LAUSR

The ideality factor in recent III-nitride light emitting diodes (LED) is expected to approach values close to $$\eta \approx 1$$η≈1 near the maximum of the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) because the bimolecular recombination dominates there. However, the electrical characterisation of multi quantum well (MQW) LEDs often yields values which are more close to $$\eta \approx 2$$η≈2 or even more. To analyse the effect of the MQW on the ideality factor we derive an electrical model based on lumped circuit elements. By comparing the model results with the physical simulations of the ideality factor we demonstrate its validity. The detailed analysis of the circuit elements reveals that the electron scattering has a major impact on the ideality factor near the maximum of the IQE. We show that the ideality factor presents a signature for the hole injection efficiency and thus can be used to estimate the IQE characteristic in the high current regime.