Green (In,Ga,Al)P-GaP light-emitting diodes grown on high-index GaAs surfaces
Résumé
We report on green (550–560 nm) electroluminescence (EL) from (Al0.5Ga0.5)0.5In0.5P–(Al0.8Ga0.2)0.5In0.5P double p–i–n heterostructures with monolayer–scale tensile strained GaP insertions in the cladding layers and light–emitting diodes (LEDs) based thereupon. The structures are grown side–by–side on high–index and (100) GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Cross–sectional transmission electron microscopy studies indicate that GaP insertions are flat, thus the GaP–barrier substrate orientation–dependent heights should match the predictions of the flat model. At moderate current densities (~500 A/cm2) the EL intensity of the structures is comparable for all substrate orientations. Opposite to the (100)–grown strictures, the EL spectra of (211) and (311)–grown devices are shifted towards shorter wavelengths (~550 nm at room temperature). At high current densities (>1 kA/cm2) a much higher EL intensity is achieved for the devices grown on high–index substrates. The integrated intensity of (311)–grown structures gradually saturates at current densities above 4 kA/cm2, whereas no saturation is revealed for (211)–grown structures up to the current densities above 14 kA/cm2. We attribute the effect to the surface orientation–dependent engineering of the GaP band structure which prevents the escape of the nonequilibrium electrons into the indirect conduction band minima of the p– doped (Al0.8Ga0.2)0.5In0.5P cladding layers.