The electronic and optical properties of visible InGaN quantum-well (QW) structures grown on In0.03Ga0.97N underlayers have been investigated. A significant improvement of the QW emission is observed as a result of the insertion of the underlayers, which is associated with blueshift in the emission energy, reduced recombination lifetime, increased spatial homogeneity in the QW luminescence, and weaker internal fields inside the QWs. These are explained by partial strain relaxation evidenced by reciprocal space mapping of the X-ray diffraction intensity. Electrostatic potential profiles obtained by electron holography provide evidence for enhanced carrier injection by tunneling from the underlayer into the first QW.

We compare the x-ray diffraction (XRD) results of two InGaN∕GaN quantum-well (QW) structures to observe the effects of prestrained growth by depositing a low-indium QW before the growth of five high-indium QWs. From the results of reciprocal space mapping, we observe the fully strained condition in the QWs of the control sample. However, in the sample of prestrained growth, the average strain is partially relaxed. By using an XRD fitting algorithm for calibrating QW parameters, we obtain reasonable values for the compositions and thicknesses of the QWs in both samples. In particular, by assuming a nonuniform strain relaxation distribution among the five high-indium QWs in the prestrained sample, we obtain reasonable composition variations among the QWs. The high-indium QW closest to the low-indium one is most strain-relaxed and has the highest indium incorporation, leading to the longest-wavelength emission. The observed red shift with increasing electron penetration depth in the cathodo-luminescence spectra of the prestrained sample is consistent with the distributions of calibrated strain relaxation and indium composition. The results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and effective band gap calculation also agree with the above conclusions.

Cubic Al 0.3 Ga 0.7 N/GaN heterostructures were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on 3C-SiC (001) substrates. A profile of the electrostatic potential across the cubic-AlGaN/GaN heterojunction was obtained using electron holography in the transmission electron microscope. The experimental potential profile indicates that the unintentionally doped layers show n-type behavior and accumulation of free electrons at the interface with a density of 5.1 Â 10 11 /cm 2 , about one order of magnitude less than in wurtzite AlGaN/GaN junctions. A combination of electron holography and cathodoluminescence measurements yields a conduction-to-valence band offset ratio of 5:1 for the cubic AlGaN/GaN interface, which also promotes the electron accumulation. Band diagram simulations show that the donor states in the AlGaN layer provide the positive charges that to a great extent balance the two-dimensional electron gas. V C 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.

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