Effects of nanometer-scale photonic crystal structures on the light extraction from GaN light-emitting diodes

Young Chul Shin, Dong Ho Kim, Dong Ju Chae, Ji Won Yang, Jae In Shim, Joong Mok Park, Kai Ming Ho, Kristen Constant, Han Youl Ryu, Tae Geun Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper reports on the effect of nanometer-scale photonic crystal structures on the enhancement of the light extraction in GaN light-emitting diodes. Photonic crystals with hole or pillar-patterned structures with lattice constants of 460, 600, 750, and 920 nm are fabricated on indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) electrodes and/or p-GaN layers using laser holography and reactive ion etching. It is found that the light extraction efficiency depends strongly on the distance between the photonic crystal and the active layer, as well as the lattice constant for both structures. Photonic crystal light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a lattice constant of 750 nm and hole depths of 260 nm in the ITO layer show an increase in light extraction of up to 32%, compared to conventional LEDs, without degradation in the electrical properties while a maximum enhancement of 26% is obtained from the device with a lattice constant of 460 nm and pillar heights of 60 nm on the p-GaN layer. The dependence of the extraction efficiency on the lattice constant is also calculated using a 3-D finite-difference time-domain method and compared with experimental results.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5518522
Pages (from-to)1375-1380
Number of pages6
JournalIEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics
Volume46
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Keywords

  • Gallium nitride
  • light extraction efficiency
  • light-emitting diode
  • photonic crystals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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