Influence of the GaN spacer thickness on the structural and photoluminescence properties of multi-stack InN/GaN quantum dots

This paper reports the structural and photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of single-layer and multi-stack InN/GaN quantum dots (QDs) with varying spacer thickness. A single crystalline 10-nm thick GaN capping layer is grown on the InN QDs by the flow-rate modulation epitaxy (FME) method. The PL peak is red shifted down to 18 meV and its full width at half maximum (FWHM) was narrowed from 104 meV to 77 meV as increasing GaN capping layer thickness to 20-nm. The red-shift and the linewidth narrowing of the PL spectra for the single-layer InN QDs as a result of the increase in capping thickness are believed to be due to the fact that the GaN capping layer decreases the surface defect density thereby decreasing the surface electron concentration of the InN QDs. However, the PL intensity decreases rapidly with the increase in GaN spacer thickness for the three-layer stacked InN/GaN QDs. Because of kinetic roughening, the 20-nm thick GaN capping layer shows a roughened surface. This roughened GaN capping layer degrades the InN QDs growth in the next layer of multi-stack InN QDs. In addition, the increased compressive strain on the InN QDs with the increase in GaN spacer thickness increases the defect density at the InN/GaN capped interface and will further decrease the PL intensity. After the GaN spacer thickness is modified, the PL intensity of the three-layer stacked sample with a 10-nm thick GaN spacer layer is about 3 times that of the single-layer sample.

► We present structural and photoluminescence characteristics of multi-stack InN/GaN QDs.
► A single crystalline 10-nm thick GaN capping layer is grown on the InN QDs.
► The PL intensity of the three-layer stacked sample is about 3 times that of the single-layer sample.