Effects of Different InGaN/GaN Electron Emission Layers/Interlayers on Performance of a UV-A LED

In this study, we investigated the effects of InGaN/GaN-based interlayer (IL) and electron emitting layer (EEL) consisting of a GaN barrier layer grown with different metal-organic (MO) precursors of gallium (Ga), which were grown underneath the active layer. The growth behavior of GaN with triethyl Ga (TEGa) showed an increasing growth time due to a lower growth rate compared with GaN grown with trimethyl Ga (TMGa), resulting in the formation of columnar domains and grain boundary with reduced defect. UV-A light emitting diode (LED) chips with three types of ILs and EELs, grown with different MO sources, were fabricated and evaluated by light output power (LOP) measurements. The LOP intensity of UVLED-III with the GaN barrier layer-based IL and EEL grown by TEGa was enhanced by 1.5 times compared to that of the IL and EEL grown with TMGa at 300 mA current injection. Use of the GaN barrier layer in ILs and EELs grown by TEGa improved the crystal quality of the post grown InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well, which reduces leakage current. Therefore, for the UV-A LED with ILs and EELs grown with TEGa MO precursors, electrical and optical properties were improved significantly.