The term photonic crystals appears because of the analogy between electron waves in crystals and the light waves in artificial periodic dielectric structures. During the recent years the investigation of one-, two-and three-dimensional periodic structures has attracted a widespread attention of the world optics community because of great potentiality of such structures in advanced applied optical fields. The interest in periodic structures has been stimulated by the fast development of semiconductor technology that now allows the fabrication of artificial structures, whose period is comparable with the wavelength of light in the visible and infrared ranges.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6354/16969/00781867.pdf

Photonic crystals

Light-Emitting Diodes. (Monographs in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.) By A. A. Bergh and P. J. Dean. Pp. viii+591. (Clarendon: Oxford; Oxford University: London, 1976.) £22.

/pdf/light-emitting-diodes-ubzde6g9qc.pdf

Light-emitting diodes

Nitride-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) suffer from a reduction (droop) of the internal quantum efficiency with increasing injection current. This droop phenomenon is currently the subject of intense research worldwide, as it delays general lighting applications of GaN-based LEDs. Several explanations of the efficiency droop have been proposed in recent years, but none is widely accepted. This feature article provides a snapshot of the present state of droop research, reviews currently discussed droop mechanisms, contextualizes them, and proposes a simple yet unified model for the LED efficiency droop.

Illustration of LED efficiency droop (details in Fig. 13).

Efficiency droop in nitride-based light-emitting diodes

Over the past decade, advances in LEDs have enabled the potential for wide-scale replacement of traditional lighting with solid-state light sources. If LED performance targets are realized, solid-state lighting will provide significant energy savings, important environmental benefits, and dramatically new ways to utilize and control light. In this paper, we review LED performance targets that are needed to achieve these benefits and highlight some of the remaining technical challenges. We describe recent advances in LED materials and novel device concepts that show promise for realizing the full potential of LED-based white lighting.

LEDs for Solid-State Lighting: Performance Challenges and Recent Advances

Impurity-based p-type doping in wide-band-gap semiconductors is inefficient at room temperature for applications such as lasers because the positive-charge carriers (holes) have a large thermal activation energy. We demonstrate high-efficiency p-type doping by ionizing acceptor dopants using the built-in electronic polarization in bulk uniaxial semiconductor crystals. Because the mobile hole gases are field-ionized, they are robust to thermal freezeout effects and lead to major improvements in p-type electrical conductivity. The new doping technique results in improved optical emission efficiency in prototype ultraviolet light-emitting-diode structures. Polarization-induced doping provides an attractive solution to both p- and n-type doping problems in wide-band-gap semiconductors and offers an unconventional path for the development of solid-state deep-ultraviolet optoelectronic devices and wide-band-gap bipolar electronic devices of the future.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/327/5961/60.full.pdf

Polarization-Induced Hole Doping in Wide–Band-Gap Uniaxial Semiconductor Heterostructures

The effect of an electron blocking layer (EBL) on the efficiency droop in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is investigated. At low current density, the LEDs with a p-AlGaN EBL show a higher external quantum efficiency (EQE) than LEDs without an EBL. However, the EQE of LEDs without an EBL is higher than LEDs with an EBL as injection current density is increased. The improved EQE of LEDs without an EBL at high current density is attributed to the increased hole injection efficiency.

Effect of electron blocking layer on efficiency droop in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes

A photonic crystal (PC) structure of periodic SiO2 pillar cubic array is embedded in n-GaN layer of InGaN∕GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) blue (480nm) light-emitting diode (LED). The diameter, period, and depth of SiO2 pillar are 124±6, 230±10, and 130±10nm, respectively. The increments of 70% for external quantum efficiency, 17% for internal quantum efficiency, and 45% for light extraction efficiency from photoluminescence measurement, and 33% for optical output power at 20mA are observed for LEDs with an embedded PC layer. This improvement can be attributed to the increased extraction efficiency by PC effect as well as increased internal quantum efficiency due to the decrease of dislocation density in n-GaN layer because of an epitaxial lateral over-growth process.

Enhanced emission efficiency of GaN∕InGaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diode with an embedded photonic crystal

Ga-doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) films were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition as transparent conducting layers for GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The forward voltage of LEDs with ZnO:Ga was 3.3 V at 20 mA. The low forward voltage was attributed to the removal of a resistive ZnGa2O4 phase, decreased resistivity of ZnO:Ga films, and increased hole concentration in p-GaN by thermal annealing process. The light output power of LEDs with ZnO:Ga was increased by 25% at 20 mA compared to that of LEDs with Sn-doped indium oxide due to the enhanced transmittance and the increased hole concentration in p-GaN.

Enhanced optical power and low forward voltage of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with Ga-doped ZnO transparent conducting layer

We report on Mg doping in the barrier layers of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) and its effect on the properties of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Mg doping in the barriers of MQWs enhances photoluminescence intensity, thermal stability, and internal quantum efficiency of LEDs. The light output power of LEDs with Mg-doped MQW barriers is higher by 19% and 27% at 20 and 200 mA, respectively, than that of LEDs with undoped MQW barriers. The improvement in output power is attributed to the enhanced hole injection to well layers in MQWs with Mg-doped barriers.

Effect of Mg doping in the barrier of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well on optical power of light-emitting diodes

We report on the improvement of light output power of InGaN/GaN blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) by lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) of GaN using a pyramidal-shaped SiO2 mask The light output power was increased by 80% at 20 mA of injection current compared with that of conventional LEDs without LEO structures This improvement is attributed to an increased internal quantum efficiency by a significant reduction in threading dislocation and by an enhancement of light extraction efficiency by pyramidal-shaped SiO2 LEO mask

Yong Chun Kim

Papers

Effect of electron blocking layer on efficiency droop in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes

Enhanced emission efficiency of GaN∕InGaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diode with an embedded photonic crystal

Enhanced optical power and low forward voltage of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with Ga-doped ZnO transparent conducting layer

Effect of Mg doping in the barrier of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well on optical power of light-emitting diodes

Improvement of light output power of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diode by lateral epitaxial overgrowth using pyramidal-shaped SiO(2).