Steven P. DenBaars

Photonic-crystal GaN light-emitting diodes with tailored guided modes distribution

We relate the currently limited efficiency of photonic crystal (PhC)-assisted gallium nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to the existence of unextracted guided modes. To remedy this, we introduce epitaxial structures which modify the distribution of guided modes. LEDs are fabricated according to this concept, and the tailored band structure is determined experimentally. We investigate theoretically the consequences of this improvement, which significantly enhances the potential for efficient light extraction by PhCs.

Photonic crystal laser lift-off GaN light-emitting diodes

We report on the fabrication and study of laser lift-off GaN-based light-emitting diodes, thinned down to the microcavity regime, incorporating two-dimensional photonic crystal diffraction gratings. Angle-resolved measurements reveal the photonic behavior of the devices, which strongly depends on the GaN thickness. Data point out the detrimental role of metal absorption. We explore theoretically the possibility to limit this loss channel.

Recent results and latest views on microcavity LEDs

We are progressively approaching the physical limits of microcavity LEDs (MC-LEDs) for high brightness, high efficiency LEDs. They are promising high efficiency devices and they offer the very attractive prospect of full planar fabrication process. However, to compete with other high efficiency LED schemes, they need to approach or surpass the 50 % efficiency mark. We first explore the limits of planar MC-LEDs in both the GaAlInAsP and GaInAlN materials systems, and show that the single-step extraction limit is in the 40 % range at best, depending on the materials system used, with the largest part of the non-extracted light being emitted into guided modes. The waveguided light can itself be extracted by photon recycling, when the internal quantum efficiency is high. Otherwise, another extraction scheme for that light is provided by various photonic-crystal-assisted extraction schemes. Simple photonic crystals (PCs) appear to lack the omnidirectional extraction properties required. However, more rotation-invariant PCs like Archimedean tilings allow to obtain such extraction with added efficiencies already in the 10% range. We discuss the further improvements to such structures.