Investigation into the Anomalous Temperature Characteristics of InGaN Double Quantum Well Blue Laser Diodes Using Numerical Simulation

GaN-based blue laser diodes (LDs) may exhibit anomalous temperature characteristics such as a very high characteristic temperature (T (0)) or even negative T (0). In this work, temperature-dependent characteristics of GaN-based blue LDs with InGaN double quantum well (QW) structures were investigated using numerical simulations. The temperature-dependent threshold current is found to become increasingly anomalous as the thickness or doping concentration of the barrier layer between QWs increases. For a properly chosen barrier thickness and doping concentration, very high T (0) of >10,000 K can be obtained. The anomalous temperature characteristics of these InGaN blue LDs are attributed to the increase of gain at the n-side QW with increasing temperature because of the thermally enhanced hole transport from the p-side to the n-side QW.