A GaN AlGaN InGaN last quantum barrier in an InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well blue LED

The advantages of a GaN–AlGaN–InGaN last quantum barrier(LQB) in an InGaN-based blue light-emitting diode are analyzed via numerical simulation. We found an improved light output power, lower current leakage, higher recombination rate, and less efficiency droop compared with conventional GaN LQBs. These improvements in the electrical and optical characteristics are attributed mainly to the specially designed GaN–AlGaN–InGaN LQB, which enhances electron confinement and improves hole injection efficiency.     

Efficiency enhancement of an InGaN light-emitting diode with a p-AIGaN/GaN superlattice last quantum barrier

In this study, the efficiency droop of an InGaN light-emitting diode （LED） is reduced slgnlncanUy oy using a p-AlGaN/GaN superlattice last quantum barrier. The reduction in efficiency droop is mainly caused by the decrease of electron current leakage and the increase of hole injection efficiency, which is revealed by investigating the light currents, internal quantum efficiencies, energy band diagrams, carrier concentrations, carrier current densities, and radiative recombination efficiencies of three LED structures with the advanced physical model of semiconductor device （APSYS）.     

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.     

Enhanced carrier injection in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells LED with polarization-induced electron blocking barrier

In this report, we designed a light emitting diode (LED) structure in which an N-polar p-GaN layer is grown on top of Ga-polar In_0.1Ga_0.9N/GaN quantum wells (QWs) on an n-GaN layer. Numerical simulation reveals that the large polarization field at the polarity inversion interface induces a potential barrier in the conduction band, which can block electron overflow out of the QWs. Compared with a conventional LED structure with an Al_0.2Ga_0.8N electron blocking layer (EBL), the proposed LED structure shows much lower electron current leakage, higher hole injection, and a significant improvement in the internal quantum efficiency (IQE). These results suggest that the polarization induced barrier (PIB) is more effective than the AlGaN EBL in suppressing electron overflow and improving hole transport in GaN-based LEDs.     

Enhanced performances of InGaN/GaN-based blue light-emitting diode with InGaN/AlInGaN superlattice electron blocking layer

InGaN/AlInGaN superlattice(SL) is designed as the electron blocking layer(EBL) of an InGaN/GaN-based lightemitting diode(LED). The energy band structure, polarization field at the last-GaN-barrier/EBL interface, carrier concentration, radiative recombination rate, electron leakage, internal quantum efficiency(IQE), current–voltage(I–V) performance curve, light output–current(L–I) characteristic, and spontaneous emission spectrum are systematically numerically investigated using APSYS simulation software. It is found that the fabricated LED with InGaN/AlInGaN SL EBL exhibits higher light output power, low forward voltage, and low current leakage compared with those of its counterparts.Meanwhile, the efficiency droop can be effectively mitigated. These improvements are mainly attributed to the higher hole injection efficiency and better electron confinement when InGaN/AlInGaN SL EBL is used.     

Enhanced performances of InGaN/GaN-based blue light-emitting diode with InGaN/AIInGaN superlattice electron blocking layer

InGaN/AIlnGaN superlattice （SL） is designed as the electron blocking layer （EBL） of an InGaN/GaN-based light- emitting diode （LED）. The energy band structure, polarization field at the last-GaN-barrier/EBL interface, carrier concen- tration, radiative recombination rate, electron leakage, internal quantum efficiency （IQE）, current-voltage （l-V） perfor- mance curve, light output-current （L-l） characteristic, and spontaneous emission spectrum are systematically numerically investigated using APSYS simulation software. It is found that the fabricated LED with InGaN/AIInGaN SL EBL exhibits higher light output power, low forward voltage, and low current leakage compared with those of its counterparts. Meanwhile, the efficiency droop can be effectively mitigated. These improvements are mainly attributed to the higher hole injection efficiency and better electron confinement when InGaN/AIlnGaN SL EBL is used.     

