Emission spectra of InGaN/AlGaN/GaN quantum well heterostructures: Model of the two-dimensional joint density of states

The luminescence spectra of light emitting diodes based on InGaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with multiple quantum wells are analyzed in the context of a model of the two-dimensional density of states in the active region. The model accounts for the potential fluctuations, the statistics of occupation of the wells with charge carriers, and specific features of the extraction of radiation from the structure. The model describes the position of the maxima of the spectra and the exponential decline of the emission intensity in the short-and long-wavelength regions as well as the modification of the spectra under variations in the current. The problems of limitations of the model and the physical meaning of the parameters are discussed. The examples of approximation of the spectra of blue light emitting diodes based on InGaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures show the necessity of determining the temperature in the active region independently and taking into account the interference in the planar structure. The differences of the shape of the spectra from that obtained in the simple model depend not only on the properties of the quantum wells but also on the nonuniformities in the distribution of In in InGaN.