InGaN red LEDs are the key devices to realize AR and VR displays. We have developed InGaN single-QW red LEDs. The InGaN red LEDs show good I-V characteristics. The built-in voltage was only Vb=2.4 V. The peak wavelength at 2.4 V was 641 nm, therefore, the ratio of the photon energy to eVb was as high as 80%. Even at the 20 mA operation, the necessary forward bias was as low as 2.96 V. The light output power density was as high as 0.87 W/cm2 at 20 mA. Therefore, it shows a high WPE of 2.9% at 20 mA.
For the development of efficient red LEDs with high-In-content InGaN quantum wells (QWs), we have developed the micro-flow-channel MOVPE method. This MOVPE can grow high-In-content InGaN at higher growth temperatures, resulting in higher quality. Also, we have introduced the strain compensation method at the QW region. Barrier layers consisting of Al(Ga)N could compensate for a compressive strain induced by InGaN. The strain compensation method has improved LED efficiency and elongated peak EL electroluminescence.
Visible light communication (VLC), which utilizes LEDs, promises superior privacy and security and reduced impact on surrounding electronics compared to traditional Wi-Fi. This paper explores the potential of InGaN-based micro-light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) in high-speed VLC applications, focusing on yellow-green micro-LEDs with nanoporous distributed Bragg reflector (NP-DBR) and red InGaN micro-LEDs. Yellow-green micro-LEDs achieved a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 8.7%, bandwidth of 442 MHz, and data rate of 800 Mbit/s, while red micro-LEDs demonstrated an EQE of 5.95%, maximum bandwidth of 424 MHz, and data rate of 800 Mbit/s. The application of four core technologies, including circular devices and electrodes, reduced contact electrode area, atomic layer deposition (ALD) for passivation protection, and multi-chip parallel arrays, enhanced optoelectronic characteristics. This paper also highlights the superior performance of InGaN-based red micro-LEDs with a single quantum well (SQW) structure over double quantum wells (DQWs) for VLC applications. The SQW structure yielded higher maximum EQE, modulation bandwidth, and faster transmission rates, paving the way for the potential of full-color micro-display and high-speed VLC applications.
We have developed highly efficient InGaN red LEDs via the strain-compensated InGaN SQW structure. The LED structure is an InGaN single-quantum-well with AlGaN barriers to compensate for the compressive strain in the InGaN well layer. The red LEDs exhibited an EQE of 4.3%, a light output of 1.7 mW, and a wavelength of 621 nm at 20 mA (10 A/cm2) under 2.96 V. We applied the hydrogen passivation method to pixelize the planar-type micro-LEDs and to fabricate the efficient mesa-type micro-LEDs by suppressing the carrier surface recombination.
We can grow high-In-content InGaN-based red LED structures by our original MOVPE. Using commercial InGaN-based blue and green LED wafers, we have fabricated RGB micro-LEDs and RGB monochromatic 10 X 10 micro-LED arrays. The size of the micro-LED was 17 m square. The red array showed the peak wavelength at 630 nm and the FWHM of 62.9 nm at 50 A/cm2. Its light output power density was as high as 176 mW/cm2, and the absolute EQE was approximately 0.4%. The RGB micro-LED arrays covered as good as 81.3% of the Rec. 2020 color space in CIE 1931 at 50 A/cm2.
We demonstrated the 630-nm peak wavelength InGaN-based micro-LED arrays at a high current density up to 50 A/cm2. The device dimension was 17 × 17 µm2. The micro-LEDs obtained a high light output power density of 1.76 mW/mm2 at 50 A/cm2, which is much higher than AlInGaP-based micro-LEDs (20 × 20 µm2). The on-wafer EQE was 0.18%. We also individually fabricated the blue and green micro-LED arrays, the color gamut of RGB micro-LED arrays covered as high as 81.3% of the Rec. 2020 color space in CIE 1931.
We investigated the performance of InGaN-based red and green micro LEDs ranging from 98 × 98 μm2 to 17 × 17 μm2. The 47 × 47 μm2 red and green micro-LEDs were obtained an on-wafer EQE of 0.36% at the peak wavelength of 626 nm at 4 A/cm2. The peak wavelength was close to the red primary color defined in the Rec. 2020 standard in CIE 1931. We also evaluated the temperature stability of the micro-LEDs. The characteristic temperature was obtained 50 and 411 K under 10 A/cm2 operation for the red and green LEDs, respectively.
We demonstrated amber InGaN-based micro LEDs (47 × 47 µm2) with 606 nm peak emission at 20 A/cm2. The amber LEDs were obtained the output power density of 2.26 mW/mm2 at 20 A/cm2 by on-wafer EL measurement. Also, the peak on-wafer EQE was obtained as 0.56%. The peak wavelength of the micro-LEDs exhibited a large blue-shift from 624 to 591 nm at 5 to 100 A/cm2. We evaluated the temperature stability of the micro-LEDs. It found that the characteristic temperature was gradually increased with current density increase because SRH non-radiative recombination could be suppressed at high current densities.
