Modified Diode Equations for Light-Emitting Diodes Considering Radiative and Nonradiative Currents

The diode equation of a single exponential form with an ideality factor, commonly known as the Shockley equation, has been used to describe the current-voltage characteristics of a pn diode. For light-emitting diodes (LEDs), however, this single-exponential-function equation does not give sufficient information on the recombination mechanisms in the device. In this presentation, we propose using two separate exponential functions with distinct ideality factors to express the radiative and nonradiative recombination processes. By separately describing the radiative and nonradiative recombination currents, one can determine the device performance more accurately and obtain more detailed information on the physical processes in the LED.