We investigated the efficiency droop and polarization-induced internal electric field of InGaN blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on silicon(111) and c-plane sapphire substrates. The efficiency droop of the LED sample grown on silicon substrates was considerably lower than that of the identically fabricated LED sample grown on sapphire substrates. Consequently, the LED on silicon showed higher efficiency at a sufficiently high injection current despite the lower peak efficiency caused by the poorer crystal quality. The reduced efficiency droop for the LED on silicon was attributed to its lower internal electric field, which was confirmed by reverse-bias electro-reflectance measurements and numerical simulations. The internal electric field of the multiple quantum wells (MQWs) on silicon was found to be reduced by more than 40% compared to that of the MQWs on sapphire, which resulted in a more homogenous carrier distribution in InGaN MQWs, lower Auger recombination rates, and consequently reduced efficiency droop for the LEDs grown on the silicon substrates. Owing to its greatly reduced efficiency droop, the InGaN blue LED on silicon substrates is expected to be a good cost effective solution for future lighting technology.
We investigate the dependence of various efficiencies in GaN-based vertical blue light-emitting diode (LED) structures on the thickness and doping concentration of the n-GaN layer by using numerical simulations. The electrical efficiency (EE) and the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) are found to increase as the thickness or doping concentration increases due to the improvement of current spreading. On the contrary, the light extraction efficiency (LEE) decreases with increasing doping concentration or n-GaN thickness by the free-carrier absorption. By combining the results of EE, IQE, and LEE, wall-plug efficiency (WPE) of the vertical LED is calculated, and the optimum thickness and doping concentration of the n-GaN layer is found for obtaining the maximum WPE.
We demonstrate c-plane InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) using polarization engineered n-type AlGaN/GaN superlattices (SLs). Aluminum composition variation and Si-delta doping concepts were incorporated in the SLs design as a means to improve vertical and lateral carrier transport in SLs. Compared to a reference n-type GaN layer having lateral conductivity of 197 Ω cm, a SLs structure exhibited significantly improved lateral conductivity, as high as 569 Ω cm, without any vertical transport degradation. Optimized AlGaN/GaN SLs structure embedded in LED improved current spreading and resulted in 13.7% and 6.7% enhancement of output power and forward voltage at 60 A/cm2, respectively.
In this study, we investigate the below-threshold emission characteristics of InGaN-based blue laser diodes (LDs) emitting at 442 nm to study the efficiency droop effects in InGaN LDs. From the measurement of spontaneous emission in the LD, it is observed that the peak efficiency appears at a current density of ∼20 A/cm2 and the efficiency at the threshold current density of ∼2.3 kA/cm2 are reduced to ∼47% of the peak efficiency. The measured spontaneous emission characteristics are analyzed using the carrier rate equation model, and the peak internal quantum efficiency is found to be ∼75% using the fit of the measured efficiency curve. In addition, the Auger recombination coefficient of the measured InGaN blue LD is found to be 10−31–10−30 cm6/s, which is somewhat lower than that reported for InGaN-based blue light-emitting diodes. It is discussed that low dislocation density and uniform current injection in quantum wells may have resulted in the low Auger recombination coefficient of InGaN LDs.
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