Efficiency droop in 245–247 nm AlGaN light-emitting diodes with continuous wave 2 mW output power

We report on 245–247 nm AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diodes with continuous wave output power up to 2 mW. DUV diodes with peak emission wavelength of 245 and 247 nm exhibit turn-on voltage less than 10 V. At room temperature and cw operation the maximum external quantum efficiency was close to 0.18%, which is the highest value published to date for devices with peak emission wavelength shorter than 250 nm. A large external efficiency droop observed at current densities above 100 A/cm2 is attributed to self-heating, carrier spillover from the QWs into the barrier layers or the p-type cladding layer, and/or Auger recombination. A semiempirical equation was proposed to describe the efficiency droop in DUV diodes at a high current injection.