Effect of Thermal Annealing in Ammonia on the Properties of InGaN Nanowires with Different Indium Concentrations

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• 作者：Christopher Hahn ; Amy A. Cordones ; Sean C. Andrews ; Hanwei Gao ; Anthony Fu ; Stephen R. Leone ; Peidong Yang
• 刊名：The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：February 21, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：117
• 期：7
• 页码：3627-3634
• 全文大小：495K
• 年卷期：v.117,no.7(February 21, 2013)
• ISSN：1932-7455

文摘

The utility of an annealing procedure in ammonia ambient is investigated for improving the optical characteristics of In_xGa_1鈥?i>xN nanowires (0.07 鈮?x 鈮?0.42) grown on c-Al₂O₃ using a halide chemical vapor deposition method. Morphological studies using scanning electron microscopy confirm that the nanowire morphology is retained after annealing in ammonia at temperatures up to 800 掳C. However, significant indium etching and composition inhomogeneities are observed for higher indium composition nanowires (x = 0.28, 0.42), as measured by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy. Structural analyses, using X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, indicate that this is a result of the greater thermal instability of higher indium composition nanowires. The effect of these structural changes on the optical quality of InGaN nanowires is examined using steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. Annealing in ammonia enhances the integrated photoluminescence intensity of In_xGa_1鈥?i>xN nanowires by up to a factor of 4.11 卤 0.03 (for x = 0.42) by increasing the rate of radiative recombination. Fitting of photoluminescence decay curves to a Kohlrausch stretched exponential indicates that this increase is directly related to a larger distribution of recombination rates from composition inhomogeneities caused by annealing. The results demonstrate the role of thermal instability on the improved optical properties of InGaN nanowires annealed in ammonia.