FAILURE MECHANISMS IN II-VI BLUE-GREEN EMITTERS

Wide-gap II-IV-based blue and blue-green light-emitting diodes and las ers are limited by the problem of device lifetime and degradation. It is shown that the devices degrade owing to the formation and propagati on of defects in the active region of the device that act as non-radia tive recombination centers. Through transmission electron microscopy, electroluminescence and cathodoluminescence microscopy, the formation and nature of these defects were studied.