The nano-imprint lithography method was employed to incorporate wide-area (375 x 330 mum(2)) photonic-crystal (PC) patterns onto the top surface of GaN-based LEDs. When the 280-nm-thick p-GaN was partly etched to ~140 nm, the maximal extraction-efficiency was observed without deteriorating electrical properties. After epoxy encapsulation, the light output of the PC LED was enhanced by 25% in comparison to the standard LED without pattern, at a standard current of 20 mA. By three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method, we found that the extraction efficiency of the LED tends to be saturated as the etch-depth in the GaN epitaxial-layer becomes larger than the wavelength of the guided modes.

Deep UV-LEDs (DUV-LEDs) emitting at 233 nm with an emission power of (1.9 ± 0.3) mW and an external quantum efficiency of (0.36 ± 0.07) % at 100 mA are presented. The entire DUV-LED process chain was optimized including the reduction of the dislocation density using epitaxially laterally overgrown AlN/sapphire substrates, development of vanadium-based low resistance n-metal contacts, and employment of high thermally conductive AlN packages. Estimated device lifetimes above 1500 h are achieved after a burn-in of 100 h. With the integration of a UV-transparent lens, a strong narrowing of the far-field pattern was achieved with a radiant intensity of 3 mW/sr measured at 20 mA.

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We demonstrate the enhancement of light extraction from a wide-area (500×500μm2) GaN slab light-emitting diode (LED) that results from covering it with a TiO2-patterned layer. To fabricate this device, a Cu supporter is electroplated onto the p-GaN face followed by detaching the sapphire substrate with a laser lift-off process. At the standard current of 60mA, the wall-plug efficiency of the TiO2-patterned LED is ∼14.8%, i.e., the efficiency is enhanced by a factor of ∼1.8 over that of nonpatterned LEDs. Our three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain computations confirm that this output increases with the index of the patterned layer.

The influence of the n-AlGaN contact layer thickness and doping profile on the efficiency, operating voltage and lifetime of 310 nm LEDs has been investigated. Increasing the n-contact layer thickness reduces the operation voltage of the LEDs and increases the emission power slightly. Optimizing the n-doping profile yielded enhanced conductivity and reduced operation voltage with a simultaneous output power enhancement of the LEDs. Lifetime measurements have shown that even though the output power of the LEDs was enhanced the lifetimes were not negatively affected. Room temperature photoluminescence indicates a low concentration of point defects in the n-doping region yielding minimum AlGaN resistivity.

Multiresistant pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cause serious postoperative infections. A skin tolerant far-UVC (< 240 nm) irradiation system for their inactivation is presented here. It uses UVC LEDs in combination with a spectral filter and provides a peak wavelength of 233 nm, with a full width at half maximum of 12 nm, and an irradiance of 44 µW/cm2. MRSA bacteria in different concentrations on blood agar plates were inactivated with irradiation doses in the range of 15–40 mJ/cm2. Porcine skin irradiated with a dose of 40 mJ/cm2 at 233 nm showed only 3.7% CPD and 2.3% 6-4PP DNA damage. Corresponding irradiation at 254 nm caused 15–30 times higher damage. Thus, the skin damage caused by the disinfectant doses is so small that it can be expected to be compensated by the skin's natural repair mechanisms. LED-based far-UVC lamps could therefore soon be used in everyday clinical practice to eradicate multiresistant pathogens directly on humans.

The impact of different AlN/sapphire template technologies [i.e., planar, epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELO), and high temperature annealed sputtered ELO] is studied with respect to the operation-induced degradation of 265 nm UVC LEDs. UVC LEDs with identical heterostructures were grown on templates providing different threading dislocation densities in the range of 0.8 × 109 cm−2 to 5.8 × 109 cm−2. A long-term stress experiment was performed on batches of LEDs, which were operated at a direct current of 200 mA corresponding to a current density of 60 A/cm2 and at a heat sink temperature of 20 °C. The UVC LEDs on templates with lower threading dislocation densities were found to provide a higher optical power and to degrade slower during 2000 h of operation. The experiment demonstrates an extrapolated L70 lifetime of more than 10 000 h for the high temperature annealed sputtered ELO technology. The results suggest that degradation is caused by operation-induced activation of defects whose density scales with the dislocation density.

We demonstrate light extraction from metal reflector-based AlGaInP photonic crystal ͑PhC͒ light-emitting diodes ͑LEDs͒. The photons reflected by a high-reflectivity, small-absorption, bottom Ag mirror steadily interact with the PhC, and thus enhanced light extraction is achieved. The square lattice PhC patterns are fabricated on an upper n-doped AlGaInP surface with a depth of 500 nm. An optical power measurement using an integration sphere shows that the extraction efficiency of the PhC LED is ϳ1.8 times larger than that of the nonpatterned LED. A three-dimensional finite difference time domain simulation is performed to understand the output enhancement extracted by the PhC and the effect of internal absorption.