Broadband blue superluminescent light-emitting diodes based on GaN

We report on the achievement of III-nitride blue superluminescent light-emitting diodes on GaN substrates. The epitaxial structure includes an active region made of In0.12Ga0.88N quantum wells in a GaN/AlGaN waveguide. Superluminescence under cw operation is observed at room temperature for a current of 130 mA and a current density of 8 kA/cm2. The central emission wavelength is 420 nm and the emission bandwidth is ∼5 nm in the superluminescence regime. A peak optical output power of 100 mW is obtained at 630 mA under pulsed operation and an average power of 10 mW is achieved at a duty cycle of 20%.