Stress Reduction and Enhanced Extraction Efficiency of GaN-Based LED Grown on Cone-Shape-Patterned Sapphire

High-quality InGaN–GaN film was grown on a cone-shape-patterned sapphire substrate (CSPSS) by using metal–oganic chemical vapor deposition. The growth mode of GaN on CSPSS was similar to that of the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG), because the growth, in the initial stage, proceeds only on flat basal sapphire substrate and there is no preferential growth plane on the cone region. An analysis of X-ray diffraction showed a shorter lattice constant of 5.1877 Å along the $c$-axis for the GaN thin films grown on CSPSS, compared to 5.1913 Å for the samples grown on a conventional sapphire substrate (CSS). This is because the ELOG-like mode of the GaN layer over the cone-shaped region results in less lattice mismatch and incoherency between the GaN layer and the sapphire substrate. The output power of a sideview light-emitting diode (LED) grown on CSPSS was estimated to be 7.3 mW at a forward current of 20 mA, which is improved by 34% compared to that of an LED grown on CSS. The significant enhancement in output power is attributed to both the increase of the extraction efficiency, resulted from the increase in photon escaping probability due to enhanced light scattering at the CSPSS, and the improvement of the crystal quality due to the reduction of dislocation.      

GaN外延用蓝宝石衬底的图形化研究进展

因蓝宝石具有良好的稳定性能,且其生产技术成熟,是目前异质外延GaN应用最广泛的衬底材料之一.采用图形化蓝宝石衬底技术可以降低GaN外延层材料的位错密度,提高LED的内量子效率,同时提高LED出光效率提高,近年来引起了国内外的广泛关注.概述了图形化蓝宝石衬底的研究进展,包括图形化蓝宝石衬底的制备工艺、图形尺寸、图形形状及图形化蓝宝石衬底的作用机理;详细介绍了凹槽状、圆孔状、圆锥形、梯形和半球状5种图形形状,并分析了GaN材料在不同图形形状的图形化蓝宝石衬底上的生长机理及不同图形形状对GaN基LED器件性能的影响.对图形化蓝宝石衬底技术的研究方向进行了展望,提出了亟待研究和解决的问题.     

Study of GaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes Grown on Chemical Wet-Etching-Patterned Sapphire Substrate With V-Shaped Pits Roughening Surfaces

We investigate the mechanism responding for performance enhancement of gallium nitride (GaN)-based light-emitting diode (LED) grown on chemical wet-etching-patterned sapphire substrate (CWE-PSS) with V-Shaped pit features on the top surface. According to temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurement and the measured external quantum efficiency, the structure can simultaneously enhance both internal quantum efficiency and light extraction efficiency. Comparing to devices grown on planar sapphire substrate, the threading dislocation defects of LED grown on CWE-PSS are reduced from 1.28 times 10⁹/cm² to 3.62 times 10⁸/cm², leading to a 12.5% enhancement in internal quantum efficiency. In terms of the theoretical computing of radiation patterns, the V-Shaped pits roughening surface can be thought of as a strong diffuser with paraboloidal autocorrelation function, increasing the escape probability of trapped photons and achieving a 20% enhancement in light extraction efficiency. Moreover, according to the measurement of optical diffraction power, CWE-PSS demonstrated superior guided light extraction efficiency than that of planar sapphire substrate, thus an extra 7.8% enhancement in light extraction efficiency was obtained. Therefore, comparing to the conventional LED, an overall 45% enhancement in integrated output power was achieved.     

