Liquid dispersions of colloidal particles play a big role in nature and as industrial products or intermediates. Their material properties are largely determined by the liquid-mediated particle-particle interaction. In water-based systems, electric charge is ubiquitous and electrostatic particle interaction often is the primary factor in stabilizing dispersions against decomposition by aggregation and sedimentation. Very nonpolar liquids, by contrast, are usually considered free of charge, because their low dielectric constant raises the electrostatic cost of separating opposite charges above the available thermal energy. Defying this conventional wisdom, nonpolar solutions of certain ionic surfactants do support mobile ions and surface charges. Even some nonionic surfactants have recently been found to raise the conductivity of nonpolar oils and promote surface charging of suspended particles, but this counter-intuitive behavior is not yet widely acknowledged, nor is the mechanism of charging understood. The present study provides the first characterization of the electrostatic particle interaction caused by nonionizable surfactants in nonpolar oils. The methods used in this study are video microscopy experiments where particle positions of equilibrium ensembles are obtained and translated into particle interactions. Experimentally, equilibrium particle positions are monitored by digital video microscopy, and subjected to liquid structure analysis in order to find the energy of interaction between two particles. The observed interaction energy profiles agree well with a screened-Coulomb potential, thus confirming the presence of both surface charge and mobile ions in solution. In contrast to recently reported electrostatic particle interactions induced by ionic surfactants in nonpolar solution, the present study finds evidence of charge screening both above and below the surfactant's critical micelle concentration, CMC. Fitted Debye screening lengths are much larger than in aqueous systems, but similar to the Debye length in nonpolar oils reported for micellar solutions of ionic surfactants cite{hsu_charge_2005}. Radial distribution functions obtained from experiments are compared to Monte-Carlo simulations with input potentials obtained from a fit to the interaction measurement. The measured electrostatic forces and fitted surface potentials are fairly substantial and easily capable of stabilizing colloidal dispersions. Although few in number, surface charges formed on polymer particle surfaces submerged in nonpolar solutions of nonionizable surfactants create surface potentials comparable to those in aqueous systems.

InGaN based blue and near-ultraviolet light emitting diodes and laser diodes have been successfully commercialized for many applications such as general lighting, display backlighting and high density optical storage devices. Despite having a comparably high defect density, these devices are known for their efficient operation, which is attributed to localization in potential fluctuations preventing carriers from reaching the centers of nonradiative recombination. Nitride research is currently headed towards improving deep ultraviolet AlGaN and green InGaN emitters with higher Al and In molar fractions. The efficiency of these devices trails behind the blue counterparts as the carrier localization does not seem to aid in supressing nonradiative losses. In addition, the operation of ternary nitride heterostructure based devices is further complicated by the presence of large built-in electric fields. Although the problem can be ameliorated by growing structures in nonpolar or semipolar directions, the step from research to production still awaits. In this thesis, carrier dynamics and localization effects have been studied in three different nitride ternary compounds: AlGaN epitaxial layers and quantum wells with high Al content, nonpolar m-plane InGaN/GaN quantum wells and lattice matched AlInN/GaN heterostructures. The experimental methods of this work mainly consist of spectroscopy techniques such as time-resolved photoluminescence and differential transmission pump-probe measurements as well as spatial photoluminescence mapping by means of scanning near-field microscopy. The comparison of luminescence and differential transmission measurements has allowed estimating the localization depth in AlGaN quantum wells. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that the polarization degree of luminescence from m-InGaN quantum wells decreases as carriers diffuse to localization centers.What is more, dual-scale localization potential has been evidenced by near-field measurements in both AlGaN and m-InGaN. Larger scale potential fluctuation have been observed directly and the depth of nanoscopic localization has been estimated theoretically from the recorded linewidth of the near-field spectra. Lastly, efficient carrier transport has been observed through AlInN layer despite large alloy inhomogeneities evidenced by broad luminescence spectra and the huge Stokes shift. Inhomogeneous luminescence from the underlying GaN layer has been linked to the fluctuations of the built-in electric field at the AlInN/GaN interface. / <p>QC 20121101</p>

This thesis studies the formation of mobile and surface-bound electric charges in nonpolar liquids. Unlike aqueous media with their natural abundance of charged species, liquids of low dielectric constant do not readily accommodate charges, but can do so in the presence of certain surfactant additives. Surfactant-mediated charging in nonpolar oils has long been exploited industrially, but the underlying charging mechanisms are far from understood. The present work seeks clarification by comparing the effect of ionic and nonionic surfactants on the conductivity of nonpolar solutions and the electrophoretically observable surface charge of suspended polymer particles. Both types of surfactant are found to generate mobile ions in solution as well as particle charge; and in the more surprising case of nonionic surfactants, the occurrence of particle charge and screening ions is confirmed independently by measurements of the electrostatic particle interaction energy. A systematic variation of the particle material and functionalization, the residual water content, and the surfactant concentration above and below the critical micelle concentration provides insights about the possible charging pathways. Reverse surfactant micelles are explored not only as charging agents, but also as reactors and templates for the synthesis of novel nanogels with promise for drug delivery. Synthesis via copper-free Click chemistry is shown to allow for better control of the particle size than a more conventional polymerization scheme, while avoiding metal catalysts and free radicals that are considered hazardous for most biomedical applications.

