Influence of quantum well thickness on the Cathodoluminescent properties of AlGaN-based UVC light source tube with CNT field emitters

Far ultraviolet C (UVC) light sources work well for a variety of applications, such as water purification, bacteria and virus sterilization, and sensing, because of their short wavelength. Herein, the recognized problems with a conventional UVC-LED are solved by creating a triode structure UVC light source tube (UVC-LST) operating at ∼268 nm employing a carbon nanotube (CNT) electron emitter as an excitation source. The UVC light emission of an aluminum reflector-capped AlGaN multiple quantum well (MQW) heterostructures synthesized on a nanopatterned sapphire substrate based on a cathodoluminescence (CL) layer is assessed. For luminescence results comparison, the heterostructure of AlGaN-based MQWs was fabricated with various QW layer thicknesses of 1, 1.5, and 2 nm. The utilization of a thinner QW layer with a thickness of 1 nm significantly improved the UVC light emission efficiency compared to the UVC-LSTs fabricated with thicker QW layers of 1.5 nm and 2 nm. The UVC-LST with the 1 nm QW layer exhibited approximately a 30 % improvement in light output power compared to the UVC-LST with a 1.5 nm QW layer, and closely a 33 % improvement compared to the UVC-LST with a 2 nm QW layer. Moreover, the UVC-LST with the thinner QW layer demonstrated a high power efficiency of 5.24 % when operating on a 2-inch light-emitting area, while consuming a low power of 7 W. This high power efficiency indicates that a significant portion of the input electrical power is effectively converted into UVC light output, highlighting the superior performance of the UVC-LST based on the 1 nm QW layer design. •Far ultraviolet C (UVC) light sources based triode structure was successfully fabricated.•A carbon nanotube (CNT) electron emitter served as an excitation source.•AlGaN-based MQWs was fabricated with various QW layer thicknesses.•The thinner QW layer with a thickness improved the UVC light emission efficiency.•The thinner QW layer demonstrated a high power efficiency of 5.24 %.