Probing Local Emission Properties in InGaN/GaN Quantum Wells by Scanning Tunneling Luminescence Microscopy

Scanning tunneling electroluminescence (STL) microscopy is performed on a 3 nm-thick InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) with [In] = 0.23 such that the main light emission occurs in the green. The technique is used to map the radiative recombination properties at a scale of a few nanometers and correlate the local electroluminescence map with the surface topography simultaneously imaged by scanning tunneling microscopy. While the expected green emission is observed all over the sample, measurements performed on a 500 nm x 500 nm area around a 150 nm-large and 2.5 nm-deep hexagonal defect reveal intense emission peaks at higher energies close to the defect edges, features which are not visible in the macrophotoluminescence spectrum of the sample. Via a fitting of the local tunneling electroluminescence spectra, quantitative information on the fluctuations of the intensity, peak energy, width, and phonon replica intensity of the different spectral contributions is obtained, which provides information on carrier localization in the QW. This procedure also indicates that the carrier diffusion length on the probed area of the QW is shorter than 50 nm.

Automated summary

In this study, scanning tunneling electroluminescence microscopy was used to investigate the unique radiative recombination properties near a defect in an InGaN/GaN quantum well. The results revealed intense emission peaks at higher energies close to the defect edges, which were not visible in the macrophotoluminescence spectrum. The quantitative information obtained from fitting the local tunneling electroluminescence spectra provided important insights into carrier localization in the quantum well.