Final Technical Report - Development of III - Nitride Based THz Inter - Subband Lasers Report

III-Nitrides, due to their large conduction band offset and fast transition speeds, are promising constituents for intersubband (ISB) devices. In addition, III-Nitrides are characterized by a very large phonon energy (90 meV). This makes them ideally suited to the realization of near room temperature operating THz lasers. The objective of this program has been to demonstrate the potential for using III-Nitrides to realize a room temperature operating terahertz intersubband laser. As part of this contract, a comprehensive model of intersubband transitions was developed that takes into account the important effects of strain on bandstructure and piezo-as well as spontaneouselectric fields. Interband photoluminescence and intersubband absorption measurements were performed to help develop the modeling. We demonstrated the shortest MOCVD-grown III-Nitride intersubband absorption wavelength of 1.5 ?m as well as the longest intersubband wavelengths of 5.3 ?m, by any growth technique. In addition to investigating the optical properties we fabricated and tested both resonant tunneling diodes and quantum well infrared photodetectors in order to investigate quantum transport in III-Nitrides. Based on the refined III-Nitride intersubband models designs were also developed for room temperature terahertz emission via optical pumping. Electrical injection designs were also proposed for both polar and non-polar growth orientations. (a) Papers published in peer-reviewed journals (N/A for none) C. Bayram, B. Fain, N. Pere-Laperne, R. McClintock, and M. Razeghi, Proceedings of SPIE 7222, p. 722212 (2009) C. Bayram, N. Pere-Laperne, R. McClintock, B. Fain and M. Razeghi, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 94, No. 12, p. 121902 (2009) N. Pere-Laperne, C. Bayram, L. Nguyen-The, R. McClintock, and M. Razeghi, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 95, No. 13, p. 131109 (2009) C. Bayram, J.L. Pau, R. McClintock and M. Razeghi, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 104, p. 083512 (2008) List of papers submitted or published that acknowledge ARO support during this reporting period. List the papers, including journal references, in the following categories: (b) Papers published in non-peer-reviewed journals or in conference proceedings (N/A for none) 4.00 Number of Papers published in peer-reviewed journals: Number of Papers published in non peer-reviewed journals: “Material and design engineering of (Al)GaN for high-performance avalanche photodiodes and intersubband applications,” SPIE International Symposium on Microtechnologies for the New Millennium, Dresden, Germany, May 4-6, 2009 (c) Presentations 0.00 Number of Presentations: 1.00 Non Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceeding publications (other than abstracts): Number of Non Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceeding publications (other than abstracts): 0 Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceeding publications (other than abstracts): C. Bayram, B. Fain, N. Pere-Laperne, R. McClintock and M. Razeghi, Proceedings of SPIE, 7222, p. 7222212 (2009) (d) Manuscripts Number of Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceeding publications (other than abstracts): 1 N. Pere-Laperne, C. Bayram, L. Nguyen-The, R. McClintock, and M. Razeghi, “Intersubband absorption at 5.3 micron in GaN/Al(0.2)Ga(0.8)N superlattices grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition,” submitted to Applied Physics Letters. C. Bayram, N. Pere-Laperne, and M. Razeghi, “Effects of growth temperature and well width on optical and structural characteristics of AlN/GaN superlattices grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition,” submitted to Applied Physics Letters. Number of Manuscripts: 2.00 Number of Inventions: