Comparative study of (0001) and (11-22) InGaN based light emitting diodes

We have systematically investigated the doping of (11-22) with Si and Mg by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy for light emitting diodes (LEDs). By Si doping of GaN we reached electron concentrations close to 10²⁰cm^-3, but the topography degrades above mid 10¹⁹cm^-3. By Mg doping we reached hole concentrations close to 5 × 10¹⁷cm^-3, using Mg partial pressures about 3' higher than those for (0001). Exceeding the maximum Mg partial pressure led to a quick degradation of the sample. Low resistivities as well as high hole concentrations required a growth temperature of 900 °C or higher. At optimised conditions the electrical properties as well as the photoluminescence of (11-22) p-GaN were similar to (0001) p-GaN. The best ohmic p-contacts were achieved by NiAg metallisation. A single quantum well LED emitting at 465nm was realised on (0001) and (11-22). Droop (sub-linear increase of the light output power) occurred at much higher current densities on (11-22). However, the light output of the (0001) LED was higher than that of (11-22) until deep in the droop regime. Our LEDs as well as those in the literature indicate a reduction in efficiency from (0001) over semi-polar to non-polar orientations. We propose that reduced fields open a loss channel for carriers.