Investigation of forward tunneling characteristics of InGaN/GaN blue light-emitting diodes on freestanding GaN detached from a Si substrate

Abstract

We report forward tunneling characteristics of InGaN/GaN blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) on freestanding GaN detached from a Si substrate using temperature-dependent current–voltage (T-I-V) measurements. T-I-V analysis revealed that the conduction mechanism of InGaN/GaN LEDs using the homoepitaxial substrate can be distinguished by tunneling, diffusion and recombination current, and series resistance regimes. Their improved crystal quality, inherited from the nature of homoepitaxy, resulted in suppression of forward leakage current. It was also found that the tunneling via heavy holes in InGaN/GaN LEDs using the homoepitaxial substrate can be the main transport mechanism under low forward bias, consequentially leading to the improved forward leakage current characteristics.