Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge / 2011 / Paper 1 / Section D / D13 / b / Solution

forward bias injects electrons and holes into a common active region. Their electron-hole recombination can emit a photon as an electron falls from a conduction-band state into an empty valence-band state, with $h\nu$ approximately the band gap $E_g$ near the band edges. A direct band gap makes this radiative transition much more probable than an indirect gap requiring simultaneous phonon participation. Carrier confinement improves their overlap; nonradiative recombination and photon trapping reduce the external efficiency. This is spontaneous electroluminescence and does not require population inversion. The biased carriers have separate quasi-Fermi levels, rather than one global equilibrium Fermi level. The band-diagram downward arrow shows photon emission. As a concrete implementation, an InGaN/AlGaN double heterostructure was used for a bright blue junction LED.^[ref]