Influence of the surface on degradation in InGaAsP/InP double heterostructures

An investigation was made of degradation phenomena in InGaAsP/InP light-emitting diodes such as Burrus diodes at elevated temperatures and constant current. Typical changes in the current-voltage and power-current characteristics were explained in terms of surface phenomena. The results agree with earlier results for InGaAsP/InP laser diodes. In most cases, a correlation was observed between an increase in the surface current and the degradation, characterized by an activation energy of approximately 0.6 eV.