Low energy electron beam irradiation effect on optical properties of nanopillar MQW InGaN/GaN structures

The low energy electron beam irradiation (LEEBI) effect on optical properties of planar and nanopillar InGaN/GaN muliple quantum well light emitting structures was studied by the cathodoluminescence (CL) method. On the planar structures LEEBI leads to a formation of new InGaN-related emission bands red shifted in comparison with initial one at small irradiation doses and blue shifted at doses higher than 0.5 C/cm2. It was observed that after dry etching used for the nanopillar formation the main InGaN-related emission line moves from 2.92 to 2.98 eV that can be explained by a strain relaxation in the quantum wells. The optical properties of nanopilars start to change under LEEBI at a dose of about one order of magnitude lower than that for planar structures. At high irradiation doses the behavior of both structures under LEEBI is similar. The results obtained were explained by the formation and reconstruction of quantum dots inside the quantum wells due to a point defect generation and redistribution stimulated by the electron beam irradiation