Evidence for trap-assisted Auger recombination in MBE grown InGaN quantum wells by electron emission spectroscopy

Abstract

We report on the direct measurement of hot electrons generated in the active region of blue light-emitting diodes grown by ammonia molecular beam epitaxy by electron emission spectroscopy. The external quantum efficiency of these devices is <1% and does not droop; thus, the efficiency losses from the intrinsic, interband, electron–electron–hole, or electron–hole–hole Auger should not be a significant source of hot carriers. The detection of hot electrons in this case suggests that an alternate hot electron generating process is occurring within these devices, likely a trap-assisted Auger recombination process.