Efficiency enhancement of InGaN based blue light emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers

The advantages of InGaN based light-emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers are studied.It is found that the structure with InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers shows improved light output power,lower current leakage,and less efficiency droop over its conventional InGaN/GaN counterparts.Based on the numerical simulation and analysis,these improvements on the electrical and the optical characteristics are mainly attributed to the alleviation of the electrostatic field in the quantum wells(QWs) when the InGaN/GaN multilayer barriers are used.     

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.     

Properties of InGaN/GaN quantum wells and blue light emitting diodes

We have reported the effects of growth interruption time on the optical and structural properties of high indium content In_xGa_1−xN/GaN (x>0.2) multilayer quantum wells (QWs). The InGaN/GaN QWs were grown on c-plane sapphire by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The interruption was carried out by closing the group-III metal organic sources before and after the growth of the InGaN QW layers. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that with increasing interruption time, the quantum-dot-like region and well thickness decreases due to indium reevaporation or the thermal etching effect. As a result the photoluminescence (PL) peak position was blue-shifted and the intensity was reduced. The sizes and number of V-defects did not differ with the interruption time. The interruption time is not directly related to the formation of defects. The V-defect originates at threading dislocations and inversion domain boundaries due to higher misfit strain. Temperature dependent PL spectra support the results of TEM measurements. Also, the electroluminescence spectra of light-emitting diode show that dominant mechanism in InGaN/GaN QWs is a localized effect in the quantum-dot-like regions.     

Performance enhancement of an InGaN light-emitting diode with an AIGaN/InGaN superlattice electron-blocking layer

The efficiency enhancement of an InGaN light-emitting diode （LED） with an A1GaN/InGaN superlattice （SL） electron-blocking layer （EBL） is studied numerically, which involves the light-current performance curve, internal quan- tum efficiency electrostatic field band wavefunction, energy band diagram carrier concentration, electron current density, and radiative recombination rate. The simulation results indicate that the LED with an A1GaN/InGaN SL EBL has better optical performance than the LED with a conventional rectangular A1GaN EBL or a normal A1GaN/GaN SL EBL because of the appropriately modified energy band diagram, which is favorable ibr the injection of holes and confinement of elec- trons. Additionally, the efficiency droop of the LED with an AIGaN/InGaN SL EBL is markedly improved by reducing the polarization field in the active region.     

InGaN/GaN多量子阱LED载流子泄漏与温度关系研究

通过测量光电流,直接观察了InGaN/GaN量子阱中载流子的泄漏程度随温度升高的变化关系。当LED温度从300K升高到360K时,在相同的光照强度下,LED的光电流增大,说明在温度上升之后,载流子从量子阱中逃逸的数目更多,即载流子泄漏比例增大。同时,光电流的增大在激发密度较低的时候更为明显,而且光电流随温度的增加幅度与激发光子的能量有关。用量子阱-量子点复合模型能很好地解释所观察到的实验现象。实验结果直接证明,随着温度的升高,InGaN/GaN量子阱中的载流子泄漏将显著增加,而且在低激发密度下这一效应更为明显。温度升高导致的载流子泄漏增多是InGaN多量子阱LED发光效率随温度升高而降低的重要原因。     

Influence of barrier thickness on the structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

The structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells(MQWs) with different barrier thicknesses are studied by means of high resolution X-ray diffraction(HRXRD), a cross-sectional transmission electron microscope(TEM), and temperature-dependent photoluminescence(PL) measurements. HRXRD and cross-sectional TEM measurements show that the interfaces between wells and barriers are abrupt and the entire MQW region has good periodicity for all three samples. As the barrier thickness is increased, the temperature of the turning point from blueshift to redshift of the S-shaped temperature-dependent PL peak energy increases monotonously, which indicates that the localization potentials due to In-rich clusters is deeper. From the Arrhenius plot of the normalized integrated PL intensity, it is found that there are two kinds of nonradiative recombination processes accounting for the thermal quenching of photoluminescence,and the corresponding activation energy(or the localization potential) increases with the increase of the barrier thickness.The dependence on barrier thickness is attributed to the redistribution of In-rich clusters during the growth of barrier layers,i.e., clusters with lower In contents aggregate into clusters with higher In contents.     

