Emission color-tuned light-emitting diode microarrays of nonpolar In_xGa_1-xN/GaN multishell nanotube heterostructures

Integration of nanostructure lighting source arrays with well-defined emission wavelengths is of great importance for optoelectronic integrated monolithic circuitry. We report on the fabrication and optical properties of GaN-based p-n junction multishell nanotube microarrays with composition-modulated nonpolar m-plane In_xGa_1-xN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) integrated on c-sapphire or Si substrates. The emission wavelengths were controlled in the visible spectral range of green to violet by varying the indium mole fraction of the In_xGa_1-xN MQWs in the range 0.13 < x < 0.36. Homogeneous emission from the entire area of the nanotube LED arrays was achieved via the formation of MQWs with uniform QW widths and composition by heteroepitaxy on the well-ordered nanotube arrays. Importantly, the wavelength-invariant electroluminescence emission was observed above a turn-on of 3.0 V because both the quantum-confinement Stark effect and band filling were suppressed due to the lack of spontaneous inherent electric field in the m-plane nanotube nonpolar MQWs. The method of fabricating the multishell nanotube LED microarrays with controlled emission colors has potential applications in monolithic nonpolar photonic and optoelectronic devices on commonly used c-sapphire and Si substrates.