Design and characteristics of staggered InGaN quantum-well light-emitting diodes in the green spectral regime

Abstract

Staggered InGaN quantum wells (QWs) are investigated both numerically and experimentally as improved active region for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at 520–525 nm. Based on a self-consistent six-band k·p method, band structures of both two-layer staggered InxGa1−xN/InyGa1−yN QW and three-layer staggered InyGa1−yN/InxGa1−xN/InyGa1−yN QW structures are investigated as active region to enhance the spontaneous emission radiative recombination rate (Rsp) for LEDs emitting at 520–525 nm. Numerical analysis shows significant enhancement of Rsp for both two-layer and three-layer staggered InGaN QWs as compared to that of the conventional InzGa1−zN QW. Significant reduction of the radiative carrier lifetime contributes to the enhancement of the radiative efficiency for both two-layer and three-layer staggered InGaN QW LEDs emitting at 520–525 nm. Three-layer staggered InGaN QW LEDs emitting at 520–525 nm was grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) by employing graded-temperature profile. Power density-dependent cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements show the enhancement of peak luminescence by up to 3 times and integrated luminescence by 1.8–2.8 times for the three-layer staggered InGaN QW LED. Electroluminescence (EL) output power of the staggered InGaN QW LED exhibits 2.0–3.5 times enhancement as compared to that of the conventional InGaN QW LED. The experimental results show the good agreement with theory.