Johannes Glaab

High-power UV-B LEDs with long lifetime

UV light emitters in the UV-B spectral range between 280 nm and 320 nm are of great interest for applications such as phototherapy, gas sensing, plant growth lighting, and UV curing. In this paper we present high power UV-B LEDs grown by MOVPE on sapphire substrates. By optimizing the heterostructure design, growth parameters and processing technologies, significant progress was achieved with respect to internal efficiency, injection efficiency and light extraction. LED chips emitting at 310 nm with maximum output powers of up to 18 mW have been realized. Lifetime measurements show approximately 20% decrease in emission power after 1,000 operating hours at 100 mA and 5 mW output power and less than 30% after 3,500 hours of operation, thus indicating an L50 lifetime beyond 10,000 hours.

Degradation of (InAlGa)N-based UV-B light emitting diodes stressed by current and temperature

The degradation of the electrical and optical properties of (InAlGa)N-based multiple quantum well light emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting near 308 nm under different stress conditions has been studied. LEDs with different emission areas were operated at room temperature and at constant current densities of 75 A/cm2, 150 A/cm2, and 225 A/cm2. In addition, the heat sink temperature was varied between 15 °C and 80 °C. Two main modes for the reduction of the optical power were found, which dominate at different times of operation: (1) Within the first 100 h, a fast drop of the optical power is observed scaling exponentially with the temperature and having an activation energy of about 0.13 eV. The drop in optical power is accompanied by changes of the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic. (2) For operation times beyond 100 h, the optical power decreases slowly which can be reasonably described by a square root time dependence. Here, the degradation rate depends on the current density, rather than the current. A...

Role of substrate quality on the performance of semipolar (112¯2) InGaN light-emitting diodes

We compare the optical properties and device performance of unpackaged InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at ∼430 nm grown simultaneously on a high-cost small-size bulk semipolar ( 112¯2) GaN substrate (Bulk-GaN) and a low-cost large-size ( 112¯2) GaN template created on patterned ( 101¯2) r-plane sapphire substrate (PSS-GaN). The Bulk-GaN substrate has the threading dislocation density (TDD) of ∼105 cm−2–106 cm−2 and basal-plane stacking fault (BSF) density of 0 cm−1, while the PSS-GaN substrate has the TDD of ∼2 × 108 cm−2 and BSF density of ∼1 × 103 cm−1. Despite an enhanced light extraction efficiency, the LED grown on PSS-GaN has two-times lower internal quantum efficiency than the LED grown on Bulk-GaN as determined by photoluminescence measurements. The LED grown on PSS-GaN substrate also has about two-times lower output power compared to the LED grown on Bulk-GaN substrate. This lower output power was attributed to the higher TDD and BSF density.

Defect-Related Degradation of AlGaN-Based UV-B LEDs

This paper describes an extensive analysis of the degradation of (InAlGa)N-based UV-B light-emitting diodes (LEDs) submitted to constant current stress. This paper is based on combined electrical characterization, spectral analysis of the emission, deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and photocurrent (PC) spectroscopy. The results of this analysis demonstrate that: 1) UV-B LEDs show a gradual degradation when submitted to constant current stress; the decrease in optical power is stronger for low measuring current levels, indicating that degradation is related to the increase in Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination; 2) the current-voltage characteristics measured before/during stress show an increase in the current below the turn-on voltage, that is ascribed to the increase in trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) components; and 3) DLTS analysis and PC spectroscopy measurements were carried out to identify the properties of the defects responsible for the degradation of the optical and electrical characteristics. The results indicate that stress induces or activates defects centered around 2.5 eV below the conduction band edge. These defects, close to midgap, can explain both the increased SRH recombination and the increase in TAT components detected after stress. Moreover, the DLTS measurements allowed to identify the signature of Mg-related acceptor traps.

Defect-generation and diffusion in (In)AlGaN-based UV-B LEDs submitted to constant current stress

The aim of this work is to analyze the degradation in (In)AlGaN-based UV-B LEDs, with a nominal emission wavelength of 310 nm, submitted to constant current stress at a high current density of 350 A/cm2. We observed two main degradation mechanisms that were studied by investigating the evolution of the main emission peak from the quantum well (QW) and of a parasitic peak centered at 340 nm. In the first 50 hours of stress the main peak decreases and the parasitic peak (probably related to radiative recombination in the quantum barrier next to the electron blocking layer) increases at drive currents between 5 mA and 50 mA. Secondly, after 50 hours of stress both the main and the parasitic peak decrease. The first degradation mode could be related to carrier escape from the QWs, since the increase in the parasitic peak is correlated with the decrease in the main peak. After 50 hours of stress, we observed that the current below the turn-on voltage at V = 2 V increases with a square-root of time dependence. This behavior indicates the presence of a diffusion process, probably by point defects causing an increase of non-radiative recombination in the LED.

