Characteristics of an AlGaInP-Based Light Emitting Diode With an Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) Direct Ohmic Contact Structure

An AlGaInP multi-quantum-well (MQW) light-emitting diode (LED) with a direct Ohmic contact structure, formed by an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) transparent film and AuBe diffused thin layer, is fabricated and studied. By the deposition of an AuBe metallic thin layer on the surface of Mg-doped GaP window layer, followed by a thermal activation process, a direct Ohmic contact between ITO and p-GaP layers can be obtained. Experimentally, under an injection current of 20 mA, a dynamic resistance of 5.7 Omega and a forward voltage of 1.91 V, are obtained. In addition, a higher external quantum efficiency of 9.7% and a larger maximum light output power of 26.6 mW are found for the studied LED. As compared with the conventional LED without this structure, the external quantum efficiency of the studied device is increased by 26% under the injection current of 100 mA. This is mainly attributed to the reduced series resistance resulted from the relatively uniform distribution of AuBe atoms near the GaP layer surface and the effective current spreading ability by the use of ITO film. Moreover, the life behavior is not degraded by using this AuBe diffused layer for the studied LED under a 20 mA operation condition.