Cp2Mg-induced transition metal ion contamination and performance loss in MOCVD-grown blue emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Richard Liu, Eric Tucker, Soo Min Lee, Kalyan Kasarla, Callan McCormick, Can Bayram

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The detrimental effects of Cp 2 Mg-induced trace transition metal (iron and manganese) contamination on the optical performance of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown blue-emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) are investigated experimentally. Five samples are grown at various stages of conditioning of a freshly installed MOCVD tool with stainless steel gas lines. Without conditioning, Cp 2 Mg flow induced Fe and Mn impurities with concentrations of 3 × 10 15 and 3 × 10 14 cm-3, respectively. These contaminants introduce nonradiative recombination centers with lifetimes on the order of nanoseconds. These impurities also induce indium-clustering related phenomena such as low energy shoulder at low temperature and a strong S-curve shift in emission energy with increasing temperature. Through successive cycles of chamber conditioning, the Fe and Mn concentrations decrease to below their detection limits, and the nonradiative recombination lifetime (+8 ns), internal quantum efficiency (+26%), microphotoluminescence nonuniformity (-4.7%), and S-curve shift (-26 meV) of the MQWs improved. The suppression of the transition metal ion contamination in the MOCVD chamber is shown to be crucial for high performance MQWs and blue light emitting diode growths.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number192106
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume116
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - May 11 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cp2Mg-induced transition metal ion contamination and performance loss in MOCVD-grown blue emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this