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Composition-dependent trapezoidal quantum barrier effect on efficiency droop in GaN-based light-emitting diodes

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Abstract

We systematically investigated GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with composition-dependent trapezoidal quantum barriers (QBs) to analyze the efficiency droop behavior at low and high current densities. The simulation results show that the electrostatic field in the quantum wells (QWs) is gradually reduced by increasing the indium composition in the trapezoidal QBs. The electroluminescence (EL) intensity of an LED with trapezoidal QBs (In = 8%) at 300 mA was increased by 12.2% compared to the reference LED with square-type QBs. The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) droop of the LED with trapezoidal QBs (In = 10%) is 6% at 300 A·cm−2, while the reference LED with square-type GaN barriers has 5 times higher IQE droop (31%). The increased EL intensity and reduced IQE droop in the LED with trapezoidal QBs are attributed to the reduced energy band bending, the decreased Auger nonradiative recombination, and the efficient electron blocking in multiple QWs.

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Author notes

  1. Sang Ryung Kim and Semi Oh contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Occupational Safety and Health Training Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), Ulsan, 44429, Republic of Korea

    Sang Ryung Kim

  2. Advanced Semiconductor Research Center, Gumi Electronics and Information Technology Research Institute (GERI), Gumi, 39253, Republic of Korea

    Semi Oh, Sanghoon Jung, Byoungho Kang & Wanghoon Lee

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  1. Sang Ryung Kim
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  2. Semi Oh
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Kim, S.R., Oh, S., Jung, S. et al. Composition-dependent trapezoidal quantum barrier effect on efficiency droop in GaN-based light-emitting diodes. J. Korean Phys. Soc. 83, 581–587 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40042-023-00898-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40042-023-00898-4

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