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.     

Improvement of characteristics of an InGaN light-emitting diode by using a staggered AlGaN electron-blocking layer

The optical and physical properties of an InGaN light-emitting diode (LED) with a specific design of a staggered AlGaN electron-blocking layer (EBL) are investigated numerically in detail. The electrostatic field distribution, energy band, carrier concentration, electroluminescence (EL) intensity, internal quantum efficiency (IQE), and the output power are simulated. The results reveal that this specific design has a remarkable improvement in optical performance compared with the design of a conventional LED. The lower electron leakage current, higher hole injection efficiency, and consequently mitigated efficiency droop are achieved. The significant decrease of electrostatic field at the interface between the last barrier and the EBL of the LED could be one of the main reasons for these improvements.     

Effects of a prestrained InGaN interlayer on the emission properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells in a laser diode structure

The electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with a prestrained InGaN interlayer in a laser diode structure are investigated. When the injection current increases from 5 mA to 50 mA, the blueshift of the EL emission peak is 1 meV for the prestrained sample and 23 meV for a control sample with the conventional structure. Also, the internal quantum efficiency and the EL intensity at the injection current of 20 mA are increased by 71% and 65% respectively by inserting the prestrained InGaN interlayer. The reduced blueshift and the enhanced emission are attributed mainly to the reduced quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) in the prestrained sample. Such attributions are supported by the theoretical simulation results, which reveal the smaller piezoelectric field and the enhanced overlap of electron and hole wave functions in the prestrained sample. Therefore, the prestrained InGaN interlayer contributes to strain relaxation in the MQW layer and enhancement of light emission due to the reduction of QCSE.     

Modeling and simulation of efficiency droop in GaN-based blue light-emitting diodes incorporating the effect of reduced active volume of InGaN quantum wells

The efficiency droop of InGaN-based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is analyzed using numerical simulations with a modified ABC carrier recombination model. The ABC model is modified to include the effect of reduced effective active volume of InGaN quantum wells (QWs) and incorporated into the numerical simulation program. It is found that the droop of internal quantum efficiency (IQE) can be well explained by the effect of reduced light-emitting active volume without assuming a large Auger recombination coefficient. A simulated IQE curve with the modified ABC model is found to fit quite well with a measured efficiency curve of an InGaN LED sample when the effective active volume takes only 2.5% of the physical volume of QWs. The proposed numerical simulation model incorporating the reduced effective active volume can be advantageous for use in the modeling and simulation of InGaN LEDs for higher efficiency.     

Phonon–replica transitions in InGaN/GaN quantum well structures

A side-bump feature in a photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of an InGaN compound was widely observed. With reasonable fitting to PL spectra with three Gaussian distributions, the temperature variations of the peak positions, integrated PL intensities, and peak widths of the main and first side peaks of three InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well samples with different nominal indium contents are shown and interpreted. The existence of the side peaks is attributed to phonon–replica transitions. The variations of the peak position separations and the decreasing trends of the first side peak widths beyond certain temperatures in those samples were explained with the requirement of phonon momentum condition for phonon–replica transitions. In the sample with 25% nominal indium content, the phonon–replica transition could become stronger than the direct transition of localized states.     

The influence of A1GaN/GaN superlattices as electron blocking layers on the performance of blue InGaN light-emitting diodes

P-A1GaN/P-GaN superlattices are investigated in blue InGaN light-emitting diodes as electron blocking layers. The simulation results show that efficiency droop is markedly improved due to two reasons： （i） enhanced hole concentration and hole carrier transport efficiency in A1GaN/GaN superlattices, and （ii） enhanced blocking of electron overflow between multiple quantum-wells and A1CaN/GaN superlattices.