Surface Plasmon Leakage in Its Coupling with an InGaN/GaN Quantum Well through an Ohmic Contact

We demonstrate the loss of surface plasmon (SP) energy through oscillating electron leakage via the ohmic contact of either p-type or n-type GaN layer in the coupling process between SP and an InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW). The observation implies that in using the SP-QW coupling for enhancing emission in a light-emitting diode, the metals for ohmic contact and SP generation must be separated. A thin dielectric interlayer is required in the region for SP-QW coupling to avoid the leakage of SP energy.