Numerical Analysis of High-Index Nano-Composite Encapsulant for Light-Emitting Diodes

We used two-dimensional finte-difference-time-domain (FDTD) software to study the transition behavior of nano-particles from scatterers to an optically uniform medium. We measured the transmission efficiency of the dipole source, which is located in the high refractive index medium (index=2.00) and encapsulated by low index resin (index=1.41). In an effort to compose index-matched resin and to reduce internal reflection, high-index nano-particles are added to low-index resin in simulations of various sizes and densities. As the size of the nano-particles and the average spacing between particles are reduced to 0.02 λ and 0.07 λ respectively, the transmission efficiency improves two-fold compared to that without nano-particles. The numerical results can be used to understand the optical behavior of nano-particles and to improve the extraction efficiency of high brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs), through the use of nano-composite encapsulant.