Excitonic optical properties of GaN homoepitaxial layers have been studied by means of magneto-luminescence and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. The luminescence lines due to the radiative recombination of excitons bound to neutral donors and acceptors have been measured under magnetic field up to 8 T, which was aligned perpendicular and parallel to the hexagonal c-axis. Under the magnetic field aligned perpendicular to the hexagonal c-axis, both the donor- and acceptor-bound-exciton lines clearly split into two components, which originated from the Zeeman splitting. The effective g-factors for both the donor- and acceptor-bound excitons were estimated to be 2.02 and 2.47, respectively. Under the magnetic field aligned parallel to the hexagonal c-axis, slight broadening of the bound-exciton lines was observed and the Zeeman splitting was too small to be detected. On the other hand, the diamagnetic shift for both the donor- and acceptor-bound-exciton luminescence lines was observed under the magnetic field aligned both perpendicular and parallel to the hexagonal c-axis. It was found that the diamagnetic shift of the donor-bound exciton was smaller than that of the acceptor-bound exciton. Furthermore, recombination dynamics of excitonic transitions was measured under high-density excitation. An excitation-density-dependent transition of the dominant radiative recombination process from donor-bound excitons to biexcitons was clearly observed in the temporal behavior. In addition, double-exponential decay of biexciton luminescence was observed, which is one of the characteristics of biexciton luminescence at high excitation densities.

The epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of GaN with a stripe tungsten (W) mask pattern is performed by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) and the crystalline and optical properties are investigated compared with ELO GaN using SiO2 mask by characterizations of X-ray rocking curve (XRC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and low temperature cathodoluminescence (CL). A buried ELO structure of the W mask with a smooth surface is successfully obtained. The tilt of c-axis on the W mask in the ELO GaN is not observed, but in the case of the SiO2 mask, c-axis tilts on the mask region at 1 to 10 together with small angle grain boundaries. Half the way from the ELO interface to the surface, the luminescence becomes excitonic over the whole lateral extension region, which indicates the optically high crystalline quality of the material. On the other hand, different kinds of luminescence are observed depending on the position. The difference of these luminescence is caused by the defects and/or impurity incorporation on the mask region due to the tilting of c-axis.

For the realization of low-voltage full-color FEDs, requirements for phosphor for the FED are proposed. Especially, the influence of released gases or substances from phosphors on the field emission within the FED was made clear. It was clarified that the analysis of F-N plots of the V-I curve of field emission characteristics was helpful to know the interaction of field emission and phosphors. In the experiment, we first obtained the depth from the phosphor surface of the low voltage electron excitation in case of ZnGa2O4, where the region available for cathodoluminescence at the anode voltage of 400 V is about 63 nm deep from the surface. The characteristic of the 12.4 cm-320(trio)240 pixels low-voltage full-color FED is reported. The luminance of 154 cd/m2 was attained at the anode voltage of 400 V and the duty factor of 1/241. Supported by the high potential of the FED as a flat panel, each problem shall be steadily solved to secure the firm stand as a new full color flat display in new applications.

Gd2O2S:Tb phosphor thin films have been prepared using the simple technique of electron beam evaporation for large area display applications. The photoluminescence and excitation spectra measurement of Gd2O2S:Tb phosphor thin films suggest that Tb3+ is incorporated into the Gd2O2S lattice at gadolinium sites. Relatively efficient electroluminescence is observed from a ZnS/Gd2O2S:Tb/ZnS sandwich cell.

A 14. 4-in. diagonal EL display with 640128 pixels has been developed in red/green multicolor structures by using a new phosphor layer consisting of Zn1-xMgxS:Mn and ZnS:Mn. The display is designed for 240 Hz-frame rate, enabling the luminance to be improved by a factor of two. In addition, the contrast ratio is strongly enhanced by optimizing the black background structure and color filters. Improved characteristics make it possible for the EL panel to meet the requirements for the public information display taking advantages of high-reliability, crisp image and wide-viewing angle. Furthermore, the possibility of full-color EL displays will be described on the basis of "color by white" approach.

Detailed investigations of the microstructural properties of SrGa2S4:Ce3+ thin films grown by deposition from binary vapors (DBV) were carried out by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray diffraction measurements (EDX), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling. The results indicate uniform distribution of the constituent elements in the nearly stoichiometric structure of the thin films. Photoluminescence (PL) data including absorption and luminescence spectra in the temperature range of 10 to 300 K and decay characteristics show that an increase in Ce concentration from 0.2 to 3 mol% is accompanied with a marked increase in both the intensity of activator absorption and decay time, while the emission and excitation bands remain fixed in position. A mechanism involving the concentration-dependent interactions between different centers in the lattice is proposed, which may explain the experimentally observed behavior.

Electroluminescent (EL) devices with mixed single layer that consist of fluorescent dyes, distylylbiphenyl derivative (DPVBi) and triphenylamine derivative (TPD), are studied. Blue light emission was observed from the device with DPVBi and TPD. White emission over 2,500 cd/m2 was observed from the devices with mixed single layer of DPVBi, TPD and dicyanomethylene derivative (DCM).

This paper discusses our newly developed technology for making GaAs/InGaAs/GaAs Tetrahedral-Shaped Recess (TSR) quantum dots. The heterostructures were grown by low-pressure MOVPE in tetrahedral-shaped recesses created on a (111) B oriented GaAs substrate using anisotropic chemical etching. We examined these structures by using cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements, and observed lower energy emissions from the bottoms of, and higher energy emissions from the walls of the TSRs. This suggests carrier confinement at the bottoms with the lowest potential energy. We carried out microanlaysis of the structures by using TEM and EDX, and found an In-rich region that had grown vertically from the bottom of the TSR with a (111)B-like bond configuration. We also measured a smaller diamagnetic shift of the lower energy photoluminecscence (PL) peak in the structure. Based on these results, we have concluded that the quantum dots are formed at the bottoms of TSRs, mainly because of the dependence of InAs composition on the local crystalline structure in this system. We also studied the lateral distribution and vertical alignment of TSR quantum dots by CL and PL measurements respectively. The advantages of TSR quantum dot technology can be summarized as follows: (i) better control in dot positioning in the lateral direction, (ii) realization of dot sizes exceeding limitations posed by lithography, (iii) high uniformity of dot size, and (iv) vertical alignment of quantum dots.

Optical recording has been performed successfully by the preirradiation of light upon the precursor of poly (arylene vinylene) conducting polymers such as poly (p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) and poly (1,4-naphthalene vinylene) (PNV) and subsequent thermal treatment. The effect has been tentatively interpreted in terms of the deterioration of the irradiated area of the precursor polymer in which polymerization is suppressed. Furthermore, an orange electroluminescent (EL) diode utilizing PNV has been demonstrated for the first time and the EL properties of PNV are discussed in comparison with those of EL diode utilizing PPV. The EL emission of these two devices are discussed in terms of radiative recombination of the singlet polaron exciton formed by the injection of electrons and holes, the difference of effective conjugation length and the interchain transfer of polaron excitons.

Microcrystalline silicon embedded in silicon oxide has been prepared by means of a wet oxidation of porous silicon (PS) anodically produced from degenerate Si wafers in a HF solution. As the oxidation proceeded, optical absorptions of the PS specimen in the visible light region shifted obviously to the higher energy side. Visible light emission from the oxidized specimen was observed at room temperature with photoexcitation by a He-Cd laser while the as-prepared specimen emitted no visible lights. These results are discussed in relation to the quantum size effect of the microcrystalline silicon confined in the oxide matrix as well as visible emissions from as-prepared specimens produced from non-degenerate Si wafers.