Excitation density dependence of radiative and nonradiative recombination lifetimes in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Abstract

The optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) have been studied by means of photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopy. The radiative and nonradiative recombination lifetimes were evaluated as a function of the excitation energy density. The radiative recombination lifetime decreased and subsequently reached a nearly constant value with increasing excitation energy density, which was attributed to screening of internal electric fields by photoexcited carriers. On the other hand, the nonradiative recombination lifetime increased and subsequently decreased with increasing excitation energy density. The initial increase in the nonradiative recombination lifetime could be attributed to saturation of nonradiative recombination centers with photoexcited carriers. The nonradiative recombination lifetime was found to decrease to a considerably weaker extent than that expected for the Auger recombination process of free carriers. This indicated that the decrease in the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) at high carrier densities could not be explained only by the Auger recombination process of free carriers.