Influence of carrier localization on the performance of MBE grown GaInNAs/GaAs QW light emitting diodes and laser diodes

Abstract

The influence of carrier localization on the opto-electronic properties of GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) light emitting diodes (LED) and laser diodes (LD) grown by molecular beam epitaxy is studied. The external quantum efficiency of the LEDs at low temperature is found to be strongly affected by emission from localized states, and its evolution with the injected current is modified compared to the typical one of a QW LED. The light-current characteristics of GaInNAs LDs are measured for different temperatures between 15 and 295 K, and an anomalous behaviour of the threshold current with temperature is obtained comparing to a reference InGaAs laser. In particular, a negative or infinite T0 is obtained at very low temperatures, followed by a region of very small T0. In addition, if the temperature is further increased, a change to a higher T0 is obtained at a temperature which is in the range of the typical delocalization temperatures in GaInNAs QWs. All these features are attributed to the influence of carrier localization. The temperature induced changes in the relative carrier population of the localized states and the band edge states change the lineshape of the gain spectrum and its peak value, and consequently the threshold current of GaInNAs QW lasers.