Daesung Kang

Improving output power performance of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes by employing step-down indium contents

We investigated the effect of step-down indium content in InGaN quantum wells (QWs) on the output efficiency of fully packaged InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Both the reference and step-down LED chips give maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQE) of 54.65 and 54.99% at a current density of 4.17 A/cm2, respectively. Step-down LEDs show a lower efficiency droop than reference LEDs. The step-down LEDs exhibit a 5.3% higher EQE at 83.3 A/cm2 than the reference LEDs. As the current density increases from 1.39 to 9.03 A/cm2, the electroluminescence (EL) intensity peaks of the step-down LEDs are slightly more shifted towards the larger energy side than those of the reference LEDs. The polarization field is estimated to be 1.34 and 1.41 MV/cm for the reference and step-down LEDS, respectively. The simulated internal quantum efficiency results of the reference and step-down LEDs are in agreement with the experimental results. The simulation results show that the step-down LEDs have higher hole injection efficiency than the reference LEDs. On the basis of the simulation results, the blue-shift behavior of the reference and step-down LEDs is described and discussed.

A tantalum diffusion barrier layer for improving the output performance of AlGaInP-based light-emitting diodes

We have investigated the effect of a Ta diffusion barrier layer on the electrical characteristics of AuBe/Au contacts on a p-GaP window layer for AlGaInP-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). It was shown that after annealing at 500 °C, the AuBe/Ta/Au contacts exhibited nearly 2 orders of magnitude lower specific contact resistance (2.8 × 10−6 Ωcm2) than the AuBe/Au contacts (1.0 × 10−4 Ωcm2). The LEDs with and without the Ta diffusion barrier layer showed an external quantum efficiency of 14.03 and 13.5% at 50 mA, respectively. After annealing at 500 °C, the AuBe/Ta/Au contacts showed a higher reflectance (92.8% at 617 nm) than that of the AuBe/Au contacts (87.7%). X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that the Ga 2p core level for the annealed AuBe/Au samples shifted to higher binding energies, while this level shifted towards lower binding energies for the AuBe/Ta/Au samples. Depth profiles using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) showed that annealing of the AuBe/Au samples caused the outdiffusion of both Be and P atoms into the metal contact, while for the AuBe/Ta/Au samples, the outdiffusion of Be atoms was blocked by the Ta barrier layer and more Be atoms were indiffused into GaP. The annealing-induced electrical degradation and ohmic contact formation are described and discussed based on the XPS and electrical results.

Use of a patterned current blocking layer to enhance the light output power of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes

We employed a patterned current blocking layer (CBL) to enhance light output power of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) was used to form patterned CBLs (a diameter of 260 nm, a period of 600, and a height of 180 nm). LEDs (chip size: 300 × 800 µm2) fabricated with no CBL, a conventional SiO2 CBL, and a patterned SiO2 CBL, respectively, exhibited forward-bias voltages of 3.02, 3.1 and 3.1 V at an injection current of 20 mA. The LEDs without and with CBLs gave series resistances of 9.8 and 11.0 Ω, respectively. The LEDs with a patterned SiO2 CBL yielded 39.6 and 11.9% higher light output powers at 20 mA, respectively, than the LEDs with no CBL and conventional SiO2 CBL. On the basis of emission images and angular transmittance results, the patterned CBL-induced output enhancement is attributed to the enhanced light extraction and current spreading.

Controlling the defect density to improve the output power of InGaN/GaN-based vertical light-emitting diodes by using substrates patterned with SiO2 lenses

Abstract In this study, we investigated the effect of SiO2 lenses on the output power of InGaN/GaN-based vertical light-emitting diodes (VLEDs; wavelength = 445 nm) and compared the results to those of reference VLEDs without the SiO2 lenses (planar samples). Arrays of SiO2 lenses (pitch = 3 μm, width = 2.5 μm, height = 1.0 μm) were formed on c-plane sapphire substrates. The external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the packaged VLEDs with planar and patterned substrates was characterised. At 5 mA, the EQE of the patterned samples was 150% higher than that of the planar samples. A patterned, N-polar, n-GaN sample contained far fewer nanopipes (approximately 2.2 × 105 cm−2) than a planar n-GaN sample (approximately 2.4 × 106 cm−2). Furthermore, the patterned samples contained far fewer threading dislocations (approximately 1.0 × 108 cm−2) than the planar samples (approximately 5.0 × 108 cm−2). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the photoelectrochemical (PEC)-etched patterned samples contained cones that were 150% larger than that of the PEC-etched planar samples. In addition, SEM images, cathode luminescence measurements and finite-difference time-domain simulations were used to characterise the improved light output of the patterned samples.

Reducing forward bias voltage of InGaN/GaN-based light emitting diodes by using (In)GaN contact layer

The electrical properties of GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) fabricated with indium–tin-oxide (ITO) p-contacts were investigated as functions of the thickness of the (In)GaN contact layers and the In content. The LEDs with the GaN contact layers showed lower forward voltages (in the range of 3.48–3.03 V) than the LEDs with ITO-only contacts (4.2 V); the forward voltages of the LEDs decreased with increasing contact layer thickness (from 1–4 nm) and increasing In content. However, the output power linearly decreased with increasing In content, whereas that of the GaN contact layer LEDs became saturated at a thickness of 2 nm. The X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) Ga 2p core level for the samples with the contact layers was shifted toward lower binding energies by 0.11–0.22 eV compared with that of the sample without the contact layer. However, the energy shift decreased with increasing In content. Unlike the contact-layer samples, the sample without the contact layer experienced outdiffusion of N atoms. Based on the XPS and atomic force microscopy results, the contact-layer-induced electrical improvement was described and discussed.