Degradation effects of the active region in UV-C light-emitting diodes

An extensive analysis of the degradation characteristics of AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes emitting around 265 nm is presented. The optical power of LEDs stressed at a constant dc current of 100 mA (current density = 67 A/cm2 and heatsink temperature = 20 °C) decreased to about 58% of its initial value after 250 h of operation. The origin of this degradation effect has been studied using capacitance-voltage and photocurrent spectroscopy measurements conducted before and after aging. The overall device capacitance decreased, which indicates a reduction of the net charges within the space-charge region of the pn-junction during operation. In parallel, the photocurrent at excitation energies between 3.8 eV and 4.5 eV and the photocurrent induced by band-to-band absorption in the quantum barriers at 5.25 eV increased during operation. The latter effect can be explained by a reduction of the donor concentration in the active region of the device. This effect could be attributed to the compensation of donors by the activation or diffusion of acceptors, such as magnesium dopants or group-III vacancies, in the pn-junction space-charge region. The results are consistent with the observed reduction in optical power since deep level acceptors can also act as non-radiative recombination centers.

Defect generation in deep-UV AlGaN-based LEDs investigated by electrical and spectroscopic characterisation

The paper reports the analysis of (In)AlGaN-based UV-B LEDs degradation under constant current stress, and investigates the impact of defects in changing the devices electro-optical performance. The study is based on combined electro-optical characterization, deep-level transient- (DLTS) and photocurrent spectroscopy. UV-B LEDs show a decrease of the optical power during stress, more pronounced at low measuring current levels, indicating that the degradation is related to an increase of Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination. DLTS measurements allowed the identification of three defects, in particular one ascribed to Mg-related acceptor traps presence. Photocurrent spectroscopy allows the localization of the defects close to the mid-gap.

Effect of Cl2 plasma treatment and annealing on vanadium based metal contacts to Si-doped Al0.75Ga0.25N

In order to understand the electrical properties of V/Al/Ni/Au metal contacts to Si-doped Al0.75Ga0.25N layers, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis was performed on differently treated AlGaN:Si surfaces before metal deposition, and transmission electron microscopy was used to study the semiconductor-metal interface after contact annealing at 900 °C. Cl2 plasma etching of AlGaN increases the aluminum/nitrogen ratio at the surface, and Al oxide or oxynitride is always formed by any surface treatment applied after etching. After contact annealing, a complex interface structure including amorphous AlOx and different metal phases such as Al-Au-Ni, V-Al, and V2N were found. The electrical properties of the contacts were determined by thermionic emission and/or thermionic field emission in the low voltage regime. Nearly ohmic contacts on AlGaN surfaces exposed to a Cl2 plasma were only obtained by annealing the sample at a temperature of 815 °C under N2/NH3 prior to metallization. By this treatment, the ox...

Current spreading in UV-C LEDs emitting at 235 nm

We present UV-C LEDs emitting around 235 nm grown by MOVPE on ELO AlN/sapphire substrates. In order to account for the low conductivity of high Al content AlGaN layers and the associated high contact resistances, we designed an optimized compact LED geometry based on electro-thermal simulations of the current spreading. Experimental data (layer and contact resistances) are collected on test structures and used as input parameters for 3-D current spreading simulations. With resistances of the layers (n and p) approaching 0.1 Ωcm, the use of a segmented p-area with broad n-contact fingers (10 μm or more) that are close to the mesa edge (5 μm) help to maximize the emission power in the center of the structure. Based on this knowledge a series of compact LEDs of size 500 μm x 500 μm is designed and simulated. We get confirmation that the segmentation of the p-area is the most critical parameter to limit the non-uniformity introduced by the high n-sheet resistances. Up to 17% in emission power can be gained when the n-contacts are designed properly. LEDs with the optimum geometry were processed and measured. We get a good confirmation of our model concerning the distribution of the emission power. Both simulations and measurements show current crowding at the edge of the n-contact, however the power loss in the middle of the chip is higher than predicted.

Localization of current-induced degradation effects in (InAlGa)N-based UV-B LEDs

The degradation behavior of ultraviolet-B light emitting diodes (UV-B LEDs) emitting near 310 nm has been investigated and a method to localize the degradation effects is presented. Measurements of the electro-optical characteristics of UV-B LEDs, during a 200 h constant-current degradation study, showed an initial fast decrease in the optical power accompanied by a decrease in the drive voltage and an increase in the capacitance. Furthermore, by using a specially designed contact geometry, it was possible to separate the degradation of the electrical properties of the p-layers and p-contacts from the degradation of the active region and n-side of the LED heterostructure. Our investigations show that the initial changes in capacitance and voltage can be attributed to changes in the p-side and at the p-contact of the LED, which can be explained by an activation of Mg dopants.The degradation behavior of ultraviolet-B light emitting diodes (UV-B LEDs) emitting near 310 nm has been investigated and a method to localize the degradation effects is presented. Measurements of the electro-optical characteristics of UV-B LEDs, during a 200 h constant-current degradation study, showed an initial fast decrease in the optical power accompanied by a decrease in the drive voltage and an increase in the capacitance. Furthermore, by using a specially designed contact geometry, it was possible to separate the degradation of the electrical properties of the p-layers and p-contacts from the degradation of the active region and n-side of the LED heterostructure. Our investigations show that the initial changes in capacitance and voltage can be attributed to changes in the p-side and at the p-contact of the LED, which can be explained by an activation of Mg dopants.