1999
DOI: 10.1063/1.124193
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Giant electric fields in unstrained GaN single quantum wells

Abstract: We demonstrate that, even in unstrained GaN quantum wells with AlGaN barriers, there exist giant electric fields as high as 1.5 MV/cm. These fields, resulting from the interplay of the piezoelectric and spontaneous polarizations in the well and barrier layers due to Fermi level alignment, induce large redshifts of the photoluminescence energy position and dramatically increase the carrier lifetime as the quantum well thickness increases.

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Cited by 186 publications
(118 citation statements)
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“…4 The net polarization and consequent internal electric fields have been shown to be detrimental to the performance of optoelectronic devices. [5][6][7][8][9] Polarization discontinuities lead to band bending and result in the quantum confined Stark effect in ͑0001͒ oriented III-nitride quantum well ͑QW͒ structures. The consequences of this effect include decreased recombination efficiency, redshifted emission, and blueshifting of the emission with increasing drive current.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…4 The net polarization and consequent internal electric fields have been shown to be detrimental to the performance of optoelectronic devices. [5][6][7][8][9] Polarization discontinuities lead to band bending and result in the quantum confined Stark effect in ͑0001͒ oriented III-nitride quantum well ͑QW͒ structures. The consequences of this effect include decreased recombination efficiency, redshifted emission, and blueshifting of the emission with increasing drive current.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…However, these fields cause spatial separation of electrons and holes in quantum wells that are used for active regions in light emitters. Such a separation increases the recombination time 1 at the expense of the quantum efficiency, 2 and also results in a red shift of the emission, the amount of which depends on the injected carrier density due to screening. In short, additional constraints are placed on design rules in an effort to deal with polarization induced field.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This built-in electric field originates from the in-plane strain-induced piezoeffect due to the lattice mismatch between the QW and barrier materials and the spontaneous polarization of the wurtzite structure, and its strength can be as high as several MV/ cm. [4][5][6][7] The main experimentally observed signature of optically induced screening is a blueshift in QW photoluminescence ͑PL͒ with an increase in excitation density, as it indicates the flattening of the band structure due to decrease of the bias field. This blueshift was observed, for example, in InGaN / GaN samples in intense cw excitation regime 8 and in AlGaN / GaN samples in intense nanosecond pulse excitation regime.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%