Electroluminescence Properties of Eu-doped GaN-based Light-emitting Diodes Grown by Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy

We investigated the electroluminescence (EL) properties of Eu-doped GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE). The thickness of the active layer was varied to increase the light output power. With increasing the active layer thickness, the light output power monotonically increased. The maximum light output power of 50 μW was obtained for an active layer thickness of 900 nm with an injected current of 20 mA, which is the highest value ever reported. The corresponding external quantum efficiency was 0.12%. The applied voltage for the LED operation also increased with the active layer thickness due to an increase in the resistance of the LED. Therefore, in terms of power efficiency, the optimized active layer thickness was around 600 nm. These results indicate that the optimization of the LED structure would effectively improve the luminescence properties.