Dependence of the luminescence energy in InGaN quantum-well structures on applied biaxial strain

N. A. Shapiro; Y. Kim; H. Feick; E. R. Weber; P. Perlin; J. W. Yang; I. Akasaki; H. Amano

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.62.R16318

Rapid Communication

Dependence of the luminescence energy in InGaN quantum-well structures on applied biaxial strain

N. A. Shapiro, Y. Kim, H. Feick, E. R. Weber, P. Perlin, J. W. Yang, I. Akasaki, and H. Amano

Phys. Rev. B 62, R16318(R) – Published 15 December 2000

Abstract

Direct application of biaxial strain to GaN and InGaN/GaN multiple quantum-well (MQW) structures is achieved through the use of a specially designed pressure cell. The photoluminescence of the samples is measured as a function of the applied biaxial strain. The luminescence of the GaN sample redshifts with tensile strain in a manner that agrees quantitatively with the expected shrinkage of the energy gap. The luminescence of the InGaN MQW structures shows a smaller than expected redshift for one sample, and a blueshift for another. This blueshift agrees with calculations based on the built-in electric field and the piezoelectric effect in a quantum well in which the radiative recombination is dominated by the quantum-confined Stark effect.