Performance enhancement with thin p-AlInN electron-blocking layer in ultraviolet light-emitting diodes

III-nitride ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV LEDs) face low carrier confinement and poor p-doping. In this study, we propose a thin AlInN electron-blocking layer (EBL) in UV LEDs instead of conventional AlGaN EBL. Numerical results demonstrate that UV LED with thin AlInN enhances the optoelectronic performance. The results also reveal that AlGaN EBL is more sensitive to p-doping as compared to AlInN EBL. Thin AlInN layer facilitates hole transportation through intra-band tunneling. Moreover, AlInN has a high conduction band offset that suppresses the electron leakage effectively. Hence, the carrier radiative recombination rate considerably enhances with thin AlInN EBL. The efficiency droop in the proposed LED is also alleviated. (c) 2023 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)