Introduction of Master's thesis of Jih-

Yuan Chang and Wen-Wei Lin

Speaker:Meng-Lun Tsai
National Changhua University of Education

10/14/08 National Changhua University of Education 1

 Electronic Current Overflow and
Inhomogeneous Hole Distribution of the
InGaN Quantum Well Structures

Master's thesis of Jih-Yuan Chang

10/14/08 National Changhua University of Education 2

 Outline

Introduction

Electronic Current Overflow of the InGaN

SQW Structures

Inhomogeneous Hole Distribution of the

InGaN Quantum Well Structures

Conclusion

2003/3/31 National Changhua University of Education 3

 Introduction

The InGaN materials have important application in visible light-emitting

diodes (LED) and short-wavelength laser diodes. In this work Jih-yuan
investigate the electronic current overflow and the inhomogeneous hole
distribution of the blue InGaN quantum well structures with a LASTIP
(abbreviation of LASer Technology Integrated Program) simulation
program.

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 Reasons to electron current overflow

There are several causes for the electron

current overflow of III-V Nitrides ：
high threshold current
narrow quantum well width
small conduction band-offset
poor hole injection to the active region
These four causes have important influence on
the degree of current overflow.

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 Schematic diagram of the preliminary
laser diode structure

The reflectivities of the two end mirrors are 85 % and 90 %

respectively.
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The current distribution and L-I curves for the
preliminary structure

20 10

Overflow Current λ = 462 nm

Active-Layer Current 8
Current Density (kA/cm )

15
2

Laser Power (mW)

6

10
4

5
2

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 40 80 120 160 200 240
2
Total Current Density (kA/cm ) Current (mA)

The laser threshold current is 103.4 mA.

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 Current distribution curves at various
p-doping levels

Overflow Current Density (kA/cm ) 20

2

p-doping ： 1×1017 cm-3

p-doping ： 3×1017 cm-3
15 p-doping ： 5×1017 cm-3
p-doping ： 7×1017 cm-3
p-doping ： 1×1018 cm-3
10

0
0 5 10 15 20
2
Total Current Density (kA/cm )

The higher the p-doping level, the lower the percentage

of the electronic overflow current.
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 L-I curves at various p-doping levels

20
p-doping ： 1×1017 cm-3
p-doping ： 3×1017 cm-3
15
Laser Power (mW)

p-doping ： 5×1017 cm-3

p-doping ： 7×1017 cm-3
p-doping ： 1×1018 cm-3
10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Current (mA)

The higher the p-doping level, the better the performance

of InGaN laser diode.
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Current distribution curves at various Al mole
fractions

Overflow Current Density (kA/cm ) 20

2

Without p-AlGaN Layer

p-AlGaN (Al : 5 %)
15 p-AlGaN (Al : 10 %)
p-AlGaN (Al : 15 %)
p-AlGaN (Al : 20 %)
10 p-AlGaN (Al : 25 %)
p-AlGaN (Al : 30 %)

0
0 5 10 15 20
2
Total Current Density (kA/cm )

The higher the Al mole fraction, the lower the percentage

of the electronic overflow current.

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 L-I curves at various Al mole fractions

20

Without p-AlGaN Layer

15 p-AlGaN (Al : 5 %)
Laser Power (mW)

p-AlGaN (Al : 10 %)
p-AlGaN (Al : 15 %)
10 p-AlGaN (Al : 20 %)
p-AlGaN (Al : 25 %)
p-AlGaN (Al : 30 %)
5

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Current (mA)

The higher Al mole fraction, the better performance of

InGaN laser diode.

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 The current distribution and L-I curves of the
improved structure

20 20
Overflow Current
Active-Layer Current
Current Density (kA/cm )

15 15
2

Laser Power (mW)

10 10

5 5

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
2
Total Current Density (kA/cm ) Current (mA)

The modified structure ： Al mole fraction : 10 %

→ p-doping level : 1×1018 cm-3

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Laser output power as a function of input electric
power for the original and improved structures

30

25
Output Power (mW)

20

15 Initial Structure
Improved Structure
10

0
160 240 320 400 480 560 640 720 800

Electric Power (mW)

The improved structure has a better power conversion efficiency.

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Threshold current as a function of temperature
for the original and improved structures

240
T
I th = I 0 ⋅ e
Threshold Current (mA)

T0
200

160
Initial Structure
120 （ T0 = 63.40
Improved Structure K ）
80
（ T0 = 208.60
40 K ）
300 310 320 330 340 350

Temperature (K)

The improved structure is more stable, especially for

high-temperature operation.
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 L-I curves of the InGaN laser structures of
different quantum well numbers.

20

Single QW Double QWs Triple QWs

15
Laser Power (mW)

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 0 500 1000 1500 2000
Current (mA) Current (mA) Current (mA)

With the increase of the quantum well number, the

performance of the InGaN laser diodes decreases.
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Energy band diagram of the triple-QW structure

4 4

3 3
Energy (eV)

Energy (eV)
2 2

1 1

0 0

0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.19 0.2 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.24

Distance (µm) Distance (µm)

The quasi-Fermi level in the valance band is not quite continuous

→ inhomogeneity of hole distribution among quantum wells.

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 Carrier concentration distribution of the
triple-QW structure

20 20
Electron Concentration (log) (cm )
-3

Hole Concentration (log) (cm )

-3
15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28

Distance (µm) Distance (µm)

It is obvious that the hole distribution among

quantum wells is quite inhomogeneous.

