Group III nitride wide band gap semiconductors have recently attracted considerable attention due to their applications for optical devices operating in the blue and UV wavelength regions. Nitride materials are stable at high temperatures and also chemically stable. Analysis of InGaN based blue laser diodes is required for the research and development of future deep UV laser diodes for bio-sensing applications. The conventional multiple quantum wells suffer from inhomogeneous carrier distribution across quantum wells. This inhomogeneous distribution increases the threshold current density of the laser diode. This project addresses the issue through the design of a novel structure for the active region of InGaN blue laser diodes. As a possible replacement for the AlGaN cladding layers optical properties of a 1D photonic crystal was investigated. Part of the work deals with the etching of GaN in SF6 plasma using ICP-RIE systems.
