Epitaxial Growth and Characterization of AlInN Based Core-Shell Nanowire Light Emitting Diodes Operating in the Ultraviolet Spectrum

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first axial AlInN core-shell nanowire UV LEDs with high efficiency, stable emission, and tunable wavelength, advancing ultraviolet light-emitter technology.

Contribution

It introduces a novel axial AlInN nanowire UV LED with spontaneous shell formation, high quantum efficiency, and polarization control, which was not previously achieved.

Findings

Quantum efficiency of ~52% at 295 nm

Emission wavelength tunable from 290 to 355 nm

Strong TM polarized emission, 4 times stronger than TE

Abstract

We report on the demonstration of the first axial AlInN ultraviolet core-shell nanowire light-emitting diodes with highly stable emission in the UV wavelength range. During the epitaxial growth of AlInN layer, an AlInN shell is spontaneously formed, resulted in the reduced nonradiative recombination on nanowire surface. The AlInN nanowires exhibit high internal quantum efficiency of ~ 52% at room temperature for emission at 295nm. The peak emission wavelength can be varied from 290 nm to 355 nm by changing the growth condition. Moreover, significantly strong transverse magnetic (TM) polarized emission is recorded which is ~ 4 times stronger compared to the transverse electric (TE) polarized light at 295 nm. This study provides alternative approach for the fabrication of new type of high-performance ultraviolet light-emitters.