Theoretical analysis of semi/non-polar In GaN/GaN light-emitting diodes grown on silicon substrates

A theoretical study of polar and semi/non-polar In Ga N/Ga N light-emitting diodes(LEDs) with different internal surface polarization charges, which can be grown on Si substrates, is conducted by using APSYS software. In comparison with polar structure LEDs, the semi-polar structure exhibits a higher concentration of electrons and holes and radiative recombination rate, and its reduced built-in polarization field weakens the extent of band bending which causes the shift of peak emission wavelength. So the efficiency droop of semi-polar In Ga N/Ga N LEDs declines obviously and the optical power is significantly improved. In comparison with non-polar structure LEDs, although the concentration of holes and electrons as well as the radiative recombination rate of the semi-polar structure are better in the last two quantum wells(QWs) approaching the p-Ga N side, the uniformity of distribution of carriers and radiative recombination rate for the nonpolar structure is better. So the theoretical analysis indicates that the removal of the internal polarization field in the MQWs active regions for non-polar structure LEDs contributes to the uniform distribution of electrons and holes, and decreases the electron leakage. Thus it enhances the radiative recombination rate, and further improves the IQEs and optical powers, and shows the best photoelectric properties among these three structures.     

Effect of graphene/ZnO hybrid transparent electrode on characteristics of GaN light-emitting diodes

In order to reduce the Schottky barrier height and sheet resistance between graphene(Gr) and the p-GaN layers in GaN-based light-emitting diodes(LEDs), conductive transparent thin films with large work function are required to be inserted between Gr and p-GaN layers. In the present work, three kinds of transparent conductive oxide(TCO) zinc oxide(ZnO) films, Al-, Ga-, and In-doped ZnO(AZO, GZO, and IZO), are introduced as a bridge layer between Gr and p-GaN,respectively. The influence of different combinations of Gr/ZnO hybrid transparent conducting layers(TCLs) on the optical and thermal characteristics of the GaN-LED was investigated by the finite element method through COMSOL software. It is found that both the TCL transmittance and the surface temperature of the LED chip reduce with the increase in Gr and ZnO thickness. In order to get the transmittance of the Gr/ZnO hybrid TCL higher than 80%, the appropriate combination of Gr/ZnO compound electrode should be a single layer of Gr with ZnO no thicker than 400 nm(1 L Gr/400-nm ZnO),2 L Gr/300-nm ZnO, 3 L Gr/200-nm ZnO, or 4 L Gr/100-nm ZnO. The LEDs with hybrid TCLs consisting of 1 L Gr/300-nm AZO, 2 L Gr/300-nm GZO, and 2 L Gr/300-nm IZO have good performance, among which the one with 1 L Gr/300-nm GZO has the best thermal property. Typically, the temperature of LEDs with 1 L Gr/300-nm GZO hybrid TCLs will drop by about 7 K compared with that of the LEDs with a TCL without ZnO film.     

Breakdown characteristics of AIGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes fabricated on a silicon substrate

In this work, the breakdown characteristics of AlGaN/GaN planar Schottky barrier diodes （SBDs） fabricated on the silicon substrate are investigated. The breakdown voltage （BV） of the SBDs first increases as a function of the anodeto-cathode distance and then tends to saturate at larger inter-electrode spacing. The saturation behavior of the BV is likely caused by the vertical breakdown through the intrinsic GaN buffer layer on silicon, which is supported by the post-breakdown primary leakage path analysis with the emission microscopy. Surface passivation and field plate termination are found effective to suppress the leakage current and enhance the BV of the SBDs. A high BV of 601 V is obtained with a low on-resistance of 3.15 mΩ·cm^2.     

Breakdown characteristics of AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes fabricated on a silicon substrate

In this work, the breakdown characteristics of AlGaN/GaN planar Schottky barrier diodes(SBDs) fabricated on the silicon substrate are investigated. The breakdown voltage(BV) of the SBDs first increases as a function of the anodeto-cathode distance and then tends to saturate at larger inter-electrode spacing. The saturation behavior of the BV is likely caused by the vertical breakdown through the intrinsic GaN buffer layer on silicon, which is supported by the postbreakdown primary leakage path analysis with the emission microscopy. Surface passivation and field plate termination are found effective to suppress the leakage current and enhance the BV of the SBDs. A high BV of 601 V is obtained with a low on-resistance of 3.15 mΩ·cm2.     