No description available.

Group III-nitride semiconductors are well suited for the fabrication of devices including visible-ultraviolet light emitting diodes, high-temperature and high-frequency devices. The wurtzite III-nitride based heterostructures grown along polar c-direction have large internal electric fields due to discontinuities in spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. For optoelectronic devices, such as light-emitting diodes and laser diodes, the internal electric field is deleterious as it causes a spatial separation of electron and hole wave functions in the quantum wells, which decreases emission efficiency. Growth of GaN-based heterostructures in alternative orientations, which have reduced (semipolar) or no polarization (nonpolar) in the growth direction, has been a major area of research in the last few years. The correlation between structural, optical and transport properties of semipolar and nonpolar III-nitride would be extremely useful. The thesis focuses on the growth and characterizations of semipolar and nonpolar III-nitride heterostructures by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to the III-nitride semiconductors. The importance of semipolar and nonpolar III-nitride heterostructures over conventional polar heterostructures has been discussed. Chapter 2 deals with the descriptions of molecular beam epitaxy system and working principles of different characterization tools used in the present work. Chapter 3 addresses the molecular beam epitaxial growth of nonpolar (1 1 -2 0) and semipolar (1 1 -2 2) GaN on sapphire substrates. An in-plane orientation relationship is found to be [0 0 0 1] GaN || [-1 1 0 1] sapphire and [-1 1 0 0] GaN || [1 1 -2 0] sapphire for nonpolar GaN on r-sapphire substrates. Effect of growth temperature on structural, morphological and optical properties of nonpolar GaN has been studied. The growth temperature plays a major role in controlling crystal quality, morphology and emission properties of nonpolar a-plane GaN. The a-plane GaN shows crystalline anisotropy nature and it has reduced with increase in the growth temperature. The surface roughness was found to decrease with increase in growth temperature and film grown at 760°C shows reasonably smooth surface with roughness 3.05 nm. Room temperature photoluminescence spectra show near band emission peak at 3.434 -3.442 eV. The film grown at 800 ºC shows broad yellow luminescence peak at 2.2 eV. Low temperature photoluminescence spectra show near band emission at 3.483 eV along with defect related emissions. Raman spectra exhibit blue shift due to compressive strain in the film. An in-plane orientation relationship is found to be [1 -1 00] GaN || [1 2-1 0] sapphire and [-1 -1 2 3] GaN || [0 0 0 1] sapphire for semipolar GaN on m-plane sapphire substrates. The surface morphology of semipolar GaN film is found to be reasonably smooth with pits on the surface. Room temperature photoluminescence shows the near band emission (NBE) at 3.432 eV, which is slightly blue shifted compared to the bulk GaN. The Raman E2 (high) peak position observed at 569.1 cm1. Chapter 4 deals with the fabrication and characterizations of Au/nonpolar and Au/semipolar GaN schottky diodes. The temperature-dependent current–voltage measurements have been used to determine the current mechanisms in Schottky diodes fabricated on nonpolar a-plane GaN and semipolar GaN epilayers. The barrier height (φb) and ideally factor (η) estimated from the thermionic emission model are found to be temperature dependent in nature indicate the deviations from the thermionic emission (TE) transport mechanism. Low temperature I-V characteristics of Au/ GaN Schottky diode show temperature independent tunnelling parameter. Barrier heights calculated from XPS are found to be 0.96 eV and 1.13 eV for Au/nonpolar GaN and Au/semipolar GaN respectively. Chapter 5 demonstrates the growth of InN on r-sapphire substrates with and without GaN buffer layer. InN film and nanostructures are grown on r-sapphire without GaN buffer layer and they are highly oriented along (0002) direction. The electron microscopy study confirms the nanostructures are vertically aligned and highly oriented along the (0001) direction. The Raman studies of InN nanostructures show the SO modes along with the other possible Raman modes. The band gap of InN nanostructures is found to be 0.82 eV. InN grown with a-plane GaN buffer shows nonpolar orientated growth. Growth temperature dependent studies of nonpolar a-plane InN epilayers are carried out. The valence band offset value is calculated to be 1.31 eV for nonpolar a-plane InN/GaN heterojunctions. The heterojunctions form in the type-I straddling configuration with a conduction band offsets of 1.41 eV. Chapter 6 deals with the temperature dependent I-V characteristics of the nonpolar a-plane (1 1 -2 0) InN/GaN heterostructures. The measured values of barrier height and ideality factor from the TE model show the temperature dependent variation. The double Gaussian distribution has mean barrier height values ( ϕb ) of 1.17 and 0.69 eV with standard deviation (σs ) of 0.17 and 0.098 V, respectively. The modified Richardson plot ln (Is/T2)-q2σ2/2k2T2 ) versus q/kT in the temperature range of 350 – 500 K, yielded the Richardson constant of 19.5 A/cm2 K2 which is very close to the theoretical value of 24 A/cm2 K2 for n-type GaN. The tunneling parameters E0 found to be temperature independent at low temperature range (150 –300 K). Chapter 7 concludes with the summary of present investigations and the scope for future work.

