RESUMEN
Microlight-emitting diode (Micro-LED) is the only display production technology capable of meeting the high-performance requirements of future screens. However, it has significant obstacles in commercialization due to etching loss and efficiency reduction caused by the singulation process, in addition to expensive costs and a significant amount of time spent on transfer. Herein, multiple-sapphire nanomembrane (MSNM) technology has been developed that enables the rapid transfer of arrays while producing micro-LEDs without the need for any singulation procedure. Individual micro-LEDs of tens of µm size were formed by the pendeo-epitaxy and coalescence of GaN grown on 2 µm width SNMs spaced with regular intervals. We have successfully fabricated micro-LEDs of different sizes including 20 × 20 µm2, 40 × 40 µm2, and 100 × 100 µm2, utilizing the membrane design. It was confirmed that the 100 × 100 µm2 micro-LED manufactured with MSNM technology not only relieved stress by 80.6% but also reduced threading dislocation density by 58.7% compared to the reference sample. It was proven that micro-LED arrays of varied chip sizes using MSNM were all transferred to the backplane. A vertical structure LED device could be fabricated using a 100 × 100 µm2 micro-LED chip, and it was confirmed to have a low operation voltage. Our work suggests that the development of the MSNM technology is promising for the commercialization of micro-LED technology.
RESUMEN
α-Gallium oxide, with its large band gap energy, is a promising material for utilization in power devices. Sapphire, which has the same crystal structure as α-Ga2O3, has been used as a substrate for α-Ga2O3 epitaxial growth. However, lattice and thermal expansion coefficient mismatches generate a high density of threading dislocations (TDs) and cracks in films. Here, we demonstrated the growth of α-Ga2O3 films with reduced TD density and residual stress on microcavity-embedded sapphire substrates (MESS). We fabricated the two types of substrates with microcavities: diameters of 1.5 and 2.2 µm, respectively. We confirmed that round conical-shaped cavities with smaller diameters are beneficial for the lateral overgrowth of α-Ga2O3 crystals with lower TD densities by mist chemical vapor deposition. We could obtain crack-free high-crystallinity α-Ga2O3 films on MESS, while the direct growth on a bare sapphire substrate resulted in an α-Ga2O3 film with a number of cracks. TD densities of α-Ga2O3 films on MESS with 1.5 and 2.2 µm cavities were measured to be 1.77 and 6.47 × 108 cm-2, respectively. Furthermore, cavities in MESS were certified to mitigate the residual stress via the redshifted Raman peaks of α-Ga2O3 films. Finally, we fabricated Schottky diodes based on α-Ga2O3 films grown on MESS with 1.5 and 2.2 µm cavities, which exhibited high breakdown voltages of 679 and 532 V, respectively. This research paves the way to fabricating Schottky diodes with high breakdown voltages based on high-quality α-Ga2O3 films.
RESUMEN
A discrete core-shell-like micro-light-emitting diode (micro-LED) array was grown on a 100 nm-thick sapphire nano-membrane array without harmful plasma etching for chip singulation. Due to proper design for the sapphire nano-membrane array, an array of multi-faceted micro-LEDs with size of 4 µm × 16 µm was grown. Threading dislocation density in the micro-LED formed on sapphire nano-membrane was reduced by 59.6% due to the sapphire nano-membranes, which serve as compliant substrates, compared to GaN formed on a planar substrate. Enhancements in internal quantum efficiency by 44% and 3.3 times higher photoluminescence intensity were also observed from it. Cathodoluminescence emission at 435 nm was measured from c-plane multiple quantum wells (MQWs), whereas negligible emissions were detected from semi-polar sidewall facets. A core-shell-like MQWs were formed on all facets, hopefully lowering concentration of non-radiative surface recombination centers and reducing leakage current paths. This study provides an attractive platform for micro-LEDs by using sapphire nano-membrane.
RESUMEN
Highly polarized photoluminescence (PL) from c-plane InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown on stripe-shaped cavity-engineered sapphire substrate (SCES) was realized. The polarization ratio was as high as 0.74 at room temperature. High-resolution X-ray reciprocal space mapping measurements revealed that the InGaN quantum wells on GaN/SCES template were under considerable anisotropic in-plane strain states of -1.178% and -1.921% along the directions perpendicular and parallel to the stripe-pattern, respectively. The anisotropic strain states were attributed to the anisotropic alignment of cavity-incorporated sapphire nano-membranes, which accommodated both anisotropic elastic relaxation in the InGaN quantum well plane as well as the graded elastic relaxation along the vertical direction in the GaN template adjacent to the InGaN/GaN MQWs. The partial strain relaxation in the InGaN wells also contributed to reduction of quantum confined Stark effect, resulting in four times higher PL intensity than InGaN/GaN MQWs on planar sapphire substrate. From theoretical calculations based on kâp perturbation theory, it was found that fundamental origin of the polarized optical emission was strain-induced modification of valence band structures of the InGaN/GaN MQWs on the SCES. This study will allow us to realize light emitting diodes with highly polarized emission with conventional c-plane sapphire substrates by strain-induced valence band modification.