Deep ultraviolet light emitting diode

A light emitting heterostructure comprising:

• an n-type layer;
• and
• a light generating structure adjacent to the n-type contact layer, the light generating structure formed within a material forming a conduction band energy tub with respect to the n-type layer and including a plurality of quantum wells configured to generate deep ultraviolet light, wherein a width of the light generating structure is comparable to a mean free path for emission of a polar optical phonon by an electron injected into the material forming the conduction band energy tub;
• and
• a blocking layer located on an opposite side of the light generating structure as the n-type layer, wherein a difference between a conduction band edge energy of the blocking layer and an electron ground state energy of a quantum well in the plurality of quantum wells is greater than an energy of a polar optical phonon in a material of the material forming the conduction band energy tub.

A light emitting device comprising:

• an n-type layer;
• a light generating structure adjacent to the n-type layer, wherein the light generating structure is formed within a material forming a conduction band energy tub with respect to the n-type layer, the light generating structure including:
• a set of quantum wells, wherein a difference between a conduction band edge energy of the n-type layer and an electron ground state energy of a first quantum well in the set of quantum wells is greater than an energy of a polar optical phonon in the material forming the conduction band energy tub;
• and
• a set of barriers alternating with set of quantum wells, the set of barriers including a first barrier immediately adjacent to the first quantum well in the set of quantum wells and the first side of the light generating structure, wherein a thickness of the first barrier is sufficient to accelerate an injected electron in an electric field to reach the energy of the polar optical phonon with respect to the electron ground state energy in the first quantum well, and wherein a thickness of a remainder of the light generating structure exceeds a mean free path for emission of a polar optical phonon by an electron injected into the material forming the conduction band energy tub;
• and
• a composite contact located on an opposite side of the light generating structure as the n-type contact layer, the composite contact comprising:
• an adhesion layer, wherein a material forming the adhesion layer has a maximum thickness less than five nanometers and allows at least five percent of the light generated by the light generating structure to pass there through;
• and
• a reflecting metal layer configured to reflect at least a portion of the light generated by the light generating structure.