Soft and Hard Failures of InGaN-Based LEDs Submitted to Electrostatic Discharge Testing

Meneghini, Matteo; Tazzoli, Augusto; Butendeich, R.; Hahn, B.; Meneghesso, G.; Zanoni, Enrico

doi:10.1109/led.2010.2045874

Cited by 27 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…-2/5 - structural defects -such as dislocations and V -shaped defects -are supposed to play an important role in the degradation [16]. Generally, LEDs are more robust towards forward-bias ESD, rather than in reverse-bias conditions [27].…”

Section: State Of the Art Led Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

GaN-based LEDs: State of the art and reliability-limiting mechanisms

Zanoni

Meneghini

Trivellin

et al. 2014

2014 15th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Mulit-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and

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This paper reviews the main characteristics of state of-the art high-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and the mechanisms responsible for the degradation of these devices. After a description of the structure, advantages and limits of power LEDs, we describe the following, relevant, degradation mechanisms: (i) the degradation of the active region of the devices, due to the generation of non-radiative defects and/or of shunt leakage paths; (ii) the worsening of the optical properties of the package and phosphor, which may induce a gradual degradation of the optical signal emitted by the devices;(iii) the catastrophic failure due to electrical overstress (hot-plugging) and to ESD events.The results described within this paper are critically compared to the data presented in the literature, quoted in the list of references. State of the art LED systemsThe first Light-Emitting Oiodes (LEOs) were commercialized in the early sixties; for almost four decades, these devices were considered as low-signal optoelectronic devices, capable of optical powers in the range of milliwatt, which could be mostly used as indicators in electronic systems, for display and for low power signaling applications. The early generations of LEDs had emission wavelengths in the green, yellow and red spectral range, due to the optical properties of the semiconductor material (AlInGaP). Thanks to the progress -in the early nineties -of gallium nitride technology, it become possible to fabricate also LEOs emitting in the blue and violet spectral range; these devices can have a very high wall-plug efficiency (in excess of 50 %), and are the basis for the realization of white solid-state light sources [1,2]. Since LEOs have a monochromatic spectrum, the generation of white light is usually obtained through color mixing. A first solution is to use three LEDs (one red, one green and one blue, RGB approach), and to mix their light by means of a suitable package/lens system. This approach permits the user to modulate the spectrum of the white light, thus tuning its chromatic properties (correlated color temperature, CCT, and chromatic coordinates), by simply varying the current flowing through each of the LEOs. On the other hand, due to the strong difference between the spectrum of an RGB system and that of a black body, the color rendering index (CRI) of a RGB light source is significantly lower (60-70) than what is considered as acceptable for interior lighting applications (typically 80). Another approach for obtaining white light from LEDs is to use a combination of a violet or blue LEDs and a phosphorescent material (phosphor) emitting in the visible spectral range. The most common phosphors are based on Y AG (Yttrium Aluminium Garnet), and -when excited with a blue radiation (around 460 nm) -emit a broad spectrum in the yellow-green spectral range. Phosphors can be either dispersed in the silicon matrix used to cover the LEDs, ordeposited on the LED chip via conformal coating (Fig. 1).Another interesting approach, that allows one to reduce...

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Section: State Of the Art Led Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

GaN-based LEDs: State of the art and reliability-limiting mechanisms

Zanoni

Meneghini

Trivellin

et al. 2014

2014 15th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Mulit-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and

Self Cite

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“…The position of the failed region can be identified by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM, Figure 18), or by optical microscopy: in many cases the failure point is located in correspondence of pre-existing structural defects [37]. Several methods have been proposed with the aim of improving the ESD robustness of InGaN-based LEDs, including (i) the use of a silicon-based protection circuit in parallel to the LED [27], (ii) the use of optimized growth procedures, capable of reducing the defectiveness of the active layer and the Dislocation Density [52,53] and (iii) a careful optimization of junction capacitance, that can result in an improved ESD performance [32].…”

Section: Esd Failure Of Ledsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent results on the degradation of white LEDs for lighting

Meneghesso¹,

Meneghini²,

Zanoni³

2010

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Over the last years, GaN-based LEDs have shown to be excellent candidates for the realization of highefficiency light sources. White LEDs based on phosphor conversion can reach record efficiencies in excess of 150 lm/W, as demonstrated by several manufacturers and research groups. However, the reliability of white LEDs is still limited by a number of issuesthat must be addressed before these devices can find wide application in the market. This paper gives an overview on the most important physical mechanisms that limit the reliability of GaN-based LEDs for application in solid-state lighting. Starting from general considerations on the reliability of state-of-the-art white LEDs, the following degradation mechanisms are described in detail: (i) the degradation of the active layer of LEDs, due to increased non-radiative recombination and to reverse-bias stress; (ii) the degradation of the package/phosphor system, with subsequent worsening in the chromatic properties of the LEDs; (iii) the failure of GaN-based LEDs submitted to Electrostatic Discharge events. The data presented in this paper are critically compared to those reported in the literature. Confidential: not for distribution.

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“…For its catastrophic consequence, electrostatic discharge (ESD) induced hard failures such as thermal breakdowns of microelectronic device and metal interconnect, have been well understood and drawn much attention of the researchers in the world [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Nevertheless, the problems of ESD induced soft failure such as performance degradation and increased leakage current, are still not fully comprehended and investigated [9,10,11,12]. This problem might raise great concerns in some specific application fields, especially for the hybrid integrated infrared sensor system with high sensitivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of soft ESD failure on capacitive transimpedance amplifier for hybrid integrated infrared sensor

Wang

Xia

2020

IEICE Electron. Express

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In this letter, an experiment is designed to validate the soft ESD failure. The capacitive transimpedance amplifier (CTIA) circuit used in the hybrid integrated infrared sensor is chosen as the prototype for its characteristic of ESD-protection-device-free. The experiments show that under the ESD event with the rising pulse voltage, the induced leakage current in the CTIA circuit increase as well. As the pulse voltage exceeds one certain threshold point, the CTIA circuit fails to work anymore. The EMMI measurement helps to demonstrate the existence and location of the leakage path.

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Soft and Hard Failures of InGaN-Based LEDs Submitted to Electrostatic Discharge Testing

Cited by 27 publications

References 11 publications

GaN-based LEDs: State of the art and reliability-limiting mechanisms

GaN-based LEDs: State of the art and reliability-limiting mechanisms

Recent results on the degradation of white LEDs for lighting

Investigation of soft ESD failure on capacitive transimpedance amplifier for hybrid integrated infrared sensor

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