UV LEDs use an electron blocking layer (EBL) made from p-doted magnesium (Mg:AlGaN) for enhancing the hole injection into the active layer. But this only works for wavelengths >300 nm and require an enormous amount of aluminum for lower wavelengths. This renders the p-doting nearly impossible and the technology is not applicable for deep UV light due the very bad quantum yield.

The invention presented here enables an UV LED structure with a quantum yield 3 times higher. It’s accomplished by a thin injection layer made from doted AlGaN or undoted AlN between the active and p doted layers of the UV LED with or without EBL. This layer enables the tunneling of the holes to the active layer and nevertheless prohibits the creeping current, further worsening the yield.