Investigation of GaN-based light-emitting diodes using double photonic crystal patterns

GaN-based LEDs with photonic crystal (PhC) patterns on an n- and a p-GaN layer by nano-imprint lithography (NIL) are fabricated and investigated. At a driving current of 20 mA on Transistor Outline (TO)-can package, the light output power of the GaN-based LED with PhC patterns on an n- and a p-GaN layer is enhanced by a factor of 1.30, and the wall-plug efficiency is increased by 24%. In addition, the higher output power of the LED with PhC patterns on the n- and p-GaN layer is due to better crystal quality on n-GaN and higher scattering effect on p-GaN surface using PhC pattern structure.     

Investigation of light output performance for gallium nitride-based light-emitting diodes grown on different shapes of patterned sapphire substrate

GaN-based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on various patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs) are investigated in detail. Hemispherical and triangular pyramidal PSSs have been applied to improve the performance of LEDs compared with conventional LEDs grown on planar sapphire substrate. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of these LEDs are investigated. The leakage current is related to the crystalline quality of epitaxial GaN films, and it is improved by using the PSS technique. The light output power and emission efficiency of the LED grown on triangular pyramidal PSS with optimized fill factor show the best performance in all the samples, which indicates that the pattern structure and fill factor of the PSS are related to the capability of light extraction.     

Improving performance of high-power indium gallium nitride/gallium nitride-based vertical light-emitting diodes by employing simple n-type electrode pattern

In this work, simple n-type electrode structures were used to enhance the electrical and optical performances of fully packaged commercially mass-produced vertical-geometry light-emitting diodes (VLEDs). The forward bias voltage of the VLED with a Y-pattern electrode increased less rapidly than that of VLEDs with a reference electrode. The VLEDs with the reference and Y-pattern electrodes exhibited forward voltages of 2.93±0.015 and 2.89±0.015 V at 350 mA and 3.77±0.015 and 3.53±0.015 V at 2000 mA, respectively. The VLEDs with the Y-pattern electrode resulted in a higher light output than the VLEDs with the reference electrode with increase in the drive current to 2000 mA. The emission images showed that the VLEDs with the Y-pattern electrode exhibited better current spreading behavior and lower junction temperatures than the VLEDs with the reference electrode. With increase in the current from 350 to 2000 mA, the VLEDs with the Y-pattern electrode experienced a 39.4% reduction in the wall plug efficiency, whereas the VLEDs with the reference electrode suffered from a 43.3% reduction.     

GaN蓝色激光二极管的研究进展

ＧａＮ短波长激光器是最近取得突破性进展而备受关注的光是这研究新域。本文简要论述了２０多年来在发展ＧａＮ发光器件过程中所克服的困难,介绍了目前这类激光器在解理法制备谐振腔端面、干法腐蚀和欧姆接触等关键工艺的进展情况。最后,综述了在获得室温下脉冲及连续工作的ＧａＮ蓝色激光二官的研究方面所取得的最新进展。     

Advantage of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes with trapezoidal electron blocking layer

In this study, a trapezoidal-shaped electron blocking layer is proposed to improve efficiency droop of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes. The energy band diagram, carrier distribution profile, electrostatic field, and electron current leakage are systematically investigated between two light-emitting diodes with different electron blocking layer structures. The simulation results show that, when traditional AlGaN electron blocking layer is replaced by trapezoidal-shaped electron blocking layer, the electron current leakage is dramatically reduced and the hole injection efficiency in markedly enhanced due to the better polarization match, the quantum-confined Stark effect is mitigated and the radiative recombination rate is increased in the active region subsequently, which are responsible for the alleviation of efficiency droop. The optical performance of light-emitting diodes with trapezoidal-shaped electron blocking layer is significantly improved when compared with its counterpart with traditional AlGaN electron blocking layer.     

Temperature-dependent electroluminescence in InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well light-emitting diodes

We present a comparative study on temperature dependence of electroluminescence (EL) of InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well (MQW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with identical structure but different indium contents in the active region. For the ultraviolet (UV) and blue LEDs, the EL intensity decreases dramatically with decreasing temperature after reaching a maximum at 150 K. The peak energy exhibits a large redshift in the range of 20–50 meV with a decrease of temperature from 200 K to 70 K, accompanying the appearance of longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon replicas broadening the low energy side of the EL spectra. This redshift is explained by carrier relaxation into lower energy states, leading to dominant radiative recombination at localized states. In contrast, the peak energy of the green LED exhibits a minimal temperature-induced shift, and the emission intensity increases monotonically with decreasing temperature down to 5 K. We attribute the different temperature dependences of the EL to different degrees of the localization effects in the MQW regions of the LEDs.     

Investigation of radiative tunneling in GaN/InGaN single quantum well light-emitting diodes

The mechanisms of carrier injection and recombination in a GaN/InGaN single quantum well light-emitting diodes have been studied. Strong defect-assisted tunneling behavior has been observed in both forward and reverse current–voltage characteristics. In addition to band-edge emission at 400 nm, the electroluminescence has also been attributed to radiative tunneling from band-to-deep level states and band-to-band tail states. The approximately current-squared dependence of light intensity at 400 nm even at high currents indicates dominant nonradiative recombination through deep-lying states within the space-charge region. Inhomogeneous avalanche breakdown luminescence, which is primarily caused by deep-level recombination, suggests a nonuniform spatial distribution of reverse leakage in these diodes.     

Highly efficient quasi-two dimensional perovskite light-emitting diodes by phase tuning

Tetraphenylphosphonium chloride (TPPCl) is used as an additive in the antisolvent for preparing the quasi-two Dimensional (quasi-2D) perovskite film. This strategy is not only beneficial for the morphology formation but also the phase tuning of the quasi-2D perovskite film. Highly efficient and stable perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) were achieved with the maximum luminance of 35,000 cd/m², the maximum current efficiency of 48.0 cd/A and the maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 12.42%. Due to the reduced exciton quenching rate, improved charge carrier injection and transport ability, the electroluminescent performance of the TPPCl-based PeLEDs has been enhanced.     

Efficiency enhancement of organic light-emitting devices by using honeycomb metallic electrodes and two-dimensional photonic crystal arrays

In this paper, a facile fabrication technique called nanosphere lithography combining with two-step reactive ion etching method for patterning honeycomb metallic electrode with high transparency and excellent uniformity is demonstrated. The patterning silver electrode with 15-nm film thickness and 68.6% fill-factor was used as the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) anode, which showed an average transmittance of 77.4% and sheet resistance of 30.7 Ω/□. The current efficiency is 8.35 cd/A for the OLED with patterned silver anode under 100 cd/m² operation brightness, which was 47% higher than the device with indium tin oxide (ITO) anode. After applying the polystyrene nanosphere to form a photonic crystal array onto the device, the extracted light from organic mode can be further coupled out from device substrate mode. The overall luminous enhancement of the device with the combination of internal honeycomb metallic anode and external photonic crystal array is 115% higher than the traditional ITO-based OLED.     

Improved quantum dot light-emitting diodes with a cathode interfacial layer

Colloidal quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) are reported with improved external quantum efficiencies (EQE) and efficiency roll-off under high current densities by introducing a thermally-evaporated organic cathode interfacial material (CIM) Phen-NaDPO. QLEDs with this new CIM modified Al cathode were fabricated, giving an upwards of 25% enhancement in the EQE relative to the bare Al device. Ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) suggests that this material can effectively lower the work function of Al, therefore facilitating the electron injection in QLEDs. Furthermore, Phen-NaDPO was introduced into the LiF/Al device to afford better balanced hole/electron injection in the emitting layer. Consequently, the QLEDs with the organic CIM/LiF/Al cathode further increased EQE and current efficiency by 44% and 52%, respectively, with higher luminance and lower efficiency roll-off under high current densities.     

Unveiling photophysical properties of phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole derivatives for organic light-emitting diodes

Recently, two phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole derivatives exhibited excellent advantages in organic light-emitting devices (i.e. high luminous efficiency, high carrier mobility, and low turn-on voltage). However, the relationship between their photophysical properties and the structural characters or intermolecular interactions remain elusive, which is considerable importance to further performance improvement. Currently, density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) have become powerful tools to rationalize photophysical properties and to design new materials with improvement performance. The simulated electron absorption and emission wavelengths of compounds 1 and 2 are in good agreement with the experimental ones. For the studied compounds, the involvement of tert-butyl moiety has negligible effect on energy level and distribution of frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), whereas greatly affects electron transition of deep energy level and charge transport property. Synergy of π-π and CH···π intermolecular interactions is responsible for the bipolar carrier transport, while CH···π for hole transport. The incorporation of NH₂ on phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole and NO₂ on diphenylamino part is an effective way to tune FMOs energy level and intramolecular charge transfer, leading to the substantial enhancement of the second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) response. Our work is also important for understanding photophysical properties and designing photoelectric materials of phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole derivatives.     

Investigation of n-ohmic contact of vertical GaN-based light-emitting diodes on graphite substrate with Ag-In bonding

Vertical light-emitting diodes (VLEDs) were successfully transferred from a GaN-based sapphire substrate to a graphite substrate by using low-temperature and cost-effective Ag-In bonding, followed by the removal of the sapphire substrate using a laser lift-off (LLO) technique. One reason for the high thermal stability of the AgIn bonding compounds is that both the bonding metals and Cr/Au n-ohmic contact metal are capable of surviving annealing temperatures in excess of 600 °C. Therefore, the annealing of n-ohmic contact was performed at temperatures of 400 °C and 500 °C for 1 min in ambient air by using the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. The performance of the n-ohmic contact metal in VLEDs on a graphite substrate was investigated in this study. As a result, the final fabricated VLEDs (chip size: 1000 µm×1000 µm) demonstrated excellent performance with an average output power of 538.64 mW and a low operating voltage of 3.21 V at 350 mA, which corresponds to an enhancement of 9.3% in the light output power and a reduction of 1.8% in the forward voltage compared to that without any n-ohmic contact treatment. This points to a high level of thermal stability and cost-effective Ag-In bonding, which is promising for application to VLED fabrication.     

