Towards a polariton-based light emitter based on non-polar GaN quantum wells

A polariton-based light emitter is a extraordinary concept as an alternative to a light-emitting diode (LED) or laser diode. The physics of a polariton laser is fundamentally different from the spontaneous emission process of an LED or the inversion and stimulated emission process of a laser diode. The rapid decay and emission from this polariton–exciton state bypasses the normal irreversible spontaneous emission and associated non-radiative decay mechanisms. An AlGaN/AlN nucleation bilayer was employed on r -plane sapphire to deposit non-polar GaN quantum wells embedded in an AlGaN-based cavity surrounded by top and bottom distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). The reflectance data show that the exciton and photon states can be tuned (by changing the angle of the sample) to the same energy. The characteristic strong coupling was observed in the reflectance data where the states of the exciton and photon do not overlap; rather they split into an upper polariton state and a lower polariton state. The photoluminescence (PL) showed a strong emission at a low stimulation level at a similar energy and angle.