GALLIUM NITRIDE PHOSPHORS FOR DISPLAY APPLICATIONS

SPIRE PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SEQUENCE OF ADVANCED DEPOSITION AND PROCESSING TECHNIQUES FOR CREATING SUPERIOR NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FILMS (ALLOYS OF A1N, GAN, AND INN) SUITABLE FOR PRODUCING FULL COLOR, FLAT TARGETED AT NITRIDES, DEPLOY ION IMPLANTATION TO INTRODUCE P-TYPE DOPANTS AND COLOR CENTERS, AND INSTITUTE PULSED ELECTRON BEAM ANNEALING (PEBA) TO ACTIVATE THE IMPLANTS AND OPTIMIZE CRYSTALLINE PERFECTION. THE HIGH EFFICIENCY, SHORT WAVELENGTH P-N JUNCTION DIODES WILL DEFINE THE PATH TO FULL COLOR FLAT PANEL DISPLAYS, INCLUDING AN EXITATION SOURCE FOR ZNS-BASED PHOSPHORS. PHASE I INVESTIGATIONS WILL CENTER ON RELIAZING REPRODUCTIBLE, HIGH CONDUCTIVITY P-TYPE GAN SAMPLES BASED ON ION-IMPLANTATION OF ZINC, FOLLOWED BY PEBA ACTIVATION. WE PROPOSE THAT THE PEBA ENVIRONMENT OFFERS PRECISE, CONTROLLABLE ANNEALLING CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY OVER THE FULL SURFACE OF SAMPLES; ION IMPLANTATION ALLOWS EXACT DEFINITION OF DOPING PROFILES AND POSITIONING OF INDIVIDUAL PIXELS. STARTING IN PHASE II, ALL SAMPLES WILL BE DEPOSITED IN SPRE'S ELECTRON CYCLOTRON RESONANCE PLASMA DEPOSITION CHAMBER, ASSURING THAT ACTIVATED REACTANTS ARE AVAILABLE TO ENANCE CRYSTALLINE PERFECTION AT REDUCED DEPOSITION TEMPERATURES. ALLOYS OF A1N, GAN, AND INN, WILL BE IMPLANTED WITH DOPANTS AND PROCESSED BY PEBA TO PROVIDE LIGHT EMISSION THROUGHOUT THE VISIBLE SPECTRUM. PHASE II DEVICES WILL LEAD TO AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR DISPLAYS, COMMUNICATIONS (INCLUDING INTERSATELITE), AND DATA PROCESSING AND STORAGE ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: BECAUSE ALLOYS OF THE III-V NITRIDES SPAN THE ENTIRE VISIBLE SPECTRUM, THEY PROMISE TO ALLOW FULL COLOR DISPLAYS FOR HDTV; THE BLUE AND UTLRAVIOLET LIGHT EMITTERS WOULD PROVIDE HIGH DENSITY OPTICAL DATA STORAGE AND ADVANCED BAR CODE READERS.