Fabrication and performance of parallel-addressed InGaN micro-LED arrays
– H.W. Choi, C.W. Jeon, M.D. Dawson, P.R. Edwards, and R.W. Martin
IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 15, 4, pp. 510-512 (2003).
High-performance, two-dimensional arrays of parallel-addressed InGaN blue micro-light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with individual element diameters of 8, 12, and 20 μm, respectively, and overall dimensions 490 ×490 μm, have been fabricated. In order to overcome the difficulty of interconnecting multiple device elements with sufficient step-height coverage for contact metallization, a novel scheme involving the etching of sloped-sidewalls has been developed. The devices have current-voltage (I-V) characteristics approaching those of broad-area reference LEDs fabricated from the same wafer, and give comparable (3-mW) light output in the forward direction to the reference LEDs, despite much lower active area. The external efficiencies of the micro-LED arrays improve as the dimensions of the individual elements are scaled down. This is attributed to scattering at the etched sidewalls of in-plane propagating photons into the forward direction.
