A Ga-doped ZnO transparent conduct layer for GaN-based LEDs

An 8 m thick Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) film grown by metal-source vapor phase epitaxy was deposited on a GaN-based light-emitting diode (LED) to substitute for the conventional ITO as a transparent conduct layer (TCL). Electroluminescence spectra exhibited that the intensity value of LED emission with a GZO TCL is markedly improved by 23.6% as compared to an LED with an ITO TCL at 20 mA. In addition, the forward voltage of the LED with a GZO TCL at 20 mA is higher than that of the conventional LED. To investigate the reason for the increase of the forward voltage, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed to analyze the interface properties of the GZO/p- GaN heterojunction. The large valence band offset (2:24 0:21 eV) resulting from the formation of Ga2O3 in the GZO/p-GaN interface was attributed to the increase of the forward voltage.

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