The modern InGaN technology demonstrates high efficiencies only in the blue spectral region and low current operation modes. The growth of InGaN quantum wells (QWs) on nonbasal crystallographic planes (NBP) has potential to deliver high-power blue and green light emitting diodes and lasers. The emission properties of these QWs are largely determined by the localization of carriers in the minima of spatially inhomogeneous band potential, which affects the recombination dynamics, spectral characteristics of the emission, its optical polarization and carrier transport. Understanding it is crucial for increasing the efficiency of NBP structures to their theoretical limit. In this thesis, the influence of carrier localization on the critical aspects of light emission has been investigated in semipolar  and nonpolar  InGaN QWs. For this purpose, novel multimode scanning near-field optical microscopy configurations have been developed, allowing mapping of the spectrally-, time-, and polarization-resolved emission. In the nonpolar QW structures the sub-micrometer band gap fluctuations could be assigned to the selective incorporation of indium on different slopes of the undulations, while in the smoother semipolar QWs – to the nonuniformity of QW growth. The nanoscale band potential fluctuations and the carrier localization were found to increase with increasing indium percentage in the InGaN alloy. In spite to the large depth of the potential minima, the localized valence band states were found to retain properties of the corresponding bands. The reduced carrier transfer between localization sites has been suggested as a reason for the long recombination times in the green-emitting semipolar QWs. Sharp increase of the radiative lifetimes has been assigned to the effect of nanoscale electric fields resulting from nonplanar QW interfaces. Lastly, the ambipolar carrier diffusion has been measured, revealing ~100 nm diffusion length and high anisotropy. / <p>QC 20170919</p>

InGaN based light emitting devices operating in the blue and near UV spectral regions are commercialized and used in many applications. InGaN heterostructures experience compositional inhomogeneity and thus potential fluctuations, such that regions of higher indium composition are formed and correspond to lower potentials. The indium rich regions form localization centers that save carriers from non-radiative recombination at dislocations, thus despite the large defect density, their quantum efficiency are surprisingly large. However, the conventional c-plane InGaN QWs suffer from high internal piezoelectric and spontaneous fields. These fields are detrimental for the performance of such structures as they lead to the quantum confined stark effect causing red-shift of the emission as well as reducing the electrons and holes wavefunctions overlap, thereby reducing the radiative recombination rate. However, growth of InGaN QWs on semipolar and nonpolar planes greatly reduced the polarization fields. Semipolar and nonpolar QWs experience an outstanding property which is polarized luminescence, opening a new frontier for applications for InGaN emitting devices. While nonpolar QWs have larger degree of polarized emission than semipolar QWs, semipolar QWs can emit in longer wavelengths due to their higher indium uptake. In this thesis, semipolar 20¯21 and nonpolar m-plane InGaN/GaN QWs were investigated. Photoluminescence, spectral and polarization dynamics were all studied in order to form a whole picture of the carrier dynamics in the QWs. Time resolved photoluminescence measurements were conducted for following carriers distribution between extended and localized states. Both the semipolar and nonpolar samples showed efficient luminescence through short radiative recombination times, as well as carrier localization in lower potential sites after thermal activation of excitons. Carrier localization was found to be benign as it didn’t degrade the performance of the samples or decrease the polarization ratio of their emission. However, the structures showed modest potential variations with the absence of deep localization centers or quantum dots. High polarization ratios were measured for both samples, which is well-known for nonpolar QWs. The high polarization ratio for the semipolar sample is of great importance, thus semipolar 20¯21 QWs should be considered for longer wavelength emitters with highly polarized spontaneous emission.

Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit den optischen Eigenschaften von dünnen GaN-Schichten gewachsen in verschiedenen Orientierungen. Hierbei werden die optischen Eigenschaften von verspannten M- und A-plane sowie unverspannten C-plane GaN-Schichten untersucht und die Ergebnisse im Rahmen von Bandstrukturberechnungen diskutiert. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden die Bandstrukturverschiebungen theoretisch mittels eines k.p-Näherungsansatzes untersucht. Diese Bandverschiebungen beeinflussen sowohl die Übergangsenergien als auch die Oszillatorstärken. Man findet, dass die C-plane Schicht im Falle einer isotropen Verspannung in der Filmebene keine Anisotropie der optischen Polarisation zeigt. In beiden Fällen zeigen die drei Übergänge von den drei oberen Valenzbändern in das untere Leitungsband andere Polarisationseigenschaften als die entsprechenden Übergänge in C-plane GaN-Schichten. Es wird beobachtet, dass für einen bestimmten Wertebereich der Verspannung in der Filmebene diese Übergänge nahezu vollständig x-,z- bzw. y-artig polarisiert sind. Die verwendeten Schichten wurden auch mittels Transmissionspektroskopie untersucht. Im Falle der M-plane GaN-Schichten können zwei fundamentale Übergänge identifiziert werden, wobei der elektrische Feldvektor E des einfallenden Lichtes einmal parallel (z-Polarisation) und einmal senkrecht (x-Polarisation) auf der c-Achse steht. Die M-plane GaN-Schicht besitzt unterschiedliche Dielektrizitätskonstanten für z-Polarisation und x-Polarisation, welche zu zusätzlichem Dichroismus und Doppelbrechung führen. Als Resultat findet eine Filterung der Polarisation für einfallendes, linear polarisiertes Licht statt. Die elektrische Feldkomponente mit x-Polarisation wird stärker absorbiert als die Komponente mit z-Polarisation. Diese Polarisationsfilterung äußert sich für schmalbandiges Licht in Form einer Drehung der Polarisationsebene in Richtung der c-Achse, wobei ein maximaler Rotationswinkel von 40 Grad gefunden wurde. / In this work, we focus on the optical response of GaN thin films grown along various orientations. The optical properties of strained M- and A- and unstrained C-plane GaN thin films are investigated, and the results are explained with help of band-structure calculations. We calculate the strain-induced band-structure modification using the k.p perturbation approach. The valence-band (VB) states are modified affecting both the transition energies as well as the oscillator strengths. We observe that C-plane GaN does not show any in-plane polarization anisotropy, when an isotropic in-plane strain is applied. For the case of M- and A-plane GaN, one expects to see an in-plane polarization anisotropy even for the unstrained case. Additionally, the in-plane strain significantly changes the band structure and the symmetry of the VB states. The three transitions, involving electrons in the conduction band (CB) and holes in the top three VBs, will exhibit a very different polarization characteristic than the ones for C-plane GaN. These transitions are predominantly x, z, and y polarized, respectively, for a certain range of in-plane strain values, present in our samples. For M-plane GaN thin films, two fundamental transitions can be identified, which occur when the electric field vector E is perpendicular (x-polarization) and parallel c (z-polarization). These transitions give rise to a transmittance spectrum separated by 50 meV at room temperature with respect to each other. This result in a polarization filtering of an incident linearly polarized light beam after transmission, because the electric field component with x-polarization is more strongly absorbed than with z-polarization. This filtering manifests as a rotation of the polarization vector toward the c axis and can be as large as 40 degrees for an initial angle of 60 degrees, for our samples.

