Nitride LEDs can emit over a wide spectral range with particularly high efficiency in the blue. The active regions of these devices are InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) which exhibit emission spectra that are much broader than expected. This broadening has been widely debated in the literature and is often attributed to spatial fluctuations in the emission energy due either to the intrinsic compositional disorder of the ternary alloy or to extrinsic growth inhomogeneities and structural defects. These different causes of disorder occur at different scales, ranging from a few nm to several hundred nm. To study the effects of disorder on the electroluminescence processes at the relevant scales, we have developed a novel approach based on Scanning Tunneling (Electro-)Luminescence Microscopy. We have applied this technique for the simultaneous mapping of the surface topography and the electroluminescence of an operational InGaN/GaN LED. Significant changes in the local electroluminescence spectrum are observed at the scale of alloy disorder and spectacular effects on the emission energy and intensity are evidenced in the vicinity of V-pits that result from emerging dislocations.
In-vivo, real-time study of the local and collective cellular biomechanical responses requires the fine and selective control of the cellular environment. Optical manipulation provides a suitable pathway to achieve non-contact, selective, local, temporal and spatial stimuli. The spectacular photomechanical properties of photoactive bio-substrates such as azobenzene-containing thin polymer films are a new promising strategy to achieve optically triggered local mechanical stimulation of cells. Excited cells exhibit spectacular morphological modifications and area shrinkage, which are dependent on the illumination. In this work we demonstrate that the capabilities of photomechanically active azocontaining substrates to optically stimulate cells’ mechanical response can be strongly influenced by the adhesion binding agent used to deposit the living cells on the photoactive layer. This provides a further tool for the photomechanical control of the cellular environment and of the cellular response.
We present a model of carrier distribution and transport accounting for quantum localization effects in disordered semiconductor alloys. It is based on a recent mathematical theory of quantum localization which introduces a spatial function called localization landscape for carriers. These landscapes allow us to predict the localization of electron and hole quantum states, their energies, and the local densities of states. The various outputs of these landscapes can be directly implemented into a drift-diffusion model of carrier transport and into the calculation of absorption/emission transitions. This model captures the two major effects of quantum mechanics of disordered systems: the reduction of barrier height (tunneling) and lifting of energy ground states (quantum confinement), without having to solve the Schrödinger equation. Comparison with exact Schrödinger calculations in several one-dimensional structures demonstrates the excellent accuracy of the approximation provided by the landscape theory [1]. This approach is then used to describe the absorption Urbach tail in InGaN alloy quantum wells of solar cells and LEDs. The broadening of the absorption edge for quantum wells emitting from violet to green (indium content ranging from 0% to 28%) corresponds to a typical Urbach energy of 20 meV and is closely reproduced by the 3D sub-bandgap absorption based on the localization landscape theory [2]. This agreement demonstrates the applicability of the localization theory to compositional disorder effects in semiconductors.
[1] M. Filoche et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 144204 (2017)
[2] M. Piccardo et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 144205 (2017)
In nitride ternary alloys, natural compositional disorder induces strong electronic localization effects. We present a new experimental approach which allows a direct probing at nanometer scale of disorder-induced localization effects in InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs). In this experiment, samples are p-type heterostructures incorporating an InGaN/GaN QW nearby the surface. The electrons are locally injected from a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip into the conduction band of the thin cladding top GaN layer and captured in the InGaN QW where they radiatively recombine. The injected current is maintained constant by the STM feedback loop and the injection electron energy is controlled by the bias voltage applied to the tip-sample tunnel junction. The luminescence onset voltage coincides with electron injection above the bottom of the conduction band in the bulk GaN (beyond the band bending region). Thereby, scanning the tip allows the high-resolution mapping of the luminescence process in the InGaN QW. Spatial fluctuations of the luminescence peak energy and linewidth are observed on the scale of a few nanometers, which are characteristic of disorder-induced carrier localization. A model based on the so-called localization landscape theory is developed to take into account the effect of alloy disorder into simulations of the structure properties. The localization landscape notably describes an effective confining potential, whose basins and crests define the localization regions of carriers. This theory accounts well for the observed nanometer scale carrier localization and the energy-dependent luminescence linewidth observed for the quantum electron states in the disordered energy band.
