Two strain-state samples of GaN, labelled the strain-relief sample and the quality-improved sample, were grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy （HVPE）, and then characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence and optical microscopy. Two strain states of GaN in HVPE, like 3D and 2[） growth modes in metal-organic chemical vapour deposition （MOCVD）, provide an effective way to solve the heteroepitaxial problems of both strain relief and quality improvement. The gradual variation metbod （GVM）, developed based on the two strain states, is characterized by growth parameters＇ gradual variation alternating between the strain-relief growth conditions and the quality-improved growth conditions. In GVM, the introduction of the strain-relief amplitude, which is defined by the range from the quality-improved growth conditions to the strain-relief growth conditions, makes the strain-relief control concise and effective. The 300-μm thick bright and crack-free GaN film grown on a two-inch sapphire proves the effectiveness of GVM.
The degradation mechanism of high power InGaN/GaN blue light emitting diodes （LEDs） is investigated in this paper. The LED samples were stressed at room temperature under 350-mA injection current for about 400 h. The light output power of the LEDs decreased by 35% during the first 100 h and then remained almost unchanged, and the reverse current at-5 V increased from 10^-9 A to 10^-7 A during the aging process. The power law, whose meaning was re-illustrated by the improved rate equation, was used to analyze the light output power-injection current （L-I） curves. The analysis results indicate that nonradiative recombination, Auger recombination, and the third-order term of carriers overflow increase during the aging process, all of which may be important reasons for the degradation of LEDs. Besides, simulating L-I curves with the improved rate equation reveal that higher-than-third-order terms of carriers overflow may not be the main degradation mechanism, because they change slightly when the LED is stressed.
