Characteristics Of GaN-based Light-emitting Diodes Research Articles

Dependence of leakage current on dislocations in GaN-based light-emitting diodes

The reverse bias current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were investigated. The leakage current exhibits exponential dependence on the bias voltage with different exponents for various voltage ranges. The leakage current is closely related to the density of dislocations. The number of dislocations in GaN was determined by atomic force microscopy combined with hot H3PO4 etching. Dislocations with a screw component in the GaN films were found to have a strong influence on the reverse leakage current of LEDs. The dislocation electrical activity in GaN grown on c-plane sapphire is different from that in GaN grown on a-plane sapphire.

Electrical-efficiency analysis of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with interdigitated-mesa geometry

We propose a novel method to analyze the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with different p-type electrodemesa geometries. The electrical efficiency is analyzed by calculating the electric field under the quasi-coplanar electrodes of GaN-based LEDs. The experimental results for GaN-based LEDs of chip sizes of 350×350 µm2 and 1,000 × 1,000 µm2 with interdigitated fingers are compared. A good agreement is obtained between the experimental and theoretical electrical efficiency of the GaN LEDs with a chip size of 1,000×1,000 µm2. The current-crowding effect is analyzed by measuring the electroluminescence spectra of the devices. The result indicates that the current-crowding effect is largely reduced by increasing the number of interdigitated fingers. The electrical efficiency of a LED with a chip size of 1,000×1,000 µm2 can be also enhanced by increasing the number of interdigitated fingers, showing the advantages of GaN LED with interdigitated-mesa geometries.