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Carrier injection modulated by V-defects in InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well blue LEDs

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2014 Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 53 112103
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REGULAR PAPER

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 53, 112103 (2014)

http://dx.doi.org/10.7567/JJAP.53.112103

Carrier injection modulated by V-defects in InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well blue LEDs

Yufeng Li1,2, Feng Yun1,2*, Xilin Su3, Shuo Liu3, Wen Ding1,2, and Xun Hou1
1
Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of Ministry of Education and Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics & Information
Technology, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, Shaanxi 710049, P. R. China
2
Solid-State Lighting Engineering Research Center, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, Shaanxi 710049, P. R. China
3
Shaanxi Supernova Lighting Technology Co., Ltd., Xian, Shaanxi 710049, P. R. China
E-mail: fyun2010@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Received July 19, 2014; accepted August 27, 2014; published online October 29, 2014
We investigated the carrier injection mechanism in InGaN/GaN blue light-emitting diodes by growing monolithic dual-wavelength multiple quantum
wells and measuring electroluminescence spectra at different current densities at room temperature. During the epitaxial growth, V-defects of
different sizes were intentionally formed in the active region area by controlling the growth conditions. We found that the size of the V-defects has a
signicant effect on the spectral competition of dual-wavelength emissions. With small V-defects, light emitted from quantum wells near p-GaN is
dominant. In a sample with large V-defects, quantum wells near n-GaN contribute more to carrier recombination. The hole injection depth of eight
pairs of quantum wells far from p-GaN is quantitatively estimated. We attribute the different behaviors to the modulation of carrier injection depth by
the formed V-defects. 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics

1.

Introduction

In recent years, IIIV nitride semiconductors have attracted

considerable interest as promising materials for optoelectronic
devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes
(LDs). InGaN-based LEDs with a high external quantum
efciency (EQE) are promising candidates for applications to
solid-state lighting and are in intense demand for their
advantages of low energy consumption and long lifetime over
conventional light source. Among the factors that determine
EQE, the carrier injection efciency is important. InGaN
LEDs suffer from a low hole injection efciency because of
their inefcient Mg doping and low hole mobility.1,2) Several
methods, such as the use of staggered InGaN quantum
wells,3,4) InGaN barriers,5,6) tapered AlGaN electron blocking
layers (EBLs),7,8) polarization-matched AlGaInN EBLs,9)
hole reservoir layers,10) and lattice-matched InAlN EBLs,11)
have been suggested for improving the hole injection efciency and device performance. Although signicant forward
steps have been taken, the increase in the carrier injection
efciency without markedly increasing the epitaxy and chip
fabrication cost remains a major challenge. In particular, when
the growth of a large number of quantum wells is required, the
nonuniform carrier distribution in a multiple-quantum-well
(MQW) region could have a signicant effect on the device
performance.1214) Recently, some arguments have been put
forward in relation to the effect of V-defects on the carrier
transport characteristics of LED devices. Some researchers
stated that the electroluminescence (EL) characteristics of
LEDs will deteriorate since carriers are preferentially captured
at V-defects and associated threading dislocation (TD) lines
and recombine nonradiatively.15) Others have argued that Vdefects may exhibit an energy barrier16,17) or electrical passivation18) to prevent carriers from reaching the defects. Thus
far, it has remained unclear how V-defects affect carrier transport. Furthermore, there are few reports on how to manipulate
V-defects to control carrier transport properties.19,20)
In this study, the carrier transport mechanism is investigated by analyzing dual-wavelength EL spectra under
different injection current densities at room temperature.
The spectral competition of normalized EL emission peaks is
studied and the approximate carrier injection depth is

estimated. Meanwhile, crystal growth is intentionally varied

such that V-defects of different sizes are formed in the active
region. The interaction between V-defects and the carrier
recombination region is evaluated, on the basis of which the
dynamics of carrier injection in the InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs
is further claried.
2.

