Structural design and characterization of fluorescent/phosphorescent multilayer top-emitting organic light-emitting diode (OLED) are investigated numerically with the Advanced Physical Model of Semiconductor Devices (APSYS) simulation program in this work. Specifically, the carrier balance and control of the migration of the triplet exciton diffusion avoiding the serious quenching which contributes to the roll-off in quantum efficiency at high current density, and limiting the singlet and triplet excitons at a better emitting zone can be optimized with appropriate cavity design of top-emitting OLED structure. Comparison between the results obtained numerically in this investigation and those obtained experimentally is made. Optimization of the optical and electronic performance of the multilayer OLED devices is attempted. The simulation results show that a better choice for the trade-off between color stability and electroluminescence efficiency can be achieved by properly adjusting the microcavity effect. An optimized performance is achieved if the recombination zone is designed to be located at the maximum of relative power, i.e., the anti-nodal region of the standing wave.
In this study, the effect of exciton-blocking layer (EBL), employed between the electron-transporting layer (ETL) and the undoped host spacer layer, on the characteristics of fluorescent/phosphorescent multilayer white organic lightemitting diode (OLED) is investigated numerically with the APSYS (Advanced Physical Model of Semiconductor Devices) simulation program. The validation of simulation model is confirmed by the good agreement of photoelectric characteristics between the results obtained numerically and those obtained experimentally. Simulation results suggest that singlet excitons and triplet excitons are generated at both hole-transporting layer (HTL)/emitting layer (EML) and EML/ETL interfaces, where electrons and holes accumulate and recombine, with certain thickness of host spacer layers employed on both sides of EML of white OLED structure. Further study shows that a better choice for the trade-off between color stability and electroluminescence (EL) efficiency can be achieved by properly adjusting the number of EBLs. An optimized performance is achieved if two pairs of EBLs are used.
The reduced peak efficiency and the efficiency droop afterward, i.e. the degraded efficiency, of blue InGaN lightemitting diodes (LEDs) is investigated numerically. It is depicted that the joint effects of multiple factors, including the influences of polarization-induced electric field, the phenomenon of current crowding, and the Auger and ShockleyRead-Hall (SRH) recombinations, are responsible for the degraded efficiency. Among them, the severe SRH recombination due to the poor crystalline quality is the main cause of reduced peak efficiency, while the serious Auger recombination resulted from high Auger recombination coefficient and non-uniform carrier distribution of the active region is the major factor contributing to efficiency droop. It is shown that the strong built-in polarization field and the crowded current flow will result in the nonuniform carrier distribution, and thus enlarge the Auger losses and the efficiency droop.
For 365-nm ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV LEDs), an electron blocking layer (EBL) is usually utilized to mitigate electron overflow. However, using EBL might obstruct holes from injecting into the active region. Moreover, the large polarization field in conventional EBL might also pull down the effective barrier height for electrons, and thus the electrons could easily overflow to the p-side region. To solve the above drawbacks, in this study, the Al content and p-doping concentration of the EBL in typical 365-nm UV LEDs are investigated systematically. Specifically, designs of AlGaN/GaN superlattice EBL and Al-content-graded EBL are explored in detail.
In traditional III-nitride solar cells, the polarization-induced charges and potential barrier in the hetero-interfaces are demonstrated to be harmful for carrier collection. To solve these challenges, the elimination or mitigation of the abrupt hetero-interfaces should be efficient. In this study, various kinds of solar cell structures are investigated numerically. The structures under various situations of indium composition and degree of polarization are systematically explored. Specifically, the photovoltaic performance, energy band diagrams, electrostatic fields, and recombination rates are analyzed. Then, according to the simulation results, the appropriate solar cell structure which possesses high conversion efficiency is proposed.
In this study, the polarization effect in III-nitride based ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) has been investigated theoretically. Some specific designs in active region are proposed to reduce the polarization effect and, hence, improve the device performance. Simulation results show that by utilizing properly designed quaternary AlInGaN material in active region, the hole injection efficiency can be enhanced due to the reduction of polarization mismatch between hetero-layers. On the other hand, the electron leakage is suppressed owing to that the effective potential height for electrons is increased. Therefore, the performance of UV LEDs is significantly improved by the polarization engineering in active region.
