InGaN/GaN quantum-well heterostructure light-emitting diodes employing photonic crystal structures

Electrical operation of InGaN/GaN quantum-well heterostructure photonic crystal light-emitting diodes (PXLEDs) is demonstrated. A triangular lattice photonic crystal is formed by dry etching into the top GaN layer. Light absorption from the metal contact is minimized because the top GaN layers are engineered to provide lateral current spreading, allowing carrier recombination proximal to the photonic crystal yet displaced from the metal contact. The chosen lattice spacing for the photonic crystal causes Bragg scattering of guided modes out of the LED, increasing the extraction efficiency. The far-field radiation patterns of the PXLEDs are heavily modified and display increased radiance, up to ∼1.5 times brighter compared to similar LEDs without the photonic crystal.

[1]  Tom Oder,et al.  III-nitride photonic crystals , 2003 .

[2]  Henri Benisty,et al.  Toward ultrahigh-efficiency aluminum oxide microcavity light-emitting diodes: guided mode extraction by photonic crystals , 2002 .

[3]  J. Joannopoulos,et al.  High Extraction Efficiency of Spontaneous Emission from Slabs of Photonic Crystals , 1997 .

[4]  J. Im,et al.  Fabrication of 50–100 nm Patterned InGaN Blue Light Emitting Heterostructures , 2001 .

[5]  Amnon Yariv,et al.  Measurement of spontaneous emission from a two-dimensional photonic band gap defined microcavity at near-infrared wavelengths , 1999 .

[6]  C. Weisbuch,et al.  Impact of planar microcavity effects on light extraction-Part I: basic concepts and analytical trends , 1998 .

[7]  E. Fred Schubert,et al.  Light-emitting Diodes: Research, Manufacturing, and Applications VI , 2002 .

[8]  Jonathan J. Wierer,et al.  Buried tunnel contact junction AlGaAs-GaAs-InGaAs quantum well heterostructure lasers with oxide-defined lateral currents , 1997 .

[9]  Joel R. Wendt,et al.  Nanofabrication of photonic lattice structures in GaAs/AlGaAs , 1993 .

[10]  J. Joannopoulos,et al.  Enhanced coupling to vertical radiation using a two-dimensional photonic crystal in a semiconductor light-emitting diode , 2001 .

[11]  Eli Yablonovitch,et al.  Light extraction from optically pumped light-emitting diode by thin-slab photonic crystals , 1999 .

[12]  Michael R. Krames,et al.  High-power AlGaInN flip-chip light-emitting diodes , 2001 .

[13]  S. A. Stockman,et al.  Optical cavity effects in InGaN/GaN quantum-well-heterostructure flip-chip light-emitting diodes , 2003 .

[14]  Yong-Hee Lee,et al.  A high-extraction-efficiency nanopatterned organic light-emitting diode , 2003 .

[15]  E. Purcell,et al.  Resonance Absorption by Nuclear Magnetic Moments in a Solid , 1946 .

[16]  S. A. Stockman,et al.  GaN-Based Light Emitting Diodes with Tunnel Junctions , 2001 .

[17]  Paul S. Martin,et al.  Illumination with solid state lighting technology , 2002 .

[18]  E. Yablonovitch,et al.  Inhibited spontaneous emission in solid-state physics and electronics. , 1987, Physical review letters.