Experimental procedure

The samples used in this study were grown on (0001)-oriented

sapphire substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy
(MOVPE). A buffer layer was grown and annealed at a high
temperature to induce coalescence. A 2-m-thick undoped
GaN layer was grown, followed by 3-m-thick Si-doped nGaN layers. For samples 36, a 150-nm-thick strain release
layer (SRL) was grown at a low temperature and a slow
growth rate after the growth of the n-GaN layer. For samples 1
and 2, such a layer was grown under conventional n-GaN
growth conditions. For all the samples, the active region
consisted of 12 periods of undoped InGaN/GaN MQWs with
two different emission wavelengths. Each QW/QB pair was
composed of 3-nm-thick InGaN wells and 12-nm-thick GaN
barriers. The individual QW structures for different samples
are summarized in Table I. Samples 1 and 3 have six pairs of
440-nm-emission QWs followed by six pairs of 465-nmemission QWs. Samples 2 and 4 have QWs grown in the
opposite sequence: 485-nm-emission QWs rst, then 440-nmemission QWs. Sample 5 consists of eight pairs of 440-nmemission QWs followed by four pairs of 465-nm-emission
QWs. Sample 6 has four pairs of 440-nm-emission QWs
followed by eight pairs of 465-nm-emission QWs. An
undoped AlGaN EBL was grown with a thickness of 15 nm
followed by Mg-doped p-InAlGaN:Mg and a p-GaN:Mg
(p 5 1019 cm3) layer to generate holes. A lateral LED
die with a size of 250 575 m2 was fabricated by a conventional mesa structure method. The EL spectrum of an
unencapsulated LED die under different injection currents
from 1 to 120 mA in the DC mode was measured in a
calibrated integrating sphere at room temperature.
3.

Results

Samples without an EBL or p-GaN layer were grown

intentionally to visualize the structural property of the MQW.

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Y. Li et al.

Normalized EL intensity (arb. unit)

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 53, 112103 (2014)

Table I. Summary of sample growth conditions and QW structures.
Sample

Growth condition

QW structure

Sample 1

Without SRL

6 440 nm + 6 465 nm

Sample 2

Without SRL

6 485 nm + 6 440 nm

Sample 3

With SRL

6 440 nm + 6 465 nm

Sample 4

With SRL

6 485 nm + 6 440 nm

Sample 5
Sample 6

With SRL
With SRL

8 440 nm + 4 465 nm
4 440 nm + 8 465 nm

(a)

2.0

(b)
120 mA

1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4
1 mA
0.0
400

425

450

475

500 400

Wavelength(nm)

425

450

475

500

Wavelength(nm)

Fig. 2. (Color online) Normalized room-temperature EL spectra of

(a) sample 1 and (b) sample 3 for different injection currents.

Fig. 1. (Color online) Morphological SEM images of MQWs without an

upper capping layer for (a) sample with small V-defects and (b) sample with
large V-defects. (c) AFM image of the surface of MQW with large V-defects.
(d) TEM image of sample with large V-defects. (e) SEM image of p-GaN
capping layer.

Figure 1(a) shows a morphological SEM image of the

MQW surface of a sample prepared under the same growth
conditions as samples 1 and 2, featuring randomly distributed
pits with a density of about 4 108 cm2. The top diameter
of individual pits is 50100 nm. With the insertion of the
SRL, the pits in samples 36 were intentionally enlarged.
Figure 1(b) shows a SEM image of a sample after the
growth of MQW under the same growth conditions as
samples 36. Figure 1(c) shows an atomic force microscopy
(AFM) image of sample 3. The density of the large pits is
calculated to be 2 108 cm2 and the pits are approximately
250300 nm in diameter. The areas of the small and large
V-shaped pit regions are calculated to be less than 3.8 and
17%, respectively.
Figure 1(d) shows a transmission electron microscopy
(TEM) image around a large pit; V-shaped facets of
individual pits are clearly distinguished. The fact that MQWs
grew in the (0001) direction in the c-plane whereas the facets

of pits show the (1101)
direction indicates that the pits are
related to the V-defects.2123) TEM measurement shows that
large V-defects start to grow before the growth of the rst pair
of QWs, as designed, and that their depth is about 150200
nm. The depth of the small V-pits is calculated to be from
50 to 70 nm. They initiate at the InGaN well/GaN barrier
interface and are related to TD propagation.24,25) For samples
with a full LED structure, a sufciently thick p-type capping

