Orthogonally and linearly polarized green emission from a semipolar InGaN based microcavity

Abstract Polarized light has promising applications in biological inspections, displays and precise measurements. Direct emission of polarized light from a semiconductor device is highly desired in order to reduce the size and energy-consumption of the whole system. Herein, we demonstrate a semipolar GaN-based microcavity light-emitting diode (MCLED) that could simultaneously produce green light with perpendicular and parallel polarizations to the c*-axis. Orthogonally polarized emission with a narrow linewidth (~ 0.2 nm) arises from the valence band splitting and birefringent nature of the semipolar GaN material, as well as the mode selection of the resonant cavity. By modulating the cavity length, the device is capable of switching between single- and multi-mode emission spectra. We believe that the approach of employing a cavity structure and semipolar GaN can be extended to produce orthogonally and linearly polarized blue, red and violet light by adjusting the material compositions.