III-Nitride semiconductor materials have garnered significant attention among researchers due to their diverse applications stemming from their remarkable electrical and optical properties. This present thesis encompasses theoretical investigations conducted on InAlN and AlGaN for the purpose of designing light-emitting diodes (LEDs), along with experimental characterization experiments on BGaN thin films. The primary objective of this research is to delve deeply into the optoelectronic applications of InAlN and analyze the current state of BGaN. Theoretical studies were carried out on InAlN-based deep-ultraviolet (DUV) LEDs, with a particular focus on elucidating the polarization properties exhibited by this material when combined with AlGaN. Additionally, an estimation of the band alignment of this system was included, taking into account the available reported data. The intention behind this work is to underscore the importance of designing novel optoelectronic devices that incorporate ternary-to-ternary heterointerfaces. However, it is crucial to carefully consider both the advantages and disadvantages of such interfaces in terms of carrier injection efficiency and radiative efficiency. The experimental section of this thesis entailed the fabrication and characterization of BGaN thin films. A comprehensive understanding and development of this material are essential, as boron-alloys have garnered attention due to their unique properties. Nevertheless, there have been reports of epitaxial complications and theoretical limits associated with these alloys. In this section, we present the characteristics of the first conductive memory-effect-obtained p-type BGaN, doped with magnesium. Although the characterization of the reported samples includes techniques such as HRXRD, AFM, SEM, Hall, CTLM, SIMS, and CL, it is important to note that a more profound fundamental study is still underway. The relevance of this work can be summarized into two key aspects: Firstly, it provides valuable insights and descriptions of novel heterojunctions for ultraviolet LEDs from a physics perspective. Secondly, it contributes to material advancements in the pursuit of developing new ternary-alloys, offering a material science perspective.

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The present work aims at enhancing the external quantum efficiencies of ultra-violet (UV) sensitive photodetectors (PDs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs)for any light polarization. Deep UV solid state devices are made out of AlGaN or MgZnO and their performances suffer from the high resistivity of their p-doped regions. They require transparent p-contacts; yet the most commonly used transparent contacts have low transmission in the UV: indium tin oxide (ITO) and nickel-gold (Ni/Au 5/5 nms) transmit less than 50% and 30% respectively at 300 nm. Here we investigate the use of surface plasmons (SPs) to design transparent p-contacts for AlGaN devices in the deep UV region of the spectrum. The appeal of using surface plasmon coupling arose from the local electromagnetic field enhancement near the metal surface as well as the increase in interaction time between the field and semiconductor if placed on top of a semiconductor. An in/out-coupling mechanism is achieved by using a grating consisting of two perpendicularly oriented sets of parallel aluminum lines with periods as low as 250 nm. The incident light is first coupled into SPs at the air/aluminum interface which then re-radiate at the aluminum/AlGaN interface and the photons energy is transferred to SP polaritons (SPPs) and back to photons. High transmission can be achieved not only at normal incidence but for a wider range of incident angles. iv A finite difference time domain (FDTD) package from R-Soft was used to simulate and design such aluminum gratings with transparency as high as 100% with tunable peak wavelength, bandwidth and angular acceptance. A rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) was developed in Matlab to validate the FDTD results. The high UV transparency meshes were then fabricated using an e-beam assisted lithography lift-off process. Their electrical and optical properties were investigated. The electrical characterization was very encouraging; the sheet resistances of these meshes were lower than those of the conventionally used transparent contacts. The optical transmissions were lower than expected and the causes for the lower measurements have been investigated. The aluminum oxidation, the large metal grain size and the line edge roughness were identified as the main factors of inconsistency and solutions are proposed to improve these shortcomings. The effect of aluminum oxidation was calculated and the passivation of aluminum with SiO2 was evaluated as a solution. A cold deposition of aluminum reduced the aluminum grain size from 60 nm to 20 nm and the roughness from 5 nm to 0.5 nm. Furthermore, replacing the conventional lift-off process by a dry back-etch process led to much smoother metal line edges and much high optical transparency. The optical measurements were consistent with the simulations. Therefore, reduced roughness and smooth metal line edges were found to be especially critical considerations for deep UV application of the meshes.