In this study, a specific design on the electron blocking layer (EBL) by band engineering is investigated numerically with an aim to improve the output performance and to reduce the efficiency droop in green LEDs. Systematic analyses including the energy band diagrams, carrier distributions in the active region, and electron leakage current are given and the simulation results show that the proposed lattice-compensated superlattice-AlGaN/InGaN EBL can provide better optical and electrical output performances when compared to the conventional rectangular AlGaN EBL. The output power of the green LED can be enhanced by a factor of 52% and the applied voltage can be reduced from 5.08 V to 4.53 V at an injection current of 1500 mA. The internal quantum efficiency is improved and the percentage of the efficiency droop can also be reduced from 58% to 37%, which is mainly attributed to the successful suppression of electron leakage current and improvement in hole injection efficiency.
Specific designs on the band structures near the active region are investigated numerically by using the APSYS
simulation program with the purpose to surmount the efficiency droop in the InGaN blue LEDs. Systematic analyses
included the energy band diagrams, radiative and SRH recombination rates, distribution of electrons and holes in the
active region, and electron overflow. Simulation results show that, with appropriate designs, the efficiency droop may be
effectively reduced due to the increase of hole injection efficiency, the enhancement of blocking capability for electrons,
or the uniform carrier distribution of carriers in the active region.
In recent literatures, the quantum efficiency of conventional blue InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is quite limited
under relatively high driving current with conventional GaN barriers due presumably to the poor injection efficiency of
hole. In this study, the efficiency enhancement of blue InGaN LEDs with indium composition graded InGaN barriers is
proposed. The energy band diagram, carrier concentration in the quantum wells, diagram of hole current, radiative
recombination rate, L-I curves, and internal quantum efficiency are investigated numerically. The simulation results
show that the InGaN LED with graded InGaN barriers has better performance over its conventional counterpart with
GaN barriers due to enhanced efficiency of hole injection. The simulation results also suggest that under relatively high
current injection, the internal quantum efficiency and output light power are markedly improved when the traditional
GaN barriers are replaced by graded InGaN barriers. According to the improved optical properties, the new-designed
LED has promising potential in solid state lighting.
A high energy bandgap electron blocking layer (EBL) just behind the active region is conventionally used in the nitride-based
laser diodes (LDs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to improve the confinement capability of electrons within the
quantum wells. Nevertheless, the EBL may also act as a potential barrier for the holes and cause non-uniform
distribution of holes among quantum wells. A most recent study by Han et al. (Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 231123, 2009)
reported that, because of the blocking effect for holes, the InGaN LED device without an EBL has slighter efficiency
droop and higher light output at high level of current injection when compared with the LED device with an EBL. This
result seems to contradict with the original intention of using the EBL. Furthermore, findings from our previous studies
(IEEE J. Lightwave Technol. 26, 329, 2008; J. Appl. Phys. 103, 103115, 2008; Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 201118, 2007)
indicated that the utilization of EBL is essential for the InGaN laser diodes. Thus, in this work, the optical properties of
the InGaN LDs and LEDs are explored numerically with the LASTIP simulation program and APSYS simulation
program, respectively. The analyses focus particularly on the light output power, energy band diagrams, recombination
rates, distribution of electrons and holes in the active region, and electron overflow. This study will then conclude with a
discussion of the effect of EBL on the optical properties of the InGaN LDs and LEDs.
