GaN and LED structures grown on pre-patterned silicon pillar arrays

GaN nanorods (or nanowires) have attracted great interest in a variety of applications, e. g. high-efficiency light emitting diodes, monolithic white light emission and optical interconnection due to their superior properties. In contrast to the mostly investigated self-assembled growth of GaN nanorods, we performed GaN nanorod growth by pre-patterning of the Si substrates. The pattern was transferred to Si substrates by photolithography and cryo-temperature inductively-coupled plasma etching. These Si templates then were used for further GaN nanorod growth by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The low temperature AlN nucleation layer had to be optimized since it differs from its 2D layer counterpart on the surface area and orientations. We found a strong influence of diffusion processes, i.e. the GaN grown on top of the Si nanopillars can deplete the GaN around the Si pillars. Transmission electron microscopy measurements demonstrated clearly that the threading dislocations bend to the side facets of the pyramidal GaN nanostructures and terminate. Cathodoluminescence measurements reveal a difference of In composition and/or thickness of InGaN quantum wells on the different facets of the pyramidal GaN nanostructures. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim