Impact of defects on Auger recombination in c-plane InGaN/GaN single quantum well in the efficiency droop regime

We study the impact of non-radiative defects on Auger recombination in c-plane InGaN/GaN single quantum wells (SQWs) in the efficiency droop regime using high injection time-resolved photoluminescence. The defect density in the SQW is controlled by tuning the thickness of an InAlN underlayer. When the defect density is increased, apart from Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) and standard Auger recombination, introducing an extra defect-assisted Auger process is required to reconcile the discrepancy observed between the usual ABC model and experimental data. We derive a linear dependence between the SRH coefficient and the bimolecular defect-assisted Auger coefficient, which suggests that the generated defects can act as scattering centers responsible for indirect Auger processes. In particular, in defective SQWs, the defect-assisted Auger recombination rate can exceed the radiative one. Our results further suggest that the defect-assisted Auger recombination is expected to be all the more critical in green to red III-nitride light-emitting diodes due to their reduced radiative rate.