Nonpolar a-plane light-emitting diode with an in-situ SiN_x interlayer on r-plane sapphire grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition

We report on the growth and fabrication of nonpolar a-plane light emitting diodes with an in-situ SiN_x interlayer grown between the undoped a-plane GaN buffer and Si-doped GaN layer. X-ray diffraction shows that the crystalline quality of the GaN buffer layer is greatly improved with the introduction of the SiN_x interlayer. The electrical properties are also improved. For example, electron mobility and sheet resistance are reduced from high resistance to 31.6 cm²/(V·s) and 460 Ω/口 respectively. Owing to the significant effect of the SiN_x interlayer, a-plane LEDs are realized. Electroluminescence of a nonpolar a-plane light-emitting diode with a wavelength of 488nm is demonstrated. The emission peak remains constant when the injection current increases to over 20 mA.