Suppression of electron and hole overflow in GaN-based near-ultraviolet laser diodes*

Abstract

In order to suppress the electron leakage to p-type region of near-ultraviolet GaN/In x Ga1–x N/GaN multiple-quantumwell (MQW) laser diode (LD), the Al composition of inserted p-type Al x Ga1–x N electron blocking layer (EBL) is optimized in an effective way, but which could only partially enhance the performance of LD. Here, due to the relatively shallow GaN/In0.04Ga0.96N/GaN quantum well, the hole leakage to n-type region is considered in the ultraviolet LD. To reduce the hole leakage, a 10-nm n-type Al x Ga1–x N hole blocking layer (HBL) is inserted between n-type waveguide and the first quantum barrier, and the effect of Al composition of Al x Ga1–x N HBL on LD performance is studied. Numerical simulations by the LASTIP reveal that when an appropriate Al composition of Al x Ga1–x N HBL is chosen, both electron leakage and hole leakage can be reduced dramatically, leading to a lower threshold current and higher output power of LD.