Analytical electron microscopy characterization of light‐emitting diodes based on ordered InGaN nanocolumns

Self‐assembled nanocolumns (NCs) with InGaN/GaN disks constitute an alternative to conventional light emitting diodes (LED) planar devices [1]. However, their efficiency and reliability are hindered by a strong dispersion of electrical characteristics among individual nanoLED. Polychromatic emission derives from an inhomogeneous distribution of indium concentration due to the inherent tendency of InGaN alloys to develop composition fluctuations as a function of the polarity of the growth crystallographic planes [2]. The recent development of selective area growth of NCs by molecular beam epitaxy has allowed the achieving of highly homogeneous and controllable GaN/InGaN NCs with improved crystalline quality and higher control over the indium distribution [3]. In this work, we present the characterization performed on LEDs based on ordered NCs with InGaN active disks (figure 1). The detailed structural characterization of the nanostructures has been performed by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) carried out on an aberration‐corrected JEOL‐JEMARM200 microscope. High crystal quality of the NCs is set by the analysis of atomically‐resolved high angle annular dark field (HAADF) images. The indium distribution within the InGaN disks is studied by EDS elemental mapping while the polarity of the semiconductor NCs is followed by locating the nitrogen atomic columns in annular bright field (ABF) images while (figure2). Direct correlation of the optical and structural properties on a nanometer‐scale was achieved using low temperature cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy in an FEI STEM Tecnai F20 [4].