Optimizing n-type contact design and chip size for high-performance indium gallium nitride/gallium nitride-based thin-film vertical light-emitting diode

The effects of the n-contact design and chip size on the electrical, optical and thermal characteristics of thin-film vertical light-emitting diodes (VLEDs) were investigated to optimize GaN-based LED performance for solid-state lighting applications. For the small (chip size: 1000×1000 µm²) and large (1450×1450 µm²) VLEDs, the forward bias voltages are decreased from 3.22 to 3.12 V at 350 mA and from 3.44 to 3.16 V at 700  mA, respectively, as the number of n-contact via holes is increased. The small LEDs give maximum output powers of 651.0–675.4 mW at a drive current of 350 mA, while the large VLEDs show the light output powers in the range 1356.7–1380.2 mW, 700 mA, With increasing drive current, the small chips go through more severe degradation in the wall-plug efficiency than the large chips. The small chips give the junction temperatures in the range 51.1–57.2 °C at 350  mA, while the large chips show the junction temperatures of 83.1–93.0 °C at 700  mA, The small LED chips exhibit lower junction temperatures when equipped with more n-contact via holes.     

Controlling charge balance using non-conjugated polymer interlayer in quantum dot light-emitting diodes

The balance of electron–hole charge carriers in quantum dot (QD) light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) is an important factor to achieve high efficiency. However, poor interfacial properties between QDs and their adjacent layers are likely to deteriorate the electron–hole charge balance, resulting in the poor performance of a QLED. In this paper, we report an enhanced efficiency in red-emitting inverted QLEDs by modifying the interface properties between QDs and ZnO electron transport layer (ETL) using a thin layer of non-conjugated polymer, poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVPy). Based on the precise control of the electrical properties with PVPy, the maximum efficiency of the QLED is enhanced by 30% compared to the device without a PVPy layer. In particular, the efficiency at low current density region is significantly increased. We investigate the effect of the PVPy interlayer on the performance of QLEDs and find that this thin layer not only shifts the energy levels of the underlying ZnO ETL, but also effectively blocks the leakage current at the ETL/QD interface.     

光子晶体粗波分-模分混合复用/解复用器

提出了一种基于光子晶体的粗波分-模分混合复用/解复用器,可在光子晶体上实现波分-模分的一体集成.根据时域耦合模理论,该器件采用点缺陷微腔和波长选择反射微腔的结构实现滤波.根据横向耦合模理论,利用非对称平行波导的结构实现模式转换.应用时域有限差分法对其性能进行分析,仿真结果表明,该器件可以实现1 550nm TE0模、1 570 nm TE0模、1 550 nm TE1模和1 570 nm TE1模四个信道信号的复用和解复用,且具有较低的插入损耗(0.23 d B)和信道串扰(-15.21 d B),该器件在CWDM-MDM中有重要作用,对提升城域网的容量具有重要价值.     

AlGaN/GaN层叠结构插入层改善氮化镓基发光二极管抗静电性能研究

在GaN基发光二极管的uGaN与nGaN之间插入AlGaN/GaN层叠结构,增大了外延层的张应力,降低了外延层中的穿透位错密度,改善了外延材料的质量。对比了AlGaN/GaN层叠结构中不同Al组分对LED的抗静电能力的影响,含6.8%铝组分AlGaN/GaN层叠结构的LED人体模式抗静电能力提高到了6000V,合格率超过了95%。     

Electrical and luminescent properties and the spectra of deep centers in GaMnN/InGaN light-emitting diodes

Electrical and electroluminescent properties were studied for GaN/InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with the n-GaN layer up and with the top portion of the n layer made of undoped GaMnN to allow polarization modulation by applying an external magnetic field (so-called “spin-LEDs”). The contact annealing temperature was kept to 750°C, which is the thermal stability limit for retaining room-temperature magnetic ordering in the GaMnN layer. Measurable electroluminescence (EL) was obtained in these structures at threshold voltages of ∼15 V, with a lower EL signal compared to control LEDs without Mn. This is related to the existence of two parasitic junctions between the metal and the lower contact p-type layer and between the GaMnN and the n-GaN in the top contact layer.     

Improved III-nitrides based light-emitting diodes anti-electrostatic discharge capacity with an AlGaN/GaN stack insert layer

Through insertion of an AlGaN/GaN stack between the u-GaN and n-GaN of GaN-based light-emitting diodes(LEDs),the strain in the epilayer was increased,the dislocation density was reduced.GaN-based LEDs with different Al compositions were compared.6.8%Al composition in the stacks showed the highest electrostatic discharge(ESD) endurance ability at the human body mode up to 6000 V and the pass yield exceeded 95%.     

五平行光子晶体多模波导的耦合特性及应用

本文通过模拟计算研究了二维三角形光子晶体波导自成像多模干涉的耦合特性。提出一种二维光子2端口晶体分束器,基于自成像多模干涉效应,用有限时域差分法数值计算和分析了这种分束器的特性。研究发现这种分束器的反射率低于10-4,透射率可高达0.9999。我们分析发现造成这种现象的物理原因是多模干涉区的自成像效应,这种多模干涉在光子晶体光学集成电路中具有重大的潜在应用价值。