Both Cr:LiCAF and Cr:LiSAF solid state lasers were developed by Payne et al. As transition-metal vibronic lasers the Cr:LiCAF and Cr:LiSAF exhibit broad emission spectra, long lifetime of the upper laser levels, low nonlinear refractive indices, low thermal lensing, and low excited state absorption that make both of them unique sources for tunable or short pulse lasers. In previous work we had experimentally demonstrated that the Cr:YSO could work as a saturable absorber Q switch for the Cr:LiCAF laser near 780 nm, i.e., the peak of its tuning range. In this work, we theoretically investigate the optical performance of the Cr:YSO Q-switched Cr:LiCAF laser system over its entire tuning range by solving the coupled rate equations. The simulation results indicate that the results obtained numerically are in good agreement with that obtained experimentally. The theoretical simulation also shows that the Cr:YSO may be used as an effective saturable absorber Q switch for the tunable Cr:LiCAF laser over a major portion of its entire tuning range from 725 nm to 840 nm. On the other hand, the Cr:YSO had also been experimentally demonstrated to be an effective saturable absorber Q switch for the tunable Cr:LiSAF laser by Munin et al. The optical performance of the Cr:YSO Q-switched Cr:LiCAF and Cr:LiSAF lasers is numerically studied in this paper.
The InGaN semiconductor materials have important application in visible light-emitting diodes (LED) and short-wavelength laser diodes. In this work we 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. The simulation results show that the InGaN quantum well structure has an appreciable electronic current overflow at room temperature. The electronic current overflow problem becomes even more severe at elevated temperatures, which not only affects the emission efficiency of the quantum well structure, but also deteriorates the operation lifetime of the InGaN optical devices. The simulation results indicate that it is possible to improve the electronic current overflow by increasing the doping level of the p-type epi-layers and adding an AlGaN blocking layer in the p-type region. On the other hand, our numerical simulation also shows that, in addition to the electronic current overflow issue, the distribution of the holes in the InGaN active region is very inhomogeneous. It turns out that the laser performance of a single quantum well InGaN laser is better than that of the multiple quantum well lasers. According to our studies, if the barriers between the quantum wells are properly doped, the inhomogeneous hole distribution in the active region may be improved and hence the laser performance of the multiple quantum well InGaN lasers may be enhanced.
The Cr:YSO solid-state crystal has broad absorption bands in visible and near infrared spectral region. Although Cr:YSO was originally developed for laser applications, our experiments and numerical simulations show that it can act as an effective saturable absorber Q switch for the ruby laser at 694.3 nm, for the tunable alexandrite laser from 700 to 818 nm, and for the tunable Cr:LiCAF laser from 725 to 840 nm. Since the Cr:YSO is a robust solid-state crystal, the durable Cr:YSO Q-switched solid-state laser systems may find various practical applications. In this paper, theory of passive Q-switching with solid-state saturable absorber is briefly reviewed. Details of the numerical situation for the passively Q-switched solid-state laser systems are presented.
The InGaN semiconductor materials have important applications in short-wavelength light emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers. In this work, we study the optical properties of a single quantum well and a multiple quantum well InGaN devices experimentally with a photoluminescence measurement system and numerically wiht a commercial Lastip simulation program. Important optical parameters such as the peak wavelength, the emission intensity, and the bandwidth of the photoluminescence spectra at various temperatures and pump power levels are characterized and compared to the results obtained from the Lastip numerical simulation. The effects of the indium concentration in quantum well, the well width, and the bowing parameter on the optical properties of the InGaN quantum well structures are also studied numerically with the Lastip simulation program. Good agreement between the experimental and numerical results is observed.
AlGaInP LEDs with emission wavelengths near 570 nm are important in liquid crystal display backlight application. However, high brightness in this spectral region is difficult to achieve due to the reduction of the radiation efficiency in the high-aluminum-containing active region and the smaller band offset between the active and the cladding region. In order to improve the performance of the 570-nm AlGaInP LEDs, we have grown several wafers with different structure designs and studied the optical properties as functions of the device temperature and the excitation power experimentally with a photoluminescence measurement system and numerically with a commercial Latsip simulation program. Specifically, important factors such as the barrier height in quantum wells, the tensile strain barrier cladding next to the MQW region, the compensated strain in MQW, and the disturbed Bragg reflector are investigated. Good agreement between the experimental and numerical results is observed.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.