Publications

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We investigate plasmonic structures in nitride-based materials for far-infrared (IR) applications. The two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the GaN/AlGaN material system, much like metal- dielectric structures, is a patternable plasmonic medium. However, it also permits for direct tunability via an applied voltage. While there have been proof-of-principle demonstrations of plasma excitations in nitride 2DEGs, exploration of the potential of this material system has thus far been limited. We recently demonstrated coherent phenomena such as the formation of plasmonic crystals, strong coupling of tunable crystal defects to a plasmonic crystal, and electromagnetically induced transparency in GaAs/AlGaAs 2DEGs at sub-THz frequencies. In this project, we explore whether these effects can be realized in nitride 2DEG materials above 1 THz and at temperatures exceeding 77 K.

(Figure Presented) We present the design, realization, and characterization of optical strong light-matter coupling between intersubband transitions within a semiconductor heterostructures and planar metamaterials in the near-infrared spectral range. The strong light-matter coupling entity consists of a III-nitride intersubband superlattice heterostructure, providing a two-level system with a transition energy of ∼0.8 eV (λ ∼1.55 μm) and a planar "dogbone" metamaterial structure. As the bare metamaterial resonance frequency is varied across the intersubband resonance, a clear anticrossing behavior is observed in the frequency domain. This strongly coupled entity could enable the realization of electrically tunable optical filters, a new class of efficient nonlinear optical materials, or intersubband-based light-emitting diodes.

Layer disordering and doping compensation of an Al0.028Ga0.972N/AlN superlattice by implantation are demonstrated. The as-grown sample exhibits intersubband absorption at ∼1.56 μm which is modified when subject to a silicon implantation. After implantation, the intersubband absorption decreases and shifts to longer wavelengths. Also, with increasing implant dose, the intersubband absorption decreases. It is shown that both layer disordering of the heterointerfaces and doping compensation from the vacancies produced during the implantation cause the changes in the intersubband absorption. Such a method is useful for removing absorption in spatially defined areas of III-nitride optoelectronic devices by, for example, creating low-loss optical waveguides monolithically that can be integrated with as-grown areas operating as electro-absorption intersubband modulators.

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Electrical current transport through leakage paths in AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and their effect on LED performance are investigated. Open-core threading dislocations, or nanopipes, are found to conduct current through nominally insulating Al 0.7Ga0.3N layers and limit the performance of DUV-LEDs. A defect-sensitive phosphoric acid etch reveals these open-core threading dislocations in the form of large, micron-scale hexagonal etch pits visible with optical microscopy, while closed-core screw-, edge-, and mixed-type threading dislocations are represented by smaller and more numerous nanometer-scale pits visible by atomic-force microscopy. The electrical and optical performances of DUV-LEDs fabricated on similar Si-doped Al0.7Ga0.3N templates are found to have a strong correlation to the density of these nanopipes, despite their small fraction (<0.1% in this study) of the total density of threading dislocations. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

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Gd2O3 films were prepared on (0001)-oriented AlxGa1-xN (0≤x≤0.67) thin film substrates via reactive molecular-beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction revealed that these films possessed the cubic bixbyite structure regardless of substrate composition and were all 111-oriented with in-plane rotations to account for the symmetry difference between the oxide film and nitride epilayer. Valence band offsets were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and were determined to be 0.41±0.02eV, 0.17±0.02eV, and 0.06±0.03eV at the Gd2O3/AlxGa1-xN interfaces for x=0, 0.28, and 0.67, respectively.

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