Carrier dynamics and Coulomb-enhanced capture in III-nitride quantum heterostructures

A detailed study of the small-signal response of III-Nitride quantum well (QW) light-emitting diodes is presented, in which the electrical and optical responses are simultaneously measured. A complete transport-recombination model is introduced to account for measurements. This allows for a proper evaluation of the recombination lifetime and for the accurate quantification of thermionic carrier escape from the QW. Further, a yet-unreported carrier capture mechanism is identified and quantified; it increases with the carrier density in the QW and bears the signature of a Coulomb in-scattering process.