Fabrication of InGaN-based RGB micro-LEDs is crucial to realize inexpensive micro-LED displays. We have grown InGaN-based red LED structures on c-plane patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) by our original metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The structures are p-GaN/hybrid MQWs/(InGaN/GaN) SLs/n-AlGaN/thick-n-GaN/GaN/PSS. The hybrid MQWs consist of red DQWs and blue SQW, resulting in intense red EL emissions. The thick-n-GaN can release compressive strain from substrates and reduce defect density. The overall structure was pseudomorphic. The device performance of the standard-size red LEDs and 17 m x 17 m micro-LEDs will be shown in the presentation.
This work found larger red chips exhibited lower forward voltages due to their lower series resistance originated from the device area. Moreover, a larger chip resulted in a longer emission wavelength, narrower full-width at half maximum (FWHM), and higher EQE at high currents. These characteristics are beneficial for InGaN-based red LEDs. On the other hand, smaller chips had merits of a high characteristic temperature of 399K. This characteristic temperature is almost similar level with the world record in AlGaInP-based red LEDs, suggesting that InGaN-based red LEDs with small chip sizes are good candidates for temperature tolerant lighting applications.
The LEDs were obtained that the peak emission wavelength and FWHM were 665 nm and 67 nm at 20 mA, respectively. It exhibited a large blueshift of the EL peak wavelength from 691 nm at 5 mA to 631 nm at 100 mA. In this range, the blue-shifted value was 60 nm. Besides, we realized the single peak emission LEDs without an additional emission. We obtained a light output, forward voltage, and EQE of 0.07 mW, 2.45 V, and 0.19% at 20 mA, respectively. The LEDs exhibited the temperature stability of EL intensity and peak wavelength.
Fabrication of indium tin oxide (ITO) was optimized for InGaN-based amber/red light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A radiofrequency sputtering reduced the sheet resistivity of ITO at low pressures, and a subsequent two-step annealing resulted in a low sheet resistivity (below 2×10-4 Ωcm) and high transmittance (over 98%) in the amber and red regions between 590 nm to 780 nm. Double ITO layers by sputtering could form an excellent ohmic contact with p-GaN. Application of the double ITO layers on amber and red LEDs enhanced light output power by 15.6% and 13.0%, respectively, compared to those using ITO by e-beam evaporation.
Longitudinal optical (LO) phonon has strong electric interaction with particles and fields. Particularly, the interaction in III-nitrides is more significant than that in conventional III-V materials. We show phonon-exciton interaction properties in experimental PL spectrum analysis and theoretical calculation of population transfers of excitonic levels. Thermally nonequilibrium occupations of LO phonons and other modes generated by the LO-phonon decomposition are thought to shift the population distribution in principal quantum number states and kinetic energy to the higher energy side. The radiative exciton recombination lifetime is determined by the population distribution in the excitonic states, which is determined by the balance of the electronic and phononic elementary processes. The interaction of excitons and phonons releases the excess energy to the thermal bath of the lattice system, which sometimes yields negligible lattice temperature increase in the excited region or the nonequilibrium state between electron and phonon systems. A Raman scattering imaging measure is introduced to exhibit spatial transport of phonons generated by the energy relaxation and nonradiative recombination of the excited electrons and holes, where pump-probe measurements are enabled by the simultaneous irradiation of two laser beams. It is found that the phonon transport is blocked by the misfit dislocations located on a Ga0.84In0.16N/GaN heterointerface.
We obtained the EL intensity enhancement by a factor of 1.3 with increasing of n-GaN thickness from 2 to 8 µm. We achieved a light output, forward voltage, FWHM and external quantum efficiency of 0.64 mW, 3.3 V, 59 nm, and 1.6% at 20 mA, respectively. Particularly, the wall plug efficiency was 1.0%, which is comparable with the state-of-the-art InGaN-based red LEDs. The reduction of the in-plane compressive stress by the GaN underlying layers appears to be crucial for enhancing the light output of InGaN-based red LEDs on conventional sapphire substrates.
Increased-pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) system with high speed switching valves is found to
be effective for growing In-rich GaInN at a high temperature. High-speed switching valves enable the atomic layer
epitaxy of high quality AlGaN at a low temperature, by which we can grow thin AlGaN capping layer without the
thermal decomposition of underlying In-rich GaInN. This new growth technology sheds light on the digital alloy growth
for the development of high-efficiency nitride-based visible long -wavelength light emitters.
We report on low-defect-density non-polar a-plane and m-plane GaN films grown by sidewall epitaxial lateral
overgrowth (SELO) technique. Dislocations and stacking faults were decreased markedly over the whole area, and
surface roughness was decreased with decreasing defect density. The photoluminescence intensity of SELO a-plane and
m-plane GaN was about 200 times higher than that of a-plane and m-plane GaN template. We also fabricated and
characterized LEDs on a-plane and m-plane GaN using SELO technique. The light power of LEDs increased with decreasing of threading dislocation.
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