Electrically-injected III–V diodes for large-area optoelectronics

The growing demand for high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for large-area optoelectronic applications has lead to the development of the diffusion driven charge transport (DDCT) technique that provides an unconventional current injection method for planar LED devices. In this work, we have performed the first numerical simulations of an electrically-injected laterally doped heterojunction (LHJ) LED based on the conventional III-As compound semiconductors, utilizing the DDCT method. Our device consists of a GaAs/AlGaAs double heterojunction (DHJ) on a n-GaAs substrate where the lateral pn-junction can be fabricated by a selective area doping process. We employ a numerical model based on the drift-diffusion current and the continuity equations to model charge transport, and also develop fabrication methods for the devices. Our simulation results suggest that the proposed device can work as an ultra-efficient LED that can be used for large-area applications by repeating the simulated unit to form a multi-finger structure.