Improved Light Extraction of Nitride-Based Flip-Chip Light-Emitting Diodes Via Sapphire Shaping and Texturing

A novel flip-chip structure of GaN-sapphire light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was developed to improve the external quantum efficiency, where the sapphire substrate was textured and shaped with beveled sidewalls using a wet etching technique. The forward voltage of the conventional flip-chip and shaped flip-chip GaN LEDs were 2.84 and 2.85 V at 20 mA, respectively. This indicates that the GaN LED was not destroyed during the sapphire wet etching process. It was found that the output power increased from 9.3 to 14.2 mW, corresponding to about 52% increases in the external quantum efficiency. The results agree well with the simulation data that the shaped flip-chip GaN LED can provide better light extraction efficiency than that of the conventional flip-chip sample     

460-nm InGaN-Based LEDs Grown on Fully Inclined Hemisphere-Shape-Patterned Sapphire Substrate With Submicrometer Spacing

This letter investigates 460-nm InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on a hemisphere-shape- patterned sapphire substrate (HPSS) with submicrometer spacing. The full-width at half-maximum of the (102) plane rocking curves for GaN layer grown on a conventional sapphire substrate (CSS) and HPSS are 480 and 262 arcsec, respectively. Such improvement is due to the reduction of the pure edge threading dislocations. At the forward current of 20 mA, the light output power of the LEDs grown on CSS and HPSS were 4.05 and 5.86 mW, respectively. This improvement of 44% light-output power can be attributed to the improved quality of the material and the increase of the light extraction by the fully inclined facets of the HPSS.     

Enhancement of InGaN-Based Vertical LED With Concavely Patterned Surface Using Patterned Sapphire Substrate

To improve the external quantum efficiency, we have proposed a new method utilizing surface roughening of vertical-type light-emitting diodes (VT-LEDs) fabricated on hemispherical patterned sapphire substrate by using a laser lift-off technique. The advantages of this method are simple and reproducible in transferring the well-defined patterns on sapphire into GaN layer. The VT-LED with concavely patterned surface showed a nearly twofold increase in the output power compared to the normal planar surface. This improvement in the VT-LED performances is attributed to the increase in the escaping probability of photons from the LED surface.     

Effect of Residual Stress and Sidewall Emission of InGaN-Based LED by Varying Sapphire Substrate Thickness

The effect of residual stress and the sidewall emission in InGaN–GaN films with different thickness of sapphire substrate were investigated. The peak wavelength of electroluminescence was blue-shifted as thinning the sapphire substrate, because the wafer bowing-induced mechanical stress alters the piezoelectric field in the InGaN–GaN multiple quantum-well active region of the light-emitting diode (LED). A sideview LED with 170-$muhbox{m}$ -thick sapphire exhibited the highest output power of 14.04 mW at a forward current of 20 mA, improved by 7% compared to that with 80-$muhbox{m}$-thick sapphire. The maximum output power can be obtained by considering both the photon escaping probability from the edges of the sapphire and the photon absorption probability in the sapphire as well as the residual mechanical stress induced by the wafer bowing.      

4 W/mm蓝宝石衬底AlGaN/GaN HEMT

报道了利用南京电子器件研究所生长的蓝宝石衬底AlGaN/GaN异质结材料制作的HEMT,器件功率输出密度达4W/mm。通过材料结构及生长条件的优化,利用MOCVD技术获得了二维电子气(2DEG)面密度为0.97×1013cm-2、迁移率为1000cm2/Vs的AlGaN/GaN异质结构材料,用此材料完成了栅长1μm、栅宽200μm AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件的研制。小信号测试表明器件的fT为17GHz、最高振荡频率fmax为40GHz;负载牵引测试得到2GHz下器件的饱和输出功率密度为4.04W/mm。     

预处理蓝宝石衬底上生长高质量 GaN 显示薄膜

采用化学方法腐蚀部分 c-面蓝宝石衬底,在腐蚀区域形成一定的图案,利用 LP-MOCVD 在此经过表面处理的蓝宝石衬底上外延生长 GaN 薄膜.采用高分辨率双晶X射线衍射(DCXRD)、光致发光光谱(PL)、透射光谱分析GaN薄膜的晶体质量和光学质量.分析结果表明,CaN 薄膜透射谱反映出的 CaN 质量与 X射线双晶衍射测量的结果一致,即透射率越大,半高宽越小,结晶质量越好;对蓝宝石衬底进行前处理可以大大改善GaN薄膜的晶体质量和光学质量,其(0002)面及(1012)面XRD半高宽(FWHM)分别降低到 208.80arcsec 及 320.76arcsec,而且其光致发光谱中的黄光带几乎可以忽略.     

p-AlGaN/GaN超晶格做p型层350 nm紫外AlGaN基LED

使用p-AlGaN/p-GaN SPSLs作为LED的p型层,在蓝宝石衬底上生长出发光波长为350 nm的AlGaN基紫外LED。[JP+1]由于AlGaN/GaN超晶格的极化效应,使得Mg受主的电离能降低,大幅提高了器件的光学和电学性能。在工作电流为350 mA下发光亮度达到了22.66 mW,相应的工作电压为3.75 V,LEDs的光功率满足了实际应用需求。     

GaN-based light emitting diodes on nano-hole patterned sapphire substrate prepared by three-beam laser interference lithography

Nano-hole patterned sapphire substrates (NHPSSs) were successfully prepared using a low-cost and high-efficiency approach, which is the laser interference lithography (LIL) combined with reactive ion etching (RIE) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) techniques. Gallium nitride (GaN)-based light emitting diode (LED) structure was grown on NHPSS by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Photoluminescence (PL) measurement was conducted to compare the luminescence efficiency of the GaN-based LED structure grown on NHPSS (NHPSS-LED) and that on unpatterned sapphire substrates (UPSS-LED). Electroluminescence (EL) measurement shows that the output power of NHPSS-LED is 2.3 times as high as that of UPSS-LED with an injection current of 150 mA. Both PL and EL results imply that NHPSS has an advantage in improving the crystalline quality of GaN epilayer and light extraction efficiency of LEDs at the same time.     

Influence of GaN material characteristics on device performance for blue and ultraviolet light-emitting diodes

An analysis of blue and near-ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and material structures explores the dependence of device performance on material properties as measured by various analytical techniques. The method used for reducing dislocations in the epitaxial III-N films that is explored here is homoepitaxial growth on commercial hybride vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE) GaN substrates. Blue and UV LED devices are demonstrated to offer superior performance when grown on GaN substrates as compared to the more conventional sapphire substrate. In particular, the optical analysis of the near-UV LEDs on GaN versus ones on sapphire show substantially higher light output over the entire current-injection regime and twice the internal quantum efficiency at low forward current. As the wavelength is further decreased to the deep-UV, the performance improvement of the homoepitaxially grown structure as compared to that grown on sapphire is enhanced.     

蓝宝石衬底上HVPE-GaN厚膜生长

采用氢化物气相外延(HVPE)方法,以蓝宝石作衬底,分别在MOCVD-GaN模板和蓝宝石衬底上直接外延生长GaN.模板上的GaN生长表面平整、光亮,但开裂严重.其(0002)的双晶衍射半高宽最低为141″;蓝宝石衬底上直接生长GaN外延层质量较差,其双晶衍射半高宽为1688″,但不发生开裂.HCl的载气流量对预反应有很大的影响.应力产生于外延层和衬底之间的界面处,界面孔洞的存在可以释放应力,减少开裂.光致发光(PL)谱中氧杂质引起强黄光发射.     

High-Brightness InGaN–GaN Power Flip-Chip LEDs

We report the fabrication of InGaN–GaN power flip-chip (FC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a roughened sapphire backside surface prepared by grinding. It was found that we can increase output power of the FC LED by about 35% by roughening the backside surface of the sapphire substrate. The reliability of the proposed device was also better, as compared to power FC LEDs with a conventional flat sapphire backside surface.      

利用平片蓝宝石衬底制备高功率垂直结构LED

在平片蓝宝石衬底上,通过引入AlN缓冲层,优化成核层与粗糙层的生长条件,生长出了表面平整的GaN薄膜,晶体质量得到显著提升。通过引入AlN缓冲层,将X射线衍射(XRD)下样品(002)面的半高宽(FWHM)由232″降低至148″;通过减薄成核层厚度、提升粗糙层生长压力,将样品(102)面和(100)面的FWHM分别由243″和283″降低至169″和221″。研究了不同成核层和粗糙层的生长参数对GaN薄膜表面形貌的影响,随着(102)面和(100)面FWHM的降低,表面平整度亦得到改善,粗糙度由约3.8 nm下降到约1.6 nm。利用优化后的底层条件生长了高质量GaN薄膜,在3.5 A/mm^2电流密度下,与参考样品相比,制备出的LED样品的光输出功率由863 mW提升至942 mW,提升了约9%。     

Characteristics of a-Plane Green Light-Emitting Diode Grown on r-Plane Sapphire

In this work, we have successfully grown a-plane green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on r-plane sapphire and investigated the device characteristics of a-plane green LEDs. The apparent emission polarization anisotropy was observed and the polarization degree was as high as 67.4%. In addition, the electroluminescence (EL) spectra first revealed a wavelength blue-shift with increasing drive current to 20 mA, which could be attributed to the band-filling effect, and then the EL peak become constant. The current–voltage curve showed the forward voltage of a-plane LED grown on r-plane sapphire substrate was 3.43 V and the differential series resistance was measured to be about 24 $Omega $ as 20-mA injected current. Furthermore, the output power was 240 $mu hbox{W}$ at 100-mA drive current.      

Enhancement of Light Extraction Efficiency of Gallium Nitride Flip-Chip Light-Emitting Diode With Silicon Oxide Hemispherical Microlens on its Back

Silicon oxide (SiO₂) hemispherical microlens with the density of 8.2 times 10⁸ cm^-2 has been formed on a sapphire substrate of gallium nitride (GaN) light-emitting diode (LED) by liquid phase deposition to enhance the light extraction efficiency. For flip-chip LED, the SiO₂ microlens exhibits 1.25 times enhancement of optical output power. In comparison of the conventional LED, there is 61% enhancement for flip-chip LED with a SiO₂ microlens.     

蓝宝石衬底上槽栅型X波段增强型AlGaN/GaN HEMT

研制了一款X波段增强型AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管(HEMT)。在3英寸(1英寸=2.54 cm)蓝宝石衬底上采用低损伤栅凹槽刻蚀技术制备了栅长为0.3μm的增强型AlGaN/GaN HEMT。所制备的增强型器件的阈值电压为0.42 V,最大跨导为401 mS/mm,导通电阻为2.7Ω·mm。器件的电流增益截止频率和最高振荡频率分别为36.1和65.2 GHz。在10 GHz下进行微波测试,增强型AlGaN/GaN HEMT的最大输出功率密度达到5.76 W/mm,最大功率附加效率为49.1%。在同一材料上制备的耗尽型器件最大输出功率密度和最大功率附加效率分别为6.16 W/mm和50.2%。增强型器件的射频特性可与在同一晶圆上制备的耗尽型器件相比拟。     

2×25.4 mm GaN LED外延膜的激光剥离及其衬底的重复利用

利用激光剥离技术实现直径为50.8 mm CaN LED外延膜的大面积完整剥离.激光剥离后的原子力显微镜(AFM)扫描和X射线双晶衍射谱(XRD)表明剥离前后外延膜的质量并未明显改变.并报道了在剥离掉后的蓝宝石(α-Al2O3)衬底上MOCVD外延生长InGaN/CaN多量子阱(MQW's)LED器件结构,通过光致发光谱(PL)和XRD谱对比分析了在相同条件下剥离掉后衬底与常规衬底上生长的CaN LED外延膜晶体质量.     

Lifetime Tests and Junction-Temperature Measurement of InGaN Light-Emitting Diodes Using Patterned Sapphire Substrates

The authors demonstrate nitride-based blue light-emitting diodes with an InGaN/GaN (460 nm) multiple quantum-well structure on the patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs) compared with conventional sapphire substrates (CSSs) using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. According to full-width at half-maximum of high-resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy micrographs, the dislocation density of GaN epilayers grown on the PSS was lower than those of the CSS. It was found that the output power of devices on PSS was 26% larger than that of CSS. The lifetime defined by 50% loss in output power was 590 and 305 h at 85 degC for the PSS and CSS, respectively. It was also found that the junction temperature and thermal resistance were smaller for the PSS. These improvements are attributed to the reduction in dislocation density using PSS structure