Analysis of the light-extraction efficiency of SiC substrate-based flip-chip vertical light-emitting diodes with embedded photonic crystals

摘要

To improve the light-extraction efficiency (LEE) of flip-chip vertical light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on silicon carbide (SiC) substrate, embedded photonic crystals (PhCs) were alternatively introduced into the n-GaN layer of LEDs, since etching of the SiC substrate was very difficult. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method was employed to investigate the combination effects of the micro-cavity and the embedded PhCs. The influences of the PhCs configurations on the LEE of LEDs were also examined to get an optimal structure. With the optimized parameters, about 20% enhancement of LEE was achieved comparing to planar SiC substrate-based flip-chip vertical LEDs. The LEE of conventional surface PhCs LEDs and double layer PhCs LEDs were also investigated for comparison. The results indicated that LEDs with carefully designed embedded PhCs could provide more LEE than surface PhCs LEDs. The structures proposed here offered scopes for the design of high-efficiency, high-power LEDs. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics