An aluminium nitride light-emitting diode with a wavelength of 210 nanometres
An aluminium nitride light-emitting diode with a wavelength of 210 nanometres
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DOI：
10.1038/nature04760
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发表时间：
2006-05-18
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Makimoto, T
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Taniyasu, Y;Kasu, M;Makimoto, T
紧凑型高效紫外固态光源（1），如发光二极管（LED）和激光二极管-作为大型、有毒、低效气体激光器和汞灯的替代品，具有相当大的技术兴趣。微电子制造技术和环境科学都需要发射波长更短的光源：前者用于提高光刻的分辨率，后者用于检测微小有害颗粒的传感器。此外，紫外固态光源在高密度光数据存储、生物医学研究、水和空气净化以及杀菌方面的潜在应用也引起了人们的关注。宽带隙材料，例如金刚石（2）和III-V族氮化物半导体（GaN、AlGaN和AlN;参考文献3 - 10），是用于紫外LED和激光二极管的潜在材料，但在控制导电方面存在困难。在这里，我们报告的成功控制的n型和p型掺杂的氮化铝（AlN），它有一个非常宽的直接带隙（11）为6 eV。这种掺杂策略使我们能够开发出AlN PIN（p型/本征/n型）同质结LED，其发射波长为210 nm，这是迄今为止报道的任何类型的LED中最短的。该发射归因于激子跃迁，并且代表了实现激子相关发光器件以及用固态光源代替气体光源的重要一步。
Compact high-efficiency ultraviolet solid-state light sources(1) such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes - are of considerable technological interest as alternatives to large, toxic, low-efficiency gas lasers and mercury lamps. Microelectronic fabrication technologies and the environmental sciences both require light sources with shorter emission wavelengths: the former for improved resolution in photolithography and the latter for sensors that can detect minute hazardous particles. In addition, ultraviolet solid-state light sources are also attracting attention for potential applications in high-density optical data storage, biomedical research, water and air purification, and sterilization. Wide-bandgap materials, such as diamond(2) and III - V nitride semiconductors (GaN, AlGaN and AlN; refs 3 - 10), are potential materials for ultraviolet LEDs and laser diodes, but suffer from difficulties in controlling electrical conduction. Here we report the successful control of both n-type and p-type doping in aluminium nitride ( AlN), which has a very wide direct bandgap(11) of 6 eV. This doping strategy allows us to develop an AlN PIN (p-type/intrinsic/n-type) homojunction LED with an emission wavelength of 210 nm, which is the shortest reported to date for any kind of LED. The emission is attributed to an exciton transition, and represents an important step towards achieving exciton-related light-emitting devices as well as replacing gas light sources with solid-state light sources.