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Express"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Deep ultraviolet (DUV) AlGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are promising for sterilization and sensing applications, but are limited by low external quantum efficiency (EQE). Here, we demonstrate an electron-blocking-layer-free (EBL-free) architecture based on polarization-coupled periodic heterostructures (PPH) to overcome the trade-off between electron confinement and hole injection. Devices were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and analyzed using combined electroluminescence measurements and self-consistent simulations. The optimized structure, employing a five-period Al\n                    <jats:sub>0<\/jats:sub>\n                    .\n                    <jats:sub>8<\/jats:sub>\n                    Ga\n                    <jats:sub>0<\/jats:sub>\n                    .\n                    <jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub>\n                    N\/Al\n                    <jats:sub>0<\/jats:sub>\n                    .\n                    <jats:sub>6<\/jats:sub>\n                    Ga\n                    <jats:sub>0<\/jats:sub>\n                    .\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    N p-type heterostructure, achieves a peak EQE of 7.8% and an output power of 67\u2005mW at 261\u2005nm, with negligible efficiency droop from 50 to 200\u2005mA. Band and carrier analyses reveal that multi-step conduction barriers suppress electron leakage, while step-like valence bands and polarization-induced hole gas enhance hole injection and radiative recombination. This work provides a viable strategy for high-efficiency DUV LEDs and establishes a general framework for carrier engineering in wide-bandgap semiconductors.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1364\/oe.601214","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T08:00:06Z","timestamp":1778140806000},"page":"18974","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1364\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Resolving the electron\u2013hole injection trade-off in AlGaN deep ultraviolet LEDs via polarization-coupled periodic heterostructures"],"prefix":"10.1364","volume":"34","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1310-1543","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xien","family":"Sang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04ypx8c21","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haokai","family":"Jing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04ypx8c21","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9203-3103","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Fang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04ypx8c21","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Zhengzhou Way Do Electronics Co. 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