Effects of Basal Stacking Faults on Electrical Anisotropy of Nonpolar a-Plane ( 11\bar0 ) GaN Light-Emitting Diodes on Sapphire Substrate

• Published in: IEEE photonics technology letters Vol. 22; no. 9; pp. 595 - 597
• Main Authors: Baik, Kwang Hyeon, Seo, Yong Gon, Hong, Soon-Ku, Lee, Seogwoo, Kim, Jaebum, Son, Ji-Su, Hwang, Sung-Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-05-2010; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: a-plane; Anisotropic conductive films; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Anisotropy; basal stacking faults (BSFs); Conductivity; Conferences; Electron optics; Fiber optics; Gallium nitride; Gallium nitrides; Light emitting diodes; light-emitting diode (LED); nonpolar; Optical fibers; Optical films; Optical scattering; Sapphire; Stacking; Stacking faults; Substrates
• ISSN: 1041-1135; 1941-0174
• DOI: 10.1109/LPT.2010.2042950

We report on the effects of basal stacking faults (BSFs) on the electrical anisotropy and the device characteristics of nonpolar a-plane GaN (1120) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on r-plane (1102 ) sapphire substrates. The sheet resistance in the direction parallel to the c-axis [0001] is 18%-70% higher than the one in the direction parallel to the m-axis [1100 ]. The anisotropic conductivity of faulted a-plane GaN films can be explained by carrier scatterings from BSFs. It is also shown that the output power of nonpolar a-plane GaN LEDs are significantly influenced by the presence of BSFs, which laterally hampers the carrier transport in the n-GaN layer, especially in the direction parallel to the c-axis in faulted nonpolar nitride films.