In this study, the effect of quantum barrier thickness in the multi-quantum wells active region on electrical and optical properties of nitride-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) were investigated and demonstrated. The forward voltage decreased as the thickness of quantum barrier decreased owing to the reduction of series resistance. The external quantum efficiency (EQE) and droop effect can be effectively improved by decreasing the barrier thickness which was attributed to the enhancement of the holes injection and uniform distribution in the active region. However, if barrier was too thin, it would get the opposite effect due to the influence of electron overflow. Regarding the hot/cold factor, the thinner quantum barrier of LEDs achieved a better performance. The reason is that the thicker quantum barrier with poor holes distribution resulted in the holes accumulation of a few MQWs near the p-side layer was more easily influenced by thermal effect and escaped from the QWs. Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.