General lighting with InGaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) as light sources is of particular interest in terms of energy savings and related environmental benefits due to high lighting efficiency, long lifetime, and Hg-free nature. Incandescent and fluorescent light sources are used for general lighting almost everywhere. But their lighting efficiency is very limited: only 20-30 lm/W for incandescent lighting bulb, approximately 100 lm/W for fluorescent lighting. State-of-the-art InGaN LEDs with a luminous efficacy of over 200 lm/W at room temperature have been reported. However, the goal of replacing the incandescent and fluorescent lights with InGaN LEDs is still elusive since their lighting efficiency decreases substantially when the injection current increases beyond certain values (typically 10-50 Acm-2). In order to improve the electroluminescence (EL) performance at high currents for InGaN LEDs, two approaches have been undertaken in this thesis. First, we explored the preparation and characterization of non-polar and semi-polar GaN substrates (including a-plane, m-plane and semi-polar planes). These substrates serve as promising alternatives to the commonly used c-plane, with the benefit of a reduced polarization-induced electric field and therefore higher quantum efficiency. It is demonstrated that LEDs on m-plane GaN substrates have inherently higher EL quantum efficiency and better efficiency retention ability at high injection currents than their c-plane counterparts. Secondly, from a device structure level, we explored the possible origins of the EL efficiency degradation at high currents in InGaN LEDs and investigated the effect of hot electrons on EL of LEDs by varying the barrier height of electron blocking layer. A first-order theoretical model is proposed to explain the effect of electron overflow caused by hot electron transport across the LED active region on LED EL performance. The calculation results are in agreement with experimental observations. Furthermore, a novel structure called a “staircase electron injector” (SEI) is demonstrated to effectively thermalize hot electrons, thereby reducing the reduction of EL efficiency due to electron overflow. The SEI features several InyGa1-yN layers, with their In fraction (y) increasing in a stepwise manner, starting with a low value at the first step near the junction with n-GaN.

InGaN-based light emitters are strongly affected by the inhomogeneous broadening induced by random alloy fluctuations. While these effects have been extensively investigated on c-plane (e.g. localization of carriers at low carrier density due to potential fluctuations, delocalization at higher carrier density), much fewer work report on the impact of inhomogeneous broadening on the emission properties of semipolar and nonpolar InGaN quantum wells (QWs). In addition to have a higher electron- and hole-wavefunction overlap and thereby an increased radiative recombination rate thanks to the reduced/suppressed built-in electric field due to polarization discontinuities at heterointerfaces, QWs grown along semipolar/nonpolar crystal orientations have the interesting property to emit polarized light. The characterization and theoretical understanding of their optical polarization properties is the first main focus of this thesis. A correlation between spectral width and degree of linear polarization (DLP) is highlighted through extensive temperature- and excitation-dependent polarization-resolved confocal micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy carried out on planar semi-polar/nonpolar QWs and on the m-plane side facet of core-shell microrods. A theoretical model based on electronic band structure calculated by the kp-envelope function method is developed to explain this correlation by taking inhomogeneous broadening into account. Considering indium content fluctuations and the localization lengths of electrons and holes, different effective broadenings are applied to groups of subbands. It is shown that for high-inclination semipolar and nonpolar InGaN/GaN QWs inhomogeneous broadening leads to a significant increase of the DLP at room temperature. Furthermore, the DLP-drop towards high carrier density due to the transition from the Boltzmann- to the Fermi-regime is smoother and starts at lower carrier density. The model is also used to study the peculiar polarization properties of (202¯1) InGaN/GaN QWs compared to (202¯1¯) QWs: although they have equivalent band structures in the framework of k·p-theory and are therefore expected to have identical optical polarization properties, (202¯1) QWs consistently exhibit a lower DLP than (202¯1¯) QWs. This discrepancy might be related to different effective broadenings of their valence subbands induced by the rougher upper QW interface in (202¯1), by the larger sensitivity of holes to this upper interface due to the polarization