layer was grown to ll the V-defects and the top surface

appeared completely smooth [Fig. 1(e)].
To explore the spectral competition between the emissions
from different QWs, EL spectra at various currents were normalized to their own highest peak intensity. Figure 2 shows
the normalized room-temperature EL spectra of samples 1
and 3 from 1 mA (9.5 mA/mm2) to 120 mA (1135 mA/mm2).
For sample 1 [Fig. 2(a)], the intensity of the 440 nm EL peak
appears to be only half that of the 465 nm peak at 1 mA. With
further increase in current, the intensity of the 440 nm peak
increases and reaches up to 70% of that of the 465 nm peak.
Sample 3 [Fig. 2(b)] shows a completely different behavior.
At a low current, both emissions appear and the intensity of
the 465 nm peak is about 65% of that of the 440 nm peak.
With increasing current, the intensity of the 465 nm peak
gradually increases and nally becomes the same as that of
the 440 nm peak. In order to investigate the leakage current
characteristics of samples with different sizes of V-defects,
reverse current measurement was carried out at a commercial
on-wafer probe station. The total number of measured points
was about 2000 chips per 2 inch wafer. The median Ir at
5 V was measured as 0.0080.009 A for large-pit samples
and 0.010.011 A for small-pit samples. The median light
output power (LOP) at 120 mA was measured as 54.2 and
66.0 mW for samples 1 and 3, respectively.
It has been suggested that the additional emission of
increased linewidth in the PL spectrum correlates with the Vdefects through the formation of quantum-dot-like structures
either at the apex of the V-defects or at the In-rich pyramid
sidewalls.24,26) However, no extra emission was observed in
our EL or PL measurement (not shown) of the above samples
or the sample grown with a xed indium composition in the
MQW region. This indicates that all EL emissions shown in
the spectra originate from c-plane MQWs, not from inclined
MQWs formed on the sidewalls of the V-defects. Note
that the wavelength gap between the two peaks is less than
30 nm. Therefore, the absorption of short-wavelength emission by the long-wavelength emission is not signicant. It
is reasonable to assume that the intensity of each peak is
representative of the light-emitting efciency of each wavelength of the QWs. Figure 2(a) suggests that long-wavelength QWs near p-GaN are more efcient than shortwavelength QWs near n-GaN in a sample with small Vdefects. With increasing current, the ratio of short- to long-

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2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics

2.0

(a)

Y. Li et al.

Normalized EL intensity (arb. unit)

Normalized EL intensity (arb. unit)

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 53, 112103 (2014)

sample 5

1.5

1.5

sample 3

1.0

1.0

0.5

0.5

1 mA
0.0

120 mA

2.0

(b)
120 mA

420

455

490

525

Wavelength(nm)

420

455

490

525

0.0
400

560

Wavelength(nm)

sample 6
425

450

475

500

Wavelength(nm)

Fig. 4. (Color online) Normalized room-temperature EL spectra of

samples 5, 3, and 6 at 120 mA. Also shown on the right are their
corresponding MQW structures.

Fig. 3. (Color online) Normalized room-temperature EL spectra of

(a) sample 2 and (b) sample 4 for different injection currents.

wavelength emission intensities increases indicating that

the carrier recombination region moves towards n-GaN. This
is because the QWs near p-GaN have higher recombination rates owing to the higher hole concentration.27) With
increasing bias, the hole gains greater penetration depth to
travel to more QWs near n-GaN to recombine.13) Results of
theoretical simulations also support this trend.28) Interestingly, the behavior of a sample with large V-defects is different. QWs near n-GaN appear to be more efcient than
QWs near p-GaN at a low current. This implies that the initial
carrier recombination region involves more QWs near n-GaN
than QWs near p-GaN. At a high current, the increased portion of long-wavelength QW emission indicates a spatial shift
of such recombination areas towards p-GaN.
Generally, QWs with a higher indium content lead to poor
crystal quality and a larger polarization eld.29) To further
clarify the possible intensity variation introduced by indium
and the growth conditions, the QW growth sequence was
switched intentionally. Long-wavelength QWs were grown
prior to short-wavelength QWs in samples 2 (small V-defects)
and 4 (large V-defects). It was found that the emission from
short-wavelength QWs near p-GaN is dominant in the sample
with small V-defects [Fig. 3(a)]. With increasing current,
competition from long-wavelength QWs near n-GaN becomes
more intense. Eventually, the intensities of both peaks become
approximately the same. The sample with large V-defects
[Fig. 3(b)] shows a totally different behavior. Only emission
from long-wavelength QWs was observed in the entire current
range. These observations are consistent with the result
of comparison between samples 1 and 3 and indicate that
emission dominance primarily correlates with the size and
location of the V-defects.
In order to verify the interaction spatial range and
mechanism between QWs and V-defects, especially at a high
current density, the numbers of long- and short-wavelength
QWs were varied while keeping the total number of QWs
constant. Figure 4 shows normalized EL spectra at 120 mA
for samples 5 (8 440 nm + 4 465 nm), 3 (6 440 nm +
6 465 nm), and 6 (4 440 nm + 8 465 nm). In sample 5,
the peak intensity from short-wavelength QWs is about 25%
higher than that from long-wavelength QWs. In sample 3, this
difference decreases to less than 10%. In sample 6, the shortwavelength emission almost disappears. This clearly shows a
shift of the spectral dominance as the composition of QWs

changes. This leads to the conclusion that the carrier recombination region covers up to at least the 8th QW counting from
p-GaN, at a high current density. Considering the spatial shift
observed above, the depletion region at a low current will even
be larger.
4.

Discussion

The signicantly higher Ir value in the large-V-defect sample

as reported elsewhere15) was not observed. This is probably
due to the lower defect density of this sample than of
the small-V-defect sample, another factor that affects the
multistep tunneling through dislocations associated with Vdefects20) at a low reverse bias. More distinguishable features
may arise at a higher reverse bias by different mechanisms30)
but they have yet to be measured owing to the limitation of
equipment. The fact that both large- and small-V-defect
samples have a low reverse current and reasonably good
LOP indicates that the large V-defects do not particularly
serve as electrically critical defects nor do they predominantly facilitate nonradiative recombination. Because of the
thickness of the quantum barrier and the number of QWs
on top, direct diffusion or tunneling is impossible for holes
up to eight pairs of QWs.31) Therefore, another mechanism
must play a part in controlling hole injection. On the other
hand, the carrier screening mechanism at a dislocation by
the local energy barrier associated with V-defects is contrary
to the large carrier injection depth measured here. In order
to explain all these results, we propose the model shown in
Fig. 5. There are two current-owing paths. Path 1 stands
for the current owing from the top QWs with no V-defects
nearby. Path 2 represents the current owing through some or
all of the V-defects bypassing one or several of the top QWs.
In a sample with large V-defects, the resistance of p-GaN
lling in the V-defects is represented by RpV. When the
voltage drop across RpV is small at a low current, path 2
serves as the main channel for hole injection. Meanwhile, the
bottom QW emission is dominant. With increasing current,
such a voltage drop enlarges, resulting in a weakening of the
bypass effect. When the current exceeds the balance point
and the voltage drops across RpV and the top MQWs are about
the same, path 1 starts to win the competition. In addition,
with an increase in the hole density in the large V-defects,
extra holes are eventually forced to ow through some of the

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2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 53, 112103 (2014)

Y. Li et al.

Fig. 5. (Color online) Equivalent electrical circuit model near an

individual large V-defect.

more resistive paths and recombine in some or all of the

top QWs. On the other hand, with small or no V-defects, only
a few or no top QWs are bypassed initially. The hole injection
is mainly governed by the hole mobility and potential barrier
offset in the active region at a high current. Thus, path 1 is
dominant in the entire range of current. Therefore, a large
carrier injection depth cannot be achieved.
5.

Conclusions

InGaN MQW blue LEDs with intentionally grown V-defects

of different sizes were demonstrated. It was found that, in a
sample with small or no V-defects, the carrier recombination
region is primarily located near p-GaN. In a sample with
large V-defects, this region is shifted towards n-GaN. This
phenomenon increases the carrier injection depth. A hole
injection depth of eight pairs of QWs was quantitatively
measured. LOP of the LED with large V-defects was higher
than that of the LED with small V-defects.
Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National High Technology

Research and Development Program of China under Grant
No. 2014AA032608 and Scientic Research Foundation
from Xian Jiaotong University under Grant No.
DWSQc130000028.

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