Fast Neutron Irradiation on GaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes From Near-Ultraviolet to Green Spectral Ranges

Neutron irradiation effects were compared for GaN-based multiquantum well (MQW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with emission wavelength in the near-ultraviolet (NUV), blue, and green spectral regions. Optical output power, text current–voltage (
$I$
–
$V$
), and peak wavelength were analyzed in detail before and after irradiation. Three colors of LEDs showed an increase and then a decrease in optical output power with the increase of neutron fluence ranging from
$1.0\times 10^{12}$
to
$1.0\times 10^{14}$
cm
$^{-2}$
. The enhanced light emission performance is attributed to the increase of carrier injection for neutron-irradiated MQWs. In addition, the formation of tunneling conductivity channels in the p-doped AlGaN electron block layer (EBL) induced by neutrons is considered as the main factor that dominates the performance degradation. Among the three colors of LEDs, the order of severity for the optical and electrical properties influenced by this medium-fluence neutron irradiation is green, blue, and NUV LEDs, in turn becoming more serious. The NUV LEDs rely heavily on the EBL due to their poor carrier confinement in relatively shallow GaN/AlGaN MQWs, so an increase of carrier injection or leakage induced by neutrons has a significant influence on device performance. As the green LEDs have deep quantum wells, the strong confinement of carriers leads to their being least sensitive to neutron irradiation. Thus, we believe that the design of LEDs with deep quantum wells to enhance the carrier confinement ability will be helpful to improve their radiation tolerance. The findings not only enrich the understanding of the influence mechanism of neutron-irradiated GaN-based UV/visible LEDs but are also helpful to radiation-hardened design.