Impact of a prestrained graded InGaN/GaN interlayer towards enhanced optical characteristics of a multi-quantum well LED based on silicon substrate

Appl Opt. 2022 Oct 20;61(30):8951-8958. doi: 10.1364/AO.470083.

Abstract

This paper presents alternate pairs of InGaN/GaN prestrained layers with varying indium compositions, which are inserted between the GaN/InGaN MQW active region and the n-GaN layer in a light-emitting diode (LED) nanostructure in order to obtain enhanced optical characteristics. The device is mounted on a silicon substrate followed by a GaN buffer layer that promotes charge injection by minimizing the energy barrier between the electrode and active layers. The designed device attains more than 2.897% enhancement in efficiency when compared with the conventional LED, which is attributed to the reduction of a polarization field within the MQW region. The proposed device with 15% indium composition in the prestrained layer attains a maximum efficiency of 85.21% and a minimized efficiency droop of 3.848% at an injection current of 40 mA, with high luminous power in the output spectral range. The device also shows a minimum blueshift in the spectral range, indicating a decrease in the piezoelectric polarization.