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 Spontaneous and stimulated emission diagrams
of the triple-QW structure

Stimulated Recombination Rate (10 cm /s)

Radiative Recombination Rate (10 cm /s)

1.4

-3
-3

6
1.2

23
28

4
1
2
0.8 0

0.6 -2

0.4 -4

-6
0.2
-8
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4

Distance (µm) Distance (µm)

The right quantum well has the most spontaneous emission.

The right quantum well is the only quantum well that
possesses positive stimulated emission.
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Carrier concentration and stimulated diagrams when
the barriers have a p-doping level of 2.3 × 1019 cm-3

2.5

Stimulated Recombination Rate (10 cm /s)

-3
20
2

28
Concentration (log) (cm )
-3

15 1.5

1
10

0.5
5 Hole Concentration
Electron Concentration 0

0.18 0.19 0.2 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.24 0.25 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4

Distance (µm) Distance (µm)

The distribution of hole concentration is much more homogeneous.

All three quantum wells contribute to stimulated emission.
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L-I curves for various doping concentration of
the barriers

20
p-doping ： 2.3×1019 cm-3
p-doping ： 2.5×1019 cm-3
15
Laser Power (mW)

p-doping ： 2.7×1019 cm-3

p-doping ： 3.0×1019 cm-3
p-doping ： 3.3×1019 cm-3
10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Current (mA)

When the doping level is at 3×1019 cm-3, the threshold current is

43.22 mA and the slope efficiency is 25.74%.

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L-I curves for SQW and Triple-QW structures

20

Single QW (without p-barrier doping)

15 Triple QWs (with p-barrier doping)
Laser Power (mW)

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Current (mA)

The triple-QW structure has better laser performance.

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 Conclusion
It is found that this electronic current overflow is severe in the single
quantum well InGaN laser structure at room temperature, especially
when the p-doping is low. Increasing the p-doping level and using an
AlGaN stopper layer in the p-side can resolve this problem. In addition
to the improvement of laser performance at room temperature, the
improved InGaN laser structure has a higher characteristic temperature
and hence is less sensitive to temperature.
Jih-Yuan have also investigated the deterioration of the laser
performance of the multiple quantum well InGaN lasers caused by the
inhomogeneous distribution of the holes inside the active region. It
happens due to the difficulty for the holes to transport from one quantum
to another. Jih-Yuan have proposed to p-dope the barriers between wells
to help the holes to transport and thus help solve the problem of
inhomogeneous hole distribution.
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 Theoretical Investigation on Band
Structure of the BAlGaInN
Semiconductor Materials

Master's thesis of Wen-Wei Lin

10/14/08 National Changhua University of Education 23

 Content

The band-gap energy-gap bowing parameter of the

wurtzite InGaN,AlGaN,AlInN alloys are investigated
numerically with the CASTEP simulation program by
Wen-Wei Lin

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 Simulation for the WZ-InGaN

In this simulation , Indium will be constricted between 0

and 0.375.And the lattice constants of the unstrained InGaN
layer depend linearly on the indium composition.

a(x) = 3.501 (x) + 3.162 (1-x)

b(x) = 3.501 (x) + 3.162 (1-x)
c(x) = 5.669 (x) + 5.142 (1-x)

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WZ-InxGa1-xN band gap energy
3.6

Band-Gap Energy (eV) 3.4

3.2

3.0

2.8

2.6
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Indium Composition, x

Eg(x) = x · Eg,InN + (1-x) ·Eg,GaN - b · x · (1-x)

To use this formula to fit the results, and obtain bowing
parameter of 1.210 eV

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 Simulation for the WZ-AlGaN

Since AlGaN have large energy band gap , so it is usually

used as barrier of active layer or DBR material.

Since the energy band gap structure of the AlGaN is direct in the whole
range of the aluminum composition, wen-wei study the characteristics of
the AlGaN for the aluminum composition to be between zero and one.
The lattice constants of the unstrained AlGaN layer depend linearly on the
aluminum composition.
a(x) = 3.082 (x) + 3.162 (1-x)
b(x) = 3.082 (x) + 3.162 (1-x)
c(x) = 4.948 (x) + 5.142 (1-x)

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WZ-AlxGa1-xN band gap energy
6.5
Band-Gap Energy (eV) 6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Aluminum Composition, x
Eg(x) = x · Eg,AlN + (1-x) ·Eg,GaN - b · x · (1-x)

To use this formula to fit the results, and obtain bowing

parameter of 0.353 eV

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 Simulation for the WZ-AlInN
Compared to the InGaN and AlGaN alloys, the third ternary nitride
alloy ,AlInN ,is less investigated.This alloys exhibits the largest
variation in band gap and it is a candidate for lattice matched
confinement layers in optical devices.
Wen-wei study the characteristics of the AlInN for the aluminum composition
to be between zero and one.
The lattice constants of the unstrained AlGaN layer depend linearly on the
aluminum composition.

a(x) = 3.082 (x) + 3.501 (1-x)

b(x) = 3.082 (x) + 3.501 (1-x)
c(x) = 4.948 (x) + 5.669 (1-x)
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 WZ-AlGaInN band gap energy

7.0
Band-Gap Energy (eV)
6.0

5.0

4.0 InxGa1-xN
AlxGa1-xN
3.0 AlxIn1-xN

2.0

1.0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Composition, x

Eg(x) = x · Eg,AlN + (1-x) ·Eg,InN - b · x · (1-x)

To use this formula to fit the results, and obtain bowing
parameter of 3.326 eV
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 WZ-AlGaInN
7 177
AlN
Band-Gap Energy (eV) 6 207

Wavelength (nm)
5 248

4 310

GaN 413
3

2 620
InN

1 1240
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5
Lattice Constant (Angstrom)

Band-gap energy and corresponding wavelength of the

InGaN,AlGaN, and AlInN as a function of the lattice constant

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