Mechanism of luminescence in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Abstract

We report a firm evidence of luminescence from InN clusters in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells. Photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation, and Raman scattering measurements have been employed to study the optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells. A careful examination of the low energy shoulders of the main peak luminescence reveals the fact that their separation is in good agreement with the longitudinal optical phonon energy of pure InN film measured by Raman scattering. A large Stokes-like shift between the emission peak energy and the absorption edge is found; it increases with increasing indium content. All these observations can be explained in a consistent way by the effect of localization due to self-organized InN clusters within InGaN layers. Our results thus strongly suggest that the emission mechanism of InGaN/GaN quantum wells originates from radiation recombination within the localized states of self-organized InN clusters.