅱ is a floating device with the same planar structure as that of device Ⅰ. Device Ⅲ was designed with a ring-shaped p-GaN region on the outside of the microdisk, and it is also designed as a floating structure. Device Ⅲ has an inner and out radius of 65 μm and 95 μm. We define a gap between the n-GaN and p-GaN area to avoid device short circuits. For Devices Ⅱ and Ⅲ, through the isotropic wet etching of Si substrate, the whole LED is suspended for several micrometers. This strategy can ensure the reduction of optical loss of the cavity. The Ⅳ curves, EL spectra, and luminous images are recorded during the experiment. Ⅳ curves indicate that the turn-on voltage of device Ⅰ is about 18 V, and the wetting etching process will increase the turn-on voltage of the device; the turn-on voltage of device Ⅲ is over 21 V. Driven current-dependent EL spectra of different devices indicates that peak wavelength are located at about 408.5 nm,408.2 nm, and 406.3 nm for device Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ, respectively. The EL intensity of the microdisk device gradually increases with the increase of injection currents. FWHM of device Ⅰ, and device Ⅲ is in the region of 12~14 nm. What struck us was that the EL spectra are also related to the electrode region. CCD images of samples under fixed driven current indicate that the light emission mainly occurs near the electrode, but the light will be transmitted in the microcavity. Compared with others, device Ⅱ can ensure that the luminous and resonance microcavity regions overlap owing to the better surface current distribution. In addition, the floating structure of the microdisk reduces the optical loss of the microdisk laser in the vertical direction and favors better light confinement. Finally, device Ⅱ realizes EL emission with resonant mode under an injection current of about 0.7 mA. Considering the resonant spectra, the spectra show resonant mode at a peak wavelength of 408.2 nm and a Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of 2.62 nm. The novel design of floating electrically pumped InGaN/GaN QW microdisk is significant for electrically pumped microdisk or microring laser.
0 Introduction
Microcavities can confine light on the sub-wavelength scale resulted in dramatically enhanced light field intensity and prolonged photon lifetime of microdisks and microring as a platform for light and matter interaction,such as laser devices[
In this study,three well-designed electrically pumped InGaN/GaN microdisk devices were fabricated via photolithography,Inductively Coupled Plasma(ICP)dry etching,and wet isotropic etching technology. Electroluminescence(EL)properties were studied systematically by optimizing the optical loss,the gain region and the position of electrodes. The floating InGaN/GaN quantum well LED based on floating microdisk cavity(Type II)with cylindrical p-type GaN area dramatically reduces the optical loss in the vertical direction of microcavity. The electrode design guarantees that the luminous region and microcavity region can fix together. It is in favor of the microdisk device's optical gain. Finally,resonant mode appears in the device. Taking the resonant spectra for consideration,the optimized device realizes the EL emission with peak wavelength center of 408.2 nm and Full Width At Half Maximum(FWHM)of 2.62 nm under a small injection current about 0.7 mA. The novel structure design of floating electrically pumped InGaN/GaN QW microdisk device is of key significance for electrically pumped microcavity lasers.
1 Experimental sections
1.1 Fabrication of GaN LED
Commercially available silicon wafer InGaN/GaN QW epitaxial layer was used to prepare microdisks by using semiconductor micro-nano processing technology. Take the fabrication process of device Ⅱ(
Figure 1.Fabrication process of floating InGaN/GaN QW microdisk devices,the finally structures of device I,II and III are shown in the box
1.2 Sample characterizations
The morphological properties of the samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy(SEM,Carl Zeiss Ultra-Plus). EL properties and the Ⅳ curves of the device were measured by confocal micro photoluminescence(μ-PL)setup(Olympus BX35)with integrated probe system and alternating current source(Keysight B2901)at room temperature.
2 Results and discussion
2.1 Structure and morphology of GaN LED with different structures
The prepared InGaN/GaN QW microdisks have a regular shape and surface with good quality. The inner and out radius is 95 μm and 200 μm for devices Ⅰ and Ⅱ(
Figure 2.SEM images of InGaN/GaN QW devices
2.2 Electrical properties of GaN LED with different structures
To evaluate the light emission of the fabricated devices,the EL spectra of devices Ⅰ,Ⅱ,and Ⅲ were obtained under different injection currents as depicted in
Figure 3.EL spectra under the different injection currents,inset shows the enlarged spectra under 2 mA and luminous images of three types of devices
Ⅰ-Ⅴ curves of devices Ⅰ-Ⅲ are also measured and shown in
Figure 4.Electrical and spectral detail characteristics of different devices
The narrow of FWHM and nonlinearly increasing of EL intensity confirm the well EL properties of the devices. It is also related to the electron and photon coupling in spatial. As demonstrated in the inset of
Figure 5.The surface current distribution simulation of two types of microdisks
3 Conclusion
In summary,the floating InGaN/GaN QW microdisk LED with different kinds of p-type GaN regions is fabricated based on the above analysis. The floating microdisk device has better light confinement owing to the reduction of optical loss in the vertical direction. The structure design with cylinder p-type GaN region on the microdisk can ensure that the microcavity resonance region and luminous region overlap owing to the surface current distribution determined by n-type and p-type semiconductor electric potential difference. Thus,high quality LED with FWHM of 2.62 nm and peak wavelength at 408.2 nm is realized. The novel structure design of an electrically pumped InGaN/GaN QW floating microdisk LED is crucial for electrically pumped lasers.
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Gangyi ZHU, Bo NING, Guoqing QIU, Chunxiang GUO, Ying YANG, Xin LI, Binghui LI, Zheng SHI, Jun DAI, Feifei QIN, Yongjin WANG. InGaN/GaN Quantum Well LED Based on Floating Microdisk Cavity[J]. Acta Photonica Sinica, 2024, 53(5): 0553116
Category: Special Issue for Microcavity Photonics
Received: Dec. 7, 2023
Accepted: Apr. 22, 2024
Published Online: Jun. 20, 2024
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