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Low temperature photoluminescence study of AlxGa1−xN/GaN/AlxGa1−xN heterostructure nanocolumns

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Abstract

AlxGa1−xN/GaN/AlxGa1−xN/GaN/SiO2/Si (x = 0.12) heterostructure nanocolumns were grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) images show GaN single quantum (SQ) disk with average thickness of 3 nm and diameter of 20 nm. Reflection high electron diffraction (RHEED) images show the good growing surfaces throughout the nanocolumn heterostructure growth. High-resolution field effect scanning electron microscopy (HR-FE-SEM) characterizations show the good c-oriented GaN (0001) fiber texture. The photoluminescence study of GaN inserted in Al0.12Ga0.88N alloys nanocolumns at low temperatures are presented. The PL spectra at 10 K show a strong excitonic emission peak at 3.477 eV attributed to the donor-bound exciton (D0XA) of GaN. A strong emission peak at 3.54 eV is detected inferring the quantum confinement of excitons in the GaN SQ disk. Using Al0.12Ga0.88N as a barrier for GaN quantum disk inserted in the nanocolumnar structure improves the morphological and optical properties by reducing the strain/stress, when compared with AlN/GaN nanowires. Relieving the strain/stress in quantum well heterostructures is a crucial parameter for highly effective and reliable electrical and optoelectronic devices applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Saudi Arabia, for funding this research work through Grant No. (221412014).

Funding

The author declare that they received funding during the preparation of this manuscript from Deanship of Scientific Research, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Saudi Arabia, through Grant No. (221412014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMISU), Riyadh, 11432, Saudi Arabia

    Naglaa AbdelAll & Jaber ElGhoul

  2. Physics Department, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

    Naglaa AbdelAll & Mohamed Almokhtar

  3. Laboratory of Physics of Materials and Nanomaterials Applied at Environment (LaPhyMNE), Faculty of Sciences in Gabes, Gabes University, 6072, Gabes, Tunisia

    Jaber ElGhoul

Authors
  1. Naglaa AbdelAll
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Contributions

NAA: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigations, and writing—original draft. MJE contributed to investigation, writing—review & editing. MA: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing—review & edit.

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Correspondence to Naglaa AbdelAll.

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AbdelAll, N., ElGhoul, J. & Almokhtar, M. Low temperature photoluminescence study of AlxGa1−xN/GaN/AlxGa1−xN heterostructure nanocolumns. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 1581 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11003-7

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