Gallium nitride (GaN) light emitting diodes (LED) embody a large field of research that aims to replace inefficient, conventional light sources with LEDs that have lower power, higher luminosity, and longer lifetime. This thesis presents an international collaboration effort between the State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics in Peking University (PKU) of Beijing, China and the Electrical Engineering Department of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Over the course of 2 years, Cal Poly’s side has simulated GaN LEDs within the pure blue wavelength spectrum (460nm), focusing specifically on the effects of reflection gratings, transmission gratings, top and bottom gratings, error gratings, 3-fold symmetric photonic crystal, and 2-fold symmetric nano-imprinted gratings. PKU used our simulation results to fabricate GaN high brightness LEDs from the results of our simulation models. We employed the use of the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, a computational electromagnetic solution to Maxwell’s equations, to measure light extraction efficiency improvements of the various grating structures. Since the FDTD method was based on the differential form of Maxwell’s equations, it arbitrarily simulated complex grating structures of varying shapes and sizes, as well as the reflection, diffraction, and dispersion of propagating light throughout the device. We presented the optimized case, as well as the optimization trend for each of the single grating structures within a range of simulation parameters on the micron scale and find that single grating structures, on average, doubled the light extraction efficiency of GaN LEDs. Photonic crystal grating research in the micron scale suggested that transmission gratings benefit most when grating cells tightly pack together, while reflection gratings benefit when grating cells space further apart. The total number of grating cells fabricated on a reflection grating layer still affects light extraction efficiency. For the top and bottom grating structures, we performed a partial optimization of the grating sets formed from the optimized single grating cases and found that the direct pairing of optimized single grating structures decreases overall light extraction efficiency. However, through a partial optimization procedure, top and bottom grating designs could improve light extraction efficiency by 118% for that particular case, outperforming either of the single top or bottom grating cases alone. Our research then explored the effects of periodic, positional perturbation in grating designs and found that at a 10-15% randomization factor, light extraction efficiency could improve up to 230% from the original top and bottom grating case. Next, in an experiment with PKU, we mounted a 2-fold symmetric photonic crystal onto a PDMS hemi-cylinder by nano-imprinting to measure the transmission of light at angles from near tangential to normal. Overall transmission of light compared with the non-grating design increases overall light extraction efficiency when integrated over the range of angles. Finally, our research focused on the 3-fold symmetric photonic crystal grating structure and employed the use of 3-D FDTD methods and incoherent light sources to better study the effects of higher-ordered symmetry in grating design. Grating cells were discovered as the source of escaping light from the GaN LED model. The model revealed that light extraction efficiency and the far-field diffraction pattern could be estimated by the position of grating cells in the grating design.

Light has a wide and profound non-visual impact on the human body. It is related to the suppression or synthesis of a hormone called melatonin which regulates the human circadian clock. In Nordic countries like Sweden, lack of natural light in winter may lead to negative health effects such as circadian disorders or depression. At the same time, the underground metro system in Stockholm carries more than one million passengers on a weekday. The lighting in the train carriage may have distinct circadian effects on the passengers. The paper takes the metro system in Stockholm as an example, calculates the non-visual effects of the artificial lighting in the train according to Equivalent Melanopic Lux (EML), Circadian Stimulus (CS) and Melanopic Equivalent Daylight Illuminance (M-EDI) Models, compares with current guidance and suggestions, considers the daylighting conditions of Stockholm, and proposes a new design solution with adjustable LEDs to achieve a better healthful circadian lighting result.

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Integration of optical wireless communications (OWC) within switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) / Although visible light communication(VLC) systems can provide high density links for use with IoT devices, an energy efficient, high rate method of designing a VLC transmitter is still unclear. Present designs for transmitters such as the bias-T, designs with switch manipulation, and interleaved converters are not commercially viable due to costly and complex designs that sacrifice energy efficiency for data rate. A design allowing for efficient, high rate communications, while maintaining a low cost would allow for widespread adoption of this technology. In this thesis, a novel approach of integrating power converters and VLC systems is explored by replacing commutating diodes with LEDs. By leveraging switched-mode power supply(SMPS) structures, the power dissipated within the converter may be harnessed and used for communications. The result is a simple and energy efficient solution capable of high rate links. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate buck and boost SMPS topologies that simultaneously increase energy efficiency and provide communications at SMPS switching rate without increasing component count. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

the presented work demonstrates the fabrication process of the master for nano-imprint lithography (NIL) stamp for multi-mode waveguide (MM-WG) with μ-mirror using hybrid-lithography, which includes a 2-photon-polymerization direct laser writing process (2PP-DLW) for μ-mirror surface and UV-photo lithography for MM-WGs. For the definition of the mirror surface at either end of waveguides in the master stamp, the 2PP-DLW process was used. It offers a lower surface roughness (< 0.1 λ) with fewer processing steps, alignment accuracy of ± 1 μm, prints fine and sharp contours, and relatively faster scanning for a specific material, which makes it the foremost technology over the traditional micro-mirror processes such as the dicing process, moving mask lithography, laser ablation, wet etching, and dry etching. For the fabrication of the waveguide core with rectangular cross-sections in the master stamp, UV mask exposure with SU-8 was used. It is a mass-production and low-cost technique. It gives a smooth structure with 90-degree sidewalls compared to other processes like dry etching, wet etching, mosquito method, and E-beam writing. We demonstrated the design and process of a master pattern with a density range from 0.04 to 0.2 to maintain equal pressure over the stamp in the NIL step for an almost uniform residual thickness layer.:Abstract Introduction Design of Experiments Experimental Results and Discussions Conclusion

2D hybrid perovskites are currently in the spotlight of material research for light-harvesting and -emitting applications. It remains extremely challenging, however, to externally control their optical response due to the difficulties of introducing electrical doping. Here, an approach of interfacing ultrathin sheets of perovskites with few-layer graphene and hexagonal boron nitride into gate-tunable, hybrid heterostructures, is demonstrated. It allows for bipolar, continuous tuning of light emission and absorption in 2D perovskites by electrically injecting carriers to densities as high as 1012 cm−2. This reveals the emergence of both negatively and positively charged excitons, or trions, with binding energies up to 46 meV, among the highest measured for 2D systems. Trions are shown to dominate light emission and propagate with mobilities reaching 200 cm2 V−1 s−1 at elevated temperatures. The findings introduce the physics of interacting mixtures of optical and electrical excitations to the broad family of 2D inorganic–organic nanostructures. The presented strategy to electrically control the optical response of 2D perovskites highlights it as a promising material platform toward electrically modulated light-emitters, externally guided charged exciton currents, and exciton transistors based on layered, hybrid semiconductors.