Measuring the Internal Quantum Efficiency of Light-Emitting Diodes at an Arbitrary Temperature

We present a method of measuring the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a function of driving current at an arbitrary temperature only with experimentally measurable quantities of optical power and current. The measurement procedure starts to find an exact value of the IQE at the reference point where the injection efficiency is considered as 100% and the radiative efficiency is calculated from the infinitesimal change of the relative external quantum efficiency (EQE). Once the IQE at the reference point is exactly known, the IQE at any other point is calculated by the relative ratio of the EQE values to the reference one. We show the theoretical formalism of the proposed method and demonstrate its validity using a commercial InGaN blue LED as an example. The comparison with the IQE obtained by the conventional temperature-dependent electroluminescence is also given for various temperatures.