field in (202¯1), and/or by the different degrees of localization of holes. Besides being strongly affected by inhomogeneous broadening, InGaN-based LEDs suffer from efficiency droop: their efficiency maximum is already reached at relatively low current density and then significantly drops towards their typical operation conditions. One way to mitigate its effect is to reduce the carrier density inside the active region, which can be achieved via several approaches, e.g. growing the active region on a 3D template, on a semipolar/nonpolar substrate or a relaxed InGaN template. The last two approaches reduce/suppress the built-in polarization field leading to wavefunctions with larger overlap and spread across the active region. In order to check and validate these approaches, a way to measure the carrier density inside the active region is necessary. This complex task, which is the second focus of this work, requires fitting a model of the carrier recombination dynamics to experimental data. Several methods are already available, which are mostly based on the basic ABC-model. The validity of this model is discussed through measurement of efficiency curves on various samples and extended to take into account the background carrier density at low carrier density and band-filling at high carrier density. The DLP drop towards high carrier density is fitted simultaneously with the efficiency curve to improve the robustness of the extraction of recombination coefficients. Nevertheless, without insights from time-resolved experimental data, extracting all recombination coefficients is shown to be very critical leading to ambiguous fitting results. Time-resolved measurements being complex and time-consuming, a new method based on an extended ABC-model and room-temperature bias-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy is proposed. When investigating semipolar/nonpolar LEDs, this method allows to extract the carrier density within the active region without having to carry out time-resolved measurements, which is demonstrated using polarization-resolved efficiency curves measured on a m-plane LED. Growing the active region on 3D templates to reduce the local carrier density requires eventually experimental techniques with high spatial resolution for its characterization. This work reports the experimental know-how acquired through extensive characterization of single InGaN/GaN core-shell microrods. A thorough description of the confocal microscope and its alignment is given to achieve reproducible and diffraction limited spatial resolution polarization-resolved photoluminescence measurements, which allowed the first local internal quantum efficiency measurement along the side facet of InGaN/GaN core-shell microrods. / InGaN-basierte Lichtquellen sind stark von inhomogener Verbreiterung, die aus zufälligen Legierungsfluktuationen entsteht, beeinflusst. Während diese Effekte ausführlich auf die c-Ebene untersucht wurden (z.B. Ladungsträgerlokalisierung bei niedriger Ladungsträgerdichte auf Grund von Potentialfluktuationen, Delokalisierung bei höherer Ladungsträgerdichte), untersuchen wenige Studien den Einfluss von inhomogener Verbreiterung auf die Emissionseigenschaften von semipolarer und nonpolarer InGaN Quantentrögen. Quantentröge, die entlang semipolaren/nonpolaren Kristallrichtungen gewachsen sind, haben einen höheren Überlapp der Elektron- und Löcherwellenfunktionen und dadurch eine höhere strahlende Rekombinationsrate dank des niedrigen / unterdrückten elektrischen Feldes, das durch Polarizationsdiskontinuitäten an Heteroübergängen entsteht. Diese Quantentröge haben die interessante Eigenschaft, polariziertes Licht auszustrahlen. Die Charakterizierung und das theoretische Verständnis von diesen Polarizationseigenschaften ist der erste Schwerpunkt dieser Dissertation. Umfangreiche temperatur- und anregungsabhängige polarizationsaufgelöste konfokale Mikro-Photolumineszenz Spektroskopie auf planaren semipolaren/nonpolaren Quantentröge und auf die m-Ebene Seitenfacette von Core-Shell Mikrosäulen deuten auf eine Korrelation zwischen der spektralen Breite und dem optischen Polarizationsgrad. Basirend auf elektronischen Bandstrukturen, die mittels der k·p Hüllfunktionsmethode berechnet werden, wird ein theoretisches Modell entwickelt, um diese Korrelation unter Berücksichtigung der inhomogenen Verbreiterung zu erklären. In Anbetracht der Fluktuationen des Indiumgehalts und der Lokalisierungslängen von Elektronen und Löchern, werden unterschiedliche effektive Verbreiterungen auf Gruppen von Subbändern angewendet. Dadurch wird gezeigt, dass bei Raumtemperatur inhomogene Verbreiterung zu einem signifikanten Anstieg des Polarizationsgrads von semipolaren und nonpolaren InGaN/GaN Quantentrögen mit hoher Neigung führt. Darüber hinaus ist der Polarizationsgrad-Abfall bei höheren Ladungsträgerdichten aufgrund des Übergangs vom Boltzmann- zum