Reduction in the efficiency droop effect of a light-emitting diode through surface plasmon coupling

The reduction in the external quantum efficiency (EQE) droop effect of an InGaN/GaN quantum-well (QW) light-emitting diode (LED) through the mechanism of surface plasmon (SP) coupling with QW is demonstrated. With a current spreading grid pattern on the mesa surface, a smaller grid period leads to more effective carrier transport into the QW regions of Ag deposition for stronger SP–QW coupling such that the droop effect is more significantly reduced, as indicated by the increase in injection current density of maximum EQE and the decrease in drooping slope. The claim of the SP–QW coupling effect in the samples of thin p-GaN is supported by the different droop behaviors of the LED samples fabricated with another epitaxial structure of thick p-GaN, in which the SP–QW coupling effect is expected to be weak.