Electrical properties of III-Nitride LEDs: recombination-based injection model and theoretical limits to electrical efficiency and electroluminescent cooling

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electrical properties of III-Nitride LEDs, proposing a recombination-based model to explain their current-voltage behavior and exploring theoretical limits to their efficiency and potential for electroluminescent cooling.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified recombination-based model for III-Nitride LEDs and analyzes their theoretical efficiency limits and implications for cooling applications.

Findings

Recombination dominates the current in III-Nitride LEDs.

The model accurately explains experimental electrical characteristics.

Theoretical limits suggest potential for electroluminescent cooling.

Abstract

The current-voltage characteristic and ideality factor of III-Nitride quantum well light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on bulk GaN substrates are investigated. At operating temperature, these electrical properties exhibit a simple behavior. A model in which only active-region recombinations have a contribution to the LED current is found to account for experimental results. The limit of LED electrical efficiency is discussed based on the model and on thermodynamic arguments, and implications for electroluminescent cooling are examined.