Proton irradiation and generation of defects in blue InGaN-based LEDs

The aim of this work is to analyze the modifications created by proton irradiation on the performances of InGaN based LEDs, in order to understand the underlying physical mechanisms causing the degradation. We found that exposure to higher fluences can cause (i) an increase in the forward current of the devices, in the series resistance and in the ideality factor, and a slight decrease of the reverse current; (ii) a strong and distributed drop of the optical power; (iii) a slight reduction of the capacitance of the devices; those results are evidence for (iv) the creation of non-radiative recombination centres localized in the active region and of (v) a possible variation of electrical mobility