Improved carrier injection and confinement in InGaN light-emitting diodes containing GaN/AlGaN/GaN triangular barriers

In this study, an InGaN lighting-emitting diode(LED) containing GaN/AlGaN/GaN triangular barriers is proposed and investigated numerically. The simulation results of output performance, carrier concentration, and radiative recombination rate indicate that the proposed LED has a higher output power and an internal quantum efficiency, and a lower efficiency droop than the LED containing conventional GaN or AlGaN barriers. These improvements mainly arise from the modified energy bands, which is evidenced by analyzing the LED energy band diagram and electrostatic field near the active region.The modified energy bands effectively improve carrier injection and confinement, which significantly reduces electron leakage and increases the rate of radiative recombination in the quantum wells.     

Coherence characteristics of light-emitting diodes

We report the measurement of coherence characteristics of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Experiments were performed using red and green color LEDs directly illuminating the Young's double slit kept in the far-zone. Fourier transform fringe analysis technique was used for the measurement of the visibility of interference fringes from which the modulus of degree of spectral coherence was determined. Low degree of spectral coherence, typically 0.4 for red and 0.2 for green LED with double-slit separation of 400 μm was observed. A variable slit was then kept in front of the LEDs and the double slit was illuminated with the light coming out of the slit. Experiments were performed with various slit sizes and the visibility of the interference fringes was observed. It was found that visibility of the interference fringes changes drastically in presence of variable slit kept in front of LEDs and a high degree of spectral coherence, typically 0.85 for red and 0.8 for green LED with double-slit separation of 400 μm and rectangular slit opening of 500 μm was observed. The experimental results are compared with the theoretical counterparts. Coherence lengths of both the LEDs were also determined and it was obtained 5.8±2 and 24±4 μm for green and red LEDs, respectively.     

Simulation of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes with patterned sapphire substrate

Blue InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) are simulated by the APSYS software. Approach of combining finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and raytracing technique is applied to perform light extraction. The simulation results show that PSS dramatically increases extraction efficiency of light power, in agreement with experiment. It is found that extraction efficiency can be maximized by changing the shape of PSS. This work presents a new approach to combine electrical simulation with FDTD and raytracing in 3D TCAD simulation of GaN-LED.     

Simulation of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes with a non-local quantum well transport model

Blue InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are simulated by the APSYS software with a non-local quantum well transport model which is used to describe the phenomenon that carriers can fly over the quantum wells directly. The simulation results based on this model are in good agreement with the experiment and show its significant influence on the output power, carrier transport, peak wavelength and current crowding effect of the InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs, indicating that the non-local quantum well transport plays an important role in these devices.     

Enhanced performance of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN superlattice barriers

GaN-based multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes （LEDs） with conventional and superlattice barriers have been investigated numerically. Simulation results demonstrate using InGaN/GaN superlattices as barriers can effectively enhance performances of the GaN-Based LEDs, mainly owing to the improvement of hole injection and transport among the MQW active region. Meanwhile, the improved electron capture decreases the electron leakage and alleviates the efficiency droop. The weak polarization field induced by the superlattice structure strengthens the intensity of the emission spectrum and leads to a blue-shift relative to the conventional one.     

3D simulation of InGaN/GaN micro-ring light-emitting diodes

We employed the APSYS software to perform 3D electrical and ray-tracing simulations on micro-ring light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to verify previous experimental findings that they have higher extraction efficiency than micro-disk and broad area LEDs. 3D ray-tracing indicates the importance of inter-ring optical interactions. Furthermore we found that the higher light extraction efficiency is at the expense of reduced internal quantum efficiency (IQE) as injection current is increased.     

Improved light extraction of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with surface-patterned ITO

The surface patterning of the indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent current layer has been investigated to improve the light extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs with periodic micro-hexagon patterned ITO have been fabricated utilizing standard lithography techniques and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) technology. The luminance intensity of the LED chips with patterned ITO following 160 s ICP etching was enhanced by about 50% compared to the LED chips with unpatterned ITO. Detailed processing parameters are provided. scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to examine the micro-structures. The results indicate that the surface-patterned ITO technique could have potential applications in high-power GaN-based LEDs.     

Improved performance of InGaN light-emitting diodes with a novel sawtooth-shaped electron blocking layer

A sawtooth-shaped electron blocking layer is proposed to improve the performance of light-emitting diodes （LEDs）. The energy band diagram, the electrostatic field in the quantum well, the carrier concentration, the electron leakage, and the internal quantum efficiency are systematically studied. The simulation results show that the LED with a sawtooth-shaped electron blocking layer possesses higher output power and a smaller efficiency droop than the LED with a conventional A1GaN electron blocking layer, which is because the electron confinement is enhanced and the hole injection efficiency is improved by the appropriately modified electron blocking layer energy band.     

