LED power and efficiency

LED power and efficiency

• The absence of optical amplification through stimulated emission in the
LED tends to limit the internal quantum efficiency .

• S pontaneous emission allows nonradiative recombination to take place

within the structure due to crystalline imperfections and impurities
giving, an internal quantum efficiency of 50% for simple homojunction
devices.

• However, with injection lasers, double-heterojunction (DH) structures

have been implemented which recombination lifetime measurements give
internal quantum efficiencies of 60 to 80%.
 LED power and efficiency
• The power generated internally by an LED may be determined by
consideration of the excess electrons and holes in the p- and n-type
material respectively (i.e. the minority carriers)

• The excess density of electrons Δn and holes Δp is equal since the injected
carriers are created and recombined in pairs such that charge neutrality is
maintained.

• In extrinsic materials one carrier type will have a much higher

concentration than the other and hence in the p-type region, for example,
the hole concentration will be much greater than the electron
concentration.
 LED power and efficiency
• Generally, the excess minority carrier density decays exponentially with
time t according to the relation:
Δn = Δn;(0) exp(−t/ τͿ
• where Δn(0) is the initial injected excess electron density
• τ  represents the total carrier recombination lifetime.
• Δn is only a small fraction of the majority carriers and comprises all of the
minority carriers.

• Therefore, in these cases, the carrier recombination lifetime becomes the

minority or injected carrier lifetime τi .
 LED power and efficiency
• When there is a constant current flow into the junction diode, an
equilibrium condition is established.
• In this case, the total rate at which carriers are generated will be the sum
of the externally supplied and the thermal generation rates.
• The current density J in amperes per square meter may be written as J/ed
in electrons per cubic meter per second,
• where e is the charge on an electron
• d is the thickness of the recombination region.
• Hence a rate equation for carrier recombination in the LED can be
expressed in the form
 LED power and efficiency
• The condition for equilibrium is obtained by setting the derivative to zero.
• Hence
0

• The above equation therefore gives the steady-state electron density

when a constant current is flowing into the junction region.
• Also in the steady state the total number of carrier recombinations per
second or the recombination rate rt will be:
 LED power and efficiency
• Also in the steady state the total number of carrier recombinations per
second or the recombination rate rt will be:
rt = rr + rnr

• where rr is the radiative recombination rate per unit volume and

• rnr is the nonradiative recombination rate per unit volume
• when the forward-biased current into the device is i, then the total
number of recombinations per second Rt becomes:
 LED Internal quantum efficiency

• The LED internal quantum efficiency ηint, can be defined as the ratio of the
radiative recombination rate to the total recombination rate,

• where Rr is the total number of radiative recombinations per second.

• Therefore
 LED Internal Power
• Since Rr is also equivalent to the total number of photons generated per
second and each photon has an energy equal to hf joules, then the
optical power generated internally by the LED, Pint is:

• In terms of wavelength

• Above equations display a linear relationship between the optical power

generated in the LED and the drive current into the device.
 LED Internal Quantum Efficiecny
• For the exponential decay of excess carriers
• the radiative minority carrier lifetime is τr = Δn/rr and
• the nonradiative minority carrier lifetime is τnr = Δn/rnr.
 External Power Efficiency
• The external power efficiency ηep is defined as the ratio of the optical
power emitted externally Pe to the electric power provided to the device P

• where Pint is the power generated internally

• F is the transmission factor of the semiconductor–external interface.
• n is the refractive index of outside medium(low)where the optical power is
emitted.
• nx is the refractive index of the LED material.