US Patent 6995389 Heterostructures for III-nitride light emitting devices

Heterostructure designs are disclosed that may increase the number of charge carriers available in the quantum well layers of the active region of III-nitride light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes. In a first embodiment, a reservoir layer is included with a barrier layer and quantum well layer in the active region of a light emitting device. In some embodiments, the reservoir layer is thicker than the barrier layer and quantum well layer, and has a greater indium composition than the barrier layer and a smaller indium composition than the quantum well layer. In some embodiments, the reservoir layer is graded. In a second embodiment, the active region of a light emitting device is a superlattice of alternating quantum well layers and barrier layers. In some embodiments, the barrier layers are thin such that charge carriers can tunnel between quantum well layers through a barrier layer.