Early Appreciation in Zinc-Diffused GaAs Electroluminescent Infrared Diodes

Prior to the onset of long-term degradation, noticeable increases in the external quantum efficiency of zinc-diffused GaAs electroluminescent diodes have been observed and characterized. Such appreciation behavior may exist for several thousand hours of device operation and is dependent on both the relative strength of the stress condition as well as the initial emitted light intensity of the particular device. This anomalous behavior has been determined to be caused by increases in the intrinsic quantum efficiency within the P region of the device. Both pulsed and direct current stress conditions have been examined to characterize this behavior.