Improving performances of ITO/GaP contact on AlGaInP light-emitting diodes

In this paper AlGaInP light emitting diodes with different types of electrodes: Au/Zn/Au-ITO Au/Ti-ITO Au/Ge/Ni-ITO and Au-ITO are fabricated. The photoelectricity properties of those LEDs are studied. The results show that the Au/Zn/Au electrode greatly improves the performance of LEDs compared with the other electrodes. Because the Au/Zn/Au electrode not only forms a good Ohmic contact with indium tin oxide (ITO), but also reduces the specific contact resistances between ITO and GaP, which are 1.273×10^-6 Ω · cm² and 1.743×10^-3 Ω ·cm² between Au/Zn/Au-ITO and ITO-GaP respectively. Furthermore, the textured Zn/Au-ITO/Zn electrode is designed to improve the performances of LEDs, reduce the forward-voltage of the LED from 1.93 to 1.88 V, and increase the luminous intensity of the LEDs from 126 to 134 mcd when driven at 20 mA.