Different Optical Behaviors Revealed by Electroluminescence and Photoluminescence of InGaN/GaN Coupled Quantum Wells

The optical properties of wurtzite violet InGaN/GaN coupled quantum well (QW) structures are experimentally studied using photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) spectroscopy. Two emission peaks, referred to as Peak H and Peak L, are observed in both PL and EL spectra, due to the ground state splitting induced by the well coupling. Experimental PL and EL results reveal that coupled QWs show different optical responses due to the different variation in the electric field inside the QW structure. Since the direction of the polarization electric field of the as-grown well/barrier layers is different, the external electric field applied by electrodes can change the energy band alignment between the well and the barrier layers, thus adjusting the coupling between the wells. Our results provide relevant information to improve our understanding of the optical properties of InGaN/GaN QWs and to develop novel optoelectronic devices.