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Led 3
Led 3
Last Lectures..
Definition of LED Candidate Materials Group III-V Group II-V
Applications of LED
LED I&2
LED Configuration
Why n -p?
+
Denp/Le e= Denp/Lp + Dhpn/Lh Or
e
DhpnLe
DennLp
e
e nn Lp
III-V compounds, e >> h then, e needs to be close to unity. This can be circumvent by doping n with more electrons (n >> p) If (nn >> pn) = one sided junction n+ -p diode
1+ hpnLe
LED Characteristic
The energy of an emitted photon = to the size of the band gap BUT this is a simplified statement. The energy of an emitted photon from LED is distributed appropriately according to the energy distribution of electrons on the conduction band and holes in the valance band. You need to know the distribution of electrons and holes in the CB and VB respectively.
external =
Poutput (optical ) IV
x100 %
TIR
Incident beam
Plastic dome p
n+
Pn junction
Electrodes
Electrodes
to reduce TIR
= sin-1 (n2/n1)
LED Structure
LED
1. Surface Emitter
In surface emitter the emitting area is defined by oxide isolation, with the metal contact area a circle of diameter ~ 10 m-15 m. The surface layer is kept as thin as possible (10-15 m) to minimise reabsorbtion
Heterostructured LED
Epoxy Metal contact n AlGaAs p GaAs (active region) p Al GaAs n+ GaAs Metal contact
Double heterostructure Burrus type LED Shown bonded to a fiber with index-matching
Double Heterostructure
The double heterostructure is invariably used for optical sources for communication as seen in the figure in the pervious slide. Heterostucture can be used to increase:
Efficiency by carrier confinement (band gap engineering) Efficiency by photon confinement (refractive index)
The double heterostructure enables the source radiation to be much better defined, but further, the optical power generated per unit volume is much greater as well. If the central layer of a double heterostructure, the narrow band-gap region is made no more than 1 m wide.
Active region (thin layer of GaAs) has smaller band gap, energy of photons emitted is smaller then the band gap of the P and N-GaAlAs hence could not be reabsorbed.
Reabsorption Problem
In order to prevent reabsorption, the upper layer (one that is above the active region) needs to have higher band gap therefore the emitted photons will not be absorbed by the upper layer (photons will be absorbed when Ep < Eg).
1.4eV 2eV
n-AlGaAs p-GaAs
p-AlGaAs
Epoxy Metal contact n AlGaAs p GaAs (active region) p Al GaAs n+ GaAs Metal contact
Active region Photons will not be absorbed by the nAlGaAs since the band gap is much higher than GaAs
Carrier confinement
electro ns
n+-AlGaAs
p-GaAs
holes p+-AlGaAs
Burrus-Type LED
Communication LED
2. Edge Emitter
In edge emitter a double heterostructure band gap engineering is used to achieve carrier confinement and recombination in an active layer but in addition layers of relatively low refractive index are included to produce optical guide. A large fraction of the photons are therefore confined between two plates of material and emerge at the edge of the device as highly directional flux compatible with coupling to a fibre optic cable.
GaAs(n) substrate N+- GaAlAs N GaAlAs Active layer nGaAlAs P GaAlAs P+ GaAlAs n- GaAlAs Metal contact
The waveguide
We can use refractive index engineering to create a multilayer structure in which light can be trapped within the central layers. This layer act as waveguide. (TIR is used in Edge Emitter)
Epi growth
Active Layer