Temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements are performed on In0.23Ga0.77N/GaN single-quantum-well structures with different well thickness. Based on a band-tail model, the exciton localization effect is studied. The exciton localization effect is enhanced by increasing quantum-well thickness up to 2.5 nm. If the quantum-well thickness is further increased to above 2.5 nm, the exciton localization effect becomes weak. Finally, when the quantum-well thickness is increased to 5 nm, the exciton localization effect cannot be observed. In addition, the PL intensity decreases monotonically with increasing the quantum-well thickness. In connection with an excitation-power dependent PL measurement, the result of the quantum-well thickness dependent PL intensity can be attributed to quantum confined Stark effect, which becomes particularly strong in the wide quantum-well structure. Based on our optical investigation, the presented article indicates that the emission mechanism is dominated by the exciton localization effect in the thin quantum-well structures, while the quantum confined Stark effect dominates the radiative recombination in the wide quantum-well structures. Since understanding the emission mechanism is very important for further improving the performance of an InGaN/GaN-based optical device, the presented results in this article should be highly emphasized.

The exciton-localization effect and quantum-confine Stark effect (QCSE) on the performance of InGaN/GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been investigated with regard to indium mole fraction and well thickness by means of temperature-dependent and excitation-power-dependent photoluminescence measurements. The exciton-localization effect can be enhanced by increasing the indium mole fraction or increasing well thickness but up to 2.5 nm. The QCSE is monotonically enhanced with increasing indium concentration or well thickness. The output power of the LED can be increased by the enhanced exciton-localization effect; however, the QCSE has much stronger influence on the output power of LEDs than the exciton-localization effect, which should be taken into account for further improving the performance of InGaN/GaN-based LEDs.

By introducing the AlInGaN/AlGaN quaternary system as an active region, we fabricated an UV light-emitting diode (LED) with an emission wavelength of 348 nm. The optical power is 1 mW at an injection current of 50 mA under a bare-chip geometry, which is the highest report among UV–LEDs with an emission wavelength of around 350 nm grown on sapphire substrate. It means that the optical power of such LEDs is high enough to be used in practical application. In contrast to it, a similar UV–LED based on GaN/AlGaN system as an active region has been also grown, whose optical power is less than that of the AlInGaN/AlGaN-based UV–LED by one order of magnitude. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence study indicates that there exists a strong exciton-localization effect in the AlInGaN/AlGaN material system, while there is no distinguished exciton-localization effect in the GaN/AlGaN material system. Therefore, the high performance of the AlInGaN/AlGaN-based UV–LED can be attributed to the enhanced exciton-localization effect.

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence and transport measurements were performed on the In0.13Ga0.87N:Si/GaN:Si multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures with different doping levels. By fitting the temperature-dependent emission energy of these samples using the band tail model, an obvious localization effect is observed in lightly doped MQW structures. Correspondingly, the electron mobilities in these structures are significantly higher than those of undoped and heavily doped MQW structures. Furthermore, when the localization effect is stronger, the mobility is higher.

High-quality AlGaN/GaN undoped single heterostructures (SH) with different Al contents have been grown on sapphire substrates. The magnetotransport investigation was performed on these samples at a low temperature. The observation of Shubnikov–de Hass oscillations in the magnetic fields below 3 T and the integer quantum Hall effect confirmed the existence of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the AlGaN/GaN interface. The Al0.18Ga0.82N/GaN SH shows a Hall mobility of 10 300 cm2/V s at a carrier sheet density of 6.19×1012/cm2 measured at 1.5 K. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest carrier mobility ever measured in GaN-based semiconductors grown on sapphire substrates. The Al composition dependence of the mobility and carrier sheet density were also investigated. Based on the piezoelectric field effect, the Al composition dependence of the 2DEG sheet density was calculated, which agreed well with the experimental result. The negative magnetoresistance with parabolic magnetic-field dependence in the low magnetic field was also observed in the sample with the highest 2DEG sheet density.