Enhancement of light extraction in GaN light-emitting diodes by omnidirectional reflectors with ITO nanorod low-refractive-index layer

摘要

Enhancement of light extraction in GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) employing omnidirectional reflectors (ODRs) is presented. The ODR consists of GaN, ITO nanorod low-refractive-index layer, and an Ag layer. An array of ITO nanorods is deposited by oblique-angle deposition using e-beam evaporation. The refractive index of the ITO nanorods is 1.34 at 461 nm, significantly lower that that of dense ITO, which is n = 2.06 at 461 nm. It is experimentally shown that the GaN LED with GaN/ITO nanorods/Ag ODR show much better electrical properties and higher light-extraction efficiency than LEDs with Ag contact. This is attributed to enhanced reflectivity of the ODR by using an ITO low-refractive-index layer with high transparency, high conductivity, and low refractive index.