Carrier recombination mechanisms and efficiency droop in GaInN/GaN light-emitting diodes

We model the carrier recombination mechanisms in GaInN/GaN light-emitting diodes as R=An+B n² +C n³ +f (n), where f (n) represents carrier leakage out of the active region. The term f (n) is expanded into a power series and shown to have higher-than-third-order contributions to the recombination. The total third-order nonradiative coefficient (which may include an f (n) leakage contribution and an Auger contribution) is found to be 8× 10^-29 cm⁶ s^-1. Comparison of the theoretical AB C+f (n) model with experimental data shows that a good fit requires the inclusion of the f (n) term.