KEYWORDS: Near field optics, Thin films, Polarization, Near field scanning optical microscopy, Near field, Microscopy, Optical lithography, Molecules, Gold, Surface plasmons
Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is used to study the photo-induced deformation of layered structures
containing azobenzene derivatives. This approach is particularly relevant since it allows detecting in real-time, with the
same probe the surface topography and the optical field distribution at the nanoscale. The correlation between the local
light pattern and the ongoing photo-induced deformation in azobenzene-containing thin films is directly evidenced for
different light polarization configurations. This unveils several fundamental photodeformation mechanisms, depending
not only on the light field properties, but also on the nature of the material. Controlling the projected electromagnetic
field distribution allows inscription of various patterns with a resolution at the diffraction limit, i.e. of a few hundreds of
nm. Surface relief patterns with characteristic sizes beyond the diffraction limit can also be produced by using the nearfield
probe to locally control the photo-mechanical process. Finally, the photo-mechanical properties of azo-materials are
exploited to optically patterned metal/dielectric hybrid structures. Gratings are inscribed this way on thin gold films. The
characteristic features (enhancement and localization) of the surface plasmons supported by these noble metal structures
are studied by near-field optical microscopy.
We discuss the unambiguous detection of Auger electrons by electron emission (EE) spectroscopy from a cesiated InGaN/GaN light-emitting diode (LED) under electrical injection. Electron emission spectra were measured as a function of the current injected in the device. The appearance of high-energy electron peaks simultaneously with the droop in LED efficiency shows that hot carriers are being generated in the active region (InGaN quantum wells) by an Auger process. A linear correlation was measured between the high energy emitted electron current and the “droop current” - the missing component of the injected current for light emission. We conclude that the droop originates from the onset of Auger processes. We compare such a direct identification of the droop mechanism with other identifications, most of them indirect and based on the many-parameter modeling of the dependence of the external quantum efficiency on the carrier injection.
We determine the polarization vector of a spin-polarized electron beam emerging from a ferromagnet and we study the particular case of two uncoupled ferromagnetic layers with in-plane magnetizations in a perpendicular configuration. We show that the transmitted intensity depends on the three components of the primary polarization and we propose to use such a structure as a convenient spin detector for low- energy electrons.
Frederic Chaput, Khalid Lahlil, John Biteau, Jean-Pierre Boilot, Bruno Darracq, Yves Levy, Jacques Peretti, Viatcheslave Safarov, Jean-Marie Lehn, Alvaro Fernandez-Acebes
We present results on photochromic properties of hybrid organic-inorganic host matrices in which dithienylethene or azobenzene derivatives are trapped. Materials were prepared by the sol-gel process in the form of thin films. To increase the photochrome content inside the silica-based gel, modified alkoxysilanes were synthesized. The photochromic functionalized monomers were copolymerized with methyltriethoxysilane or tetraethoxysilane. The study of sol-gel films containing dithienylethene both in the colored and discolored state shows that a large refractive index change, as high as 4.10-2 can be reached. Design of optical components was performed. Furthermore, from the colored state high remnant optical anisotropy can be photo induced by discoloration with linearly polarized visible light. This anisotropy induces a linear dichroism in the visible absorption band and an important birefringence in the near-IR transparency induces a linear dichroism in the visible absorption band and an important birefringence in the near-IR transparency region. Optical data storage is one of the most fascinating potential applications of this effect. Concerning azobenzene containing materials, we took advantage of material deformation, subsequent to the photoisomerization of the photochromes, to design optical components. Thus, stable surface relief gratings having high modulation depth and high diffraction efficiencies were inscribed on hybrid films. Experiments using near-field optical techniques were performed on the two system in order to improve density data storage.
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