Growth and characterization of ZnCdSe/BeZnTe II-VI compound Type-II superlattices on InP substrates and their application for visible light emitting devices

ZnCdSe/BeZnTe II-VI compound superlattices (SLs) were grown on InP substrates by molecular beam epitaxy for the first time. In the X-ray diffraction studies, definite satellite Peaks were observed for each sample, which indicates that fine periodic SL structures were obtained. For SL samples with several layer thickness combinations, wide-range visible emissions from 740 to 507 nm were observed during photoluminescence (PL) studies at 15 K. Comparison of PL emission properties at 15 K for a ZnCdSe/BeZnTe SL and ZnCdSe bulk samples showed the superior emission intensity of the SL sample, A double hetero-structure (DH) consisting of ZnCdSe/BeZnTe SLs and BeZnTe cladding layers was fabricated. In the PL spectrum of the DH sample at 15 K, sharp emission peaks at 517 and 604 nm were observed. Visible light emitting diodes were fabricated by applying ZnCdSe/BeZnTe SLs as the active layer, and were evaluated under pulsed current injections at room temperature. A single-peak yellow-green emission around 562 nm was obtained.