Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric Acid
The efficiency of AlGaInP micro light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) was far weaker than that of GaN-based micro-LEDs in structure and performance. Consequently, there was an urgent demand to enhance their efficiency. In this study, a citric acid treatment strategy is proposed to improve the efficienc...
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2024-01-01
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| author | Zhen-Jin Wang Xin-Liang Ye Chih-Chiang Yang Wei-Chen Tu Yan-Kuin Su |
| author_facet | Zhen-Jin Wang Xin-Liang Ye Chih-Chiang Yang Wei-Chen Tu Yan-Kuin Su |
| author_sort | Zhen-Jin Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The efficiency of AlGaInP micro light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) was far weaker than that of GaN-based micro-LEDs in structure and performance. Consequently, there was an urgent demand to enhance their efficiency. In this study, a citric acid treatment strategy is proposed to improve the efficiency of red micro-LEDs, and the etching uniformity of different concentrations was first confirmed. We optimized the concentration of citric acid to 1:1 and modulated the wet etching time at 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 s to treat the sidewalls of devices. Under an injection current density of 68 nA/cm<sup>2</sup>, the forward voltage (Vf) of micro-LEDs after soaking in citric acid ranged from 1.40 to 1.45 V. Compared with the sample operated at the forward voltage without citric acid sidewall treatment, AlGaInP micro-LEDs displayed significantly enhanced forward voltage. This indicates that citric acid effectively removed N-GaAs without damaging the electrical properties of the devices. Among all citric acid-treated micro-LEDs, the sample with a 60 s wet etching process showed the best improvement, with the light output power and external quantum efficiency (EQE) increased by 31.08% and 5.4%, respectively. Our proposed method to treat AlGaInP micro-LEDs presents promising opportunities for the future development of high-performance optoelectronics. |
| format | Article |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
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| spelling | doaj-art-e4e7f45a92a743a1a3b9fe1b68e9b2492025-07-01T23:59:22ZengIEEEIEEE Photonics Journal1943-06552024-01-011611710.1109/JPHOT.2024.335858710415506Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric AcidZhen-Jin Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7250-0501Xin-Liang Ye1Chih-Chiang Yang2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8716-8521Wei-Chen Tu3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1134-5859Yan-Kuin Su4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9581-8486Institute of Microelectronics, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, TaiwanEpileds Technologies, Incorporated, Tainan, TaiwanGreen Energy Technology Research Center, Department of Electrical Engineering, Kun Shan University, Yongkang, TaiwanDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Academy of Innovative Semiconductor and Sustainable Manufacturing, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, TaiwanInstitute of Microelectronics, Department of Electrical Engineering, Academy of Innovative Semiconductor and Sustainable Manufacturing, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, TaiwanThe efficiency of AlGaInP micro light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) was far weaker than that of GaN-based micro-LEDs in structure and performance. Consequently, there was an urgent demand to enhance their efficiency. In this study, a citric acid treatment strategy is proposed to improve the efficiency of red micro-LEDs, and the etching uniformity of different concentrations was first confirmed. We optimized the concentration of citric acid to 1:1 and modulated the wet etching time at 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 s to treat the sidewalls of devices. Under an injection current density of 68 nA/cm<sup>2</sup>, the forward voltage (Vf) of micro-LEDs after soaking in citric acid ranged from 1.40 to 1.45 V. Compared with the sample operated at the forward voltage without citric acid sidewall treatment, AlGaInP micro-LEDs displayed significantly enhanced forward voltage. This indicates that citric acid effectively removed N-GaAs without damaging the electrical properties of the devices. Among all citric acid-treated micro-LEDs, the sample with a 60 s wet etching process showed the best improvement, with the light output power and external quantum efficiency (EQE) increased by 31.08% and 5.4%, respectively. Our proposed method to treat AlGaInP micro-LEDs presents promising opportunities for the future development of high-performance optoelectronics.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10415506/AlGaInPcitric acidforward voltagemicro light-emitting diodesidewall treatment |
| spellingShingle | Zhen-Jin Wang Xin-Liang Ye Chih-Chiang Yang Wei-Chen Tu Yan-Kuin Su Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric Acid IEEE Photonics Journal AlGaInP citric acid forward voltage micro light-emitting diode sidewall treatment |
| title | Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric Acid |
| title_full | Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric Acid |
| title_fullStr | Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric Acid |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric Acid |
| title_short | Improved Performance of AlGaInP Red Micro Light-Emitting Diodes by Sidewall Treatments of Citric Acid |
| title_sort | improved performance of algainp red micro light emitting diodes by sidewall treatments of citric acid |
| topic | AlGaInP citric acid forward voltage micro light-emitting diode sidewall treatment |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10415506/ |
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