有机电致发光器件的动态电学特性

利用交流阻抗谱技术，研究了有机发光二极管ITO/Alq₃(90 nm)/Al的载流子传导机理.根据器件对不同频率的响应曲线及其等效电路模型，该器件可看作是由并联的电阻R_p和电容C_p再与电阻R_s串联而成，并根据实验数据求出了R_p，C_p和R_s的数值.实验结果表明器件的载流子传输机理属于指数分布式的陷阱电荷限制电流，其介电弛豫时间随偏压的增加而逐渐减小. 关键词： 3')" href="#">Alq₃ 陷阱电荷限制电流 交流阻抗谱 有机发光二极管     

Improved efficiency droop characteristics in an InGaN/GaN light-emitting diode with a novel designed last barrier structure

<正>In this study,the characteristics of nitride-based light-emitting diodes with different last barrier structures are analysed numerically.The energy band diagrams,electrostatic field near the last quantum barrier,carrier concentration in the quantum well,internal quantum efficiency,and light output power are systematically investigated.The simulation results show that the efficiency droop is markedly improved and the output power is greatly enhanced when the conventional GaN last barrier is replaced by an AlGaN barrier with Al composition graded linearly from 0 to 15% in the growth direction.These improvements are attributed to enhanced efficiencies of electron confinement and hole injection caused by the lower polarization effect at the last-barrier/electron blocking layer interface when the graded Al composition last barrier is used.     

Analysis on electrical characteristics of high-voltage GaN-based light-emitting diodes

<正>In order to investigate their electrical characteristics,high-voltage light-emitting-diodes(HV-LEDs) each containing four cells in series are fabricated.The electrical parameters including varying voltage and parasitic effect are studied. It is shown that the ideality factors(IFs) of the HV-LEDs with different numbers of cells are 1.6,3.4,4.7,and 6.4.IF increases linearly with the number of cells increasing.Moreover,the performance of the HV-LED with failure cells is examined.The analysis indicates that the failure cell has a parallel resistance which induces the leakage of the failure cell.The series resistance of the failure cell is 76.8Ω,while that of the normal cell is 21.3Ω.The scanning electron microscope(SEM) image indicates that different metal layers do not contact well.It is hard to deposit the metal layers in the deep isolation trenches.The fabrication process of HV-LEDs needs to be optimized.     

Improved performance of organic light-emitting diodes with dual electron transporting layers

In this study the performance of organic light-emitting diodes(OLEDs) are enhanced significantly,which is based on dual electron transporting layers(Bphen/CuPc).By adjusting the thicknesses of Bphen and CuPc,the maximal luminescence,the maximal current efficiency,and the maximal power efficiency of the device reach 17570 cd/m2 at 11 V,and 5.39 cd/A and 3.39 lm/W at 3.37 mA/cm2 respectively,which are enhanced approximately by 33.4%,39.3%,and 68.9%,respectively,compared with those of the device using Bphen only for an electron transporting layer.These results may provide some valuable references for improving the electron injection and the transportation of OLED.     

Droop improvement in blue InGaN light-emitting diodes with GaN/InGaN superlattice barriers

GaN/InGaN superlattice barriers are used in InGaN-based light-emitting diodes （LEDs）. The electrostatic field in the quantum wells, electron hole wavefunction overlap, carrier concentration, spontaneous emission spectrum, light-current performance curve, and internal quantum efficiency are numerically investigated using the APSYS simulation software. It is found that the structure with GaN/InGaN superlattice barriers shows improved light output power, and lower current leakage and efficiency droop. According to our numerical simulation and analysis, these improvements in the electrical and optical characteristics are mainly attributed to the alleviation of the electrostatic field in the active region.     

Performance improvement of blue light-emitting diodes with an AlInN/GaN superlattice electron-blocking layer

The characteristics of a blue light-emitting diode (LED) with an AlInN/GaN superlattice (SL) electron-blocking layer (EBL) are analyzed numerically. The carrier concentrations in the quantum wells, energy band diagrams, electrostatic fields, and internal quantum efficiency are investigated. The results suggest that the LED with an AlInN/GaN SL EBL has better hole injection efficiency, lower electron leakage, and smaller electrostatic fields in the active region than the LED with a conventional rectangular AlGaN EBL or a AlGaN/ GaN SL EBL. The results also indicate that the efficiency droop is markedly improved when an AlInN/GaN SL EBL is used.