Fermi-Regime glatter und beginnt bei niedrigerer Ladungsträgerdichte. Das Modell wird auch verwendet, um die besonderen Polarizationseigenschaften von (202¯1) InGaN/GaN Quantentrögen im Vergleich zu (202¯1¯) Quantentrögen zu untersuchen. Durch ihre äquivalenten Bandstrukturen im Rahmen der k·p-Theorie wird erwartet, dass sie ähnliche Polarizationseigenschaften zeigen. (202¯1) Quantentröge haben jedoch durchweg einen niedrigeren Polarizationsgrad als (202¯1¯) Quantentröge. Diese Diskrepanz könnte auf unterschiedliche effektive Verbreiterung ihrer Valenz-Subbänder zurückgeführt werden, die durch die rauere obere Quantentrog-Grenzfläche in (202¯1), durch die größere Empfindlichkeit der Löcher gegenüber dieser oberen Grenzfläche aufgrund des Polarizationsfelds in (202¯1) und /oder durch die unterschiedlichen Lokalisierungsgrade der Löcher induziert werden. InGaN LEDs sind nicht nur stark von inhomogener Verbreiterung beeinflusst, sondern leiden auch unter efficiency droop: Ihr Wirkungsgradmaximum wird bereits bei relativ geringer Stromdichte erreicht und fällt dann deutlich gegenüber ihrer typischen Betriebsbedingungen ab. Eine Möglichkeit, diesen Effekt abzuschwächen, ist, die Ladungsträgerdichte innerhalb des aktiven Bereichs zu verringern, was über verschiedene Ansätze erreicht werden kann. Die aktive Region kann zum Beispiel auf einer 3D-Pufferschicht, auf einem semipolaren/nonpolaren Substrat oder auf einer relaxierten InGaN-Pufferschicht gewachsen werden. Die letzten zwei Ansätze reduzieren/unterdrücken das Polarizationsfeld und führen dadurch zu Wellenfunktionen, die eine grössere Überlappung und Ausbreitung über die aktive Region haben. Damit diese Ansätze überprüft und validiert werden können, ist ein Verfahren erforderlich, um die Ladungsträgerdichte innerhalb der aktiven Region zu bestimmen. Diese komplexe Aufgabe, die den zweiten Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit bildet, erfordert die Anpassung eines Modells der Ladungsträgerrekombinationsdynamik an experimentellen Daten. Die meisten Methoden, die bereits zur Verfügung stehen, nutzen das einfache ABC-Modell. Die Gültigkeit dieses Modells wird durch Messung von Effizienzkurven auf verschiedenen Proben diskutiert und erweitert, um die Hintergrungladungsträgerdichte bei niedriger Ladungsträgerdichte und Bandfüllung bei hoher Ladungsträgerdichte zu berücksichtigen. Der Polarizationsgrad-Abfall gegen hohe Ladungsträgerdichten wird gleichzeitig mit der Effizienzkurve angepasst, um das Bestimmen der Rekombinationskoeffizienten zu verbessern. Es ist jedoch sehr kritisch, alle Rekombinationskoeffizienten eindeutig zu bestimmen, ohne zeitaufgelöste experimentelle Daten zu berücksichtigen. Da zeitaufgelöste Messungen komplex und zeitaufwändig sind, wird eine neue Methode vorgeschlagen, die auf Bias-abhängiger Photolumineszenzspektroskopie bei Raumtemperatur und auf einem erweiterten ABC-Modell basiert. Bei der Untersuchung semipolarer/nonpolarer LEDs ermöglicht diese Methode das Bestimmen der Ladungsträgerdichte innerhalb der aktiven Region, ohne zeitaufgelöste Messungen durchführen zu müssen. Dies wird anhand polarizationsaufgelöster Effizienzkurven auf einer m-Ebene LED demonstriert. Das Wachsen der aktiven Region auf 3D-Pufferschichten zur Verringerung der lokalen Ladungsträgerdichte erfordert für ihre Charakterisierung experimentelle Techniken mit hoher räumlicher Auflösung. Diese Arbeit berichtet über das experimentelle Know-how, das durch die Charakterisierung einzelner InGaN/GaN Core-Shell Mikrosäulen erworben wurde. Eine gründliche Beschreibung des konfokalen Mikroskops und seiner Ausrichtung ist gegeben, um reproduzierbare polarizationsaufgelöste Photolumineszenzmessungen mit beugungsbegrenzter räumlicher Auflösung zu erreichen, die die ersten lokalen internen Quanteneffizienzmessungen entlang der Seitenfacette von InGaN/GaN Core-Shell Mikrosäulen ermöglichte. / Les sources lumineuses à base de InGaN sont fortement affectées par l'élargissement inhomogène dû aux fluctuations du taux d'indium. Alors que ces effets ont été étudiés extensivement sur le plan-c (par exemple: localisation des porteurs de charge à basse densité de porteurs dûe aux fluctuations de potentiel, délocalisation à plus haute densité de porteurs), seulement peu de travaux sont consacrés à l'étude de l'impact de l'élargissement inhomogène sur les propriétés d'émission des puits quantiques InGaN semipolaires et nonpolaires. En plus d'avoir un recouvrement plus grand des fonctions d'ondes des électrons et des trous, et par conséquent un taux de recombination radiatif plus élevé grâce à la réduction/suppression du champs électrique interne dû aux discontinuités de polarisation aux hétérointerfaces, les puits quantiques crûs dans les directions semipolaires/nonpolaires ont la propriété intéressante d'émettre de la lumière polarisée. La charactérisation et compréhension théorique de leurs propriétés de polarisation