Deep ultraviolet emitting polarization induced nanowire light emitting diodes with AlxGa₁-xN active regions

In this report, we demonstrate band gap tuning of the active region emission wavelength from 365 nm to 250 nm in light emitting diodes fashioned from catalyst-free III-nitride nanowires. Optical characteristics of the nanowire heterostructures and fabricated devices are studied via electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence spectroscopy over a wide range of active region compositions. It is observed that for typical nanowire plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy growth conditions, tuning of emission to wavelengths shorter than 300 nm is hampered by the presence of an optically active defect level. We show that by increasing the AlGaN nanowire growth temperatures this defect emission can be suppressed. These findings are applied to growth of the active region of a nanowire light emitting diode, resulting in a polarization-induced nanowire light emitting diode with peak EL at 250 nm.