Improved light extraction of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with surface-textured indium tin oxide electrodes by nickel nanoparticle mask dry-etching

Abstract

GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with surface-textured indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent current spreading layer were fabricated. The ITO surface was textured by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching technology using a monolayer of nickel (Ni) nanoparticles as the etching mask. The luminance intensity of ITO surface-textured GaN-based LEDs was enhanced by about 34% compared to that of conventional LED without textured ITO layer. In addition, the fabricated ITO surface-textured GaN-based LEDs would present a quite good performance in electrical characteristics. The results indicate that the scattering of photons emitted in the active layer was greatly enhanced via the textured ITO surface, and the ITO surface-textured technique could have a potential application in improving photoelectric characteristics for manufacturing GaN-based LEDs of higher brightness.

Light Extraction from GaN-Microcavity

“…For years, a significant amount of scientific work has been focused on ways of improving the extraction efficiency of the light-emitting diode (LED). Many interesting approaches have been proposed to accomplish this, such as the use of thin light emitting layers with surface texturing [3], resonant cavities [4], photon recycling [5], or output coupling through surface plasmons excited at metal surface [6]. In this paper, we present a theoretical analysis of the microcavity structure using GaN asan emitter thin film and sapphire substrate, the angle dependent transmission is determined theoretically by applying the Fresnel equations of reflection and transmission.…”