optique est l'un des axes de cette thèse. Une corrélation entre la largeur spectrale et le degré de polarisation linéaire (DLP = angl. degree of linear polarization) est mise en évidence par le biais de spectroscopie de micro-photoluminescence confocale résolue en polarisation en fonction de la température et de l'excitation éffectuée sur des puits quantiques planaires semipolaires et nonpolaires ainsi que sur les facettes latérales plan-m de micro-piliers core-shell. Un model théorique basé sur la structure de bandes électroniques calculée par la méthode k·p des fonctions d'enveloppe est développé pour expliquer cette corrélation en prenant l'élargissement inhomogène en compte. En considérant les fluctuations du taux d'indium et la longueur de localisation des électrons et des trous, des élargissements effectifs différents sont appliqués à des groupes de sous-bandes. Le modèle montre que pour les puits quantiques semipolaires/nonpolaires d'haute inclinaison l'élargissement inhomogène engendre une augmentation significative du DLP à température ambiante. De plus, vers les densités de porteurs plus élevées, la chute du DLP induite par la tansition du régime de Boltzmann au régime de Fermi est plus lente et commence à plus basse densité de porteurs. Le modèle est également utilisé pour étudié les propriétés particulières de polarisation optique des puits quantiques (202¯1) comparés aux puits (202¯1¯). Malgré qu'ils aient des structures de bandes équivalentes dans le cadre de la théorie k·p et devraient ainsi avoir des propriétés de polarisation optique identiques, les puits quantiques (202¯1) ont systématiquement un DLP plus bas que les puits quantiques (202¯1¯). Cette divergence est probablement liée aux élargissements effectifs différents qui s'appliquent à leurs sous-bandes de valence en raison de l'interface supérieure plus rugueuse du puit (202¯1), de la sensibilité des trous à l'interface supérieure du puit (202¯1) à cause du champ électrique interne, et/ou du différent degré de localisation des trous En plus d'être fortement affecté par l'élargissement inhomogène, les LEDs InGaN souffrent d'efficiency droop: leur efficacité maximale est atteinte déjà à une densité de courant relativement basse et baisse ensuite significativement vers leurs conditions d'opération typiques. Un moyen pour mitiger cet effet est de réduire la densité de courant dans la zone active, ce qui peut être atteint via plusieurs approches, notamment en croissant la région active sur un template 3D, sur un substrat semipolaire/nonpolaire ou un template d'InGaN relaxé. Les deux dernière approches diminuent/suppriment le champs électrique interne augmantant ainsi le recouvrement des fonctions d'onde et leur étendue dans la zone active. Afin de vérifier ces approches, une méthode pour déterminer la densité de porteurs dans la zone active est nécessaire. Cette tâche complexe, qui est le second axe de ce travail, requière d'ajuster un modèle de la dynamique de recombinaison des porteurs à des données expérimentales. La plupart des méthodes déjà disponibles se basent sur le simple modèle ABC. La validité de ce modèle est discutée à travers des courbes d'efficacité mesurées sur différents échantillons et étendue pour prendre en compte la densité de porteurs dûe au dopage à basse densité de porteurs ainsi que le remplissage des bandes à haute densité de porteurs. La chute du DLP vers les hautes densités de porteurs est ajustée simultanément à la courbe d'éfficacité pour augmenter la robustesse de la détermination des coefficients de recombinaison. Il est cependant montré que sans prendre en compte des données expériemntales résolues en temps il est très difficile d'extraire tous les coefficients de recombinaison sans ambiguosités. Les mesures résolues en temps étant complexes et longues, une nouvelle méthode basée sur un modèle ABC étendu et de la spectroscopie photoluminescence en fonction du bias à température ambiante est proposée. Lorsqu'elle est appliquée à des LEDs semipolaires/nonpolaires, elle permet d'extraire la densité de porteurs dans la région active sans devoir effectuer des mesures résolues en temps. La méthode est démontrée en utilisant des courbes d'efficacité résolues en polarisation measurées sur une LED plan-m. Croître la région active sur un template 3D afin de diminuer la densité locale de porteurs nécessite au final pour sa characterisation une technique expérimentale ayant une haute résolution spatiale. Ce travail résume le savoir-faire expérimental acquis en characterisant des micro-piliers core-shell InGaN/GaN uniques. Une description détaillée du microscope confocal et de son alignement est donnée pour atteindre des mesures de photoluminescence reproductibles et ayant une résolution limitée par la diffraction, ce qui a permis la première mesure locale d'efficacité interne quantique le long de la facette latérale de micro-piliers core-shell InGaN/GaN.