2006-01 LED Short Course EF Schubert Mexico02 PDF

Light Emitting Diodes and Solid-State Lighting
E. Fred Schubert
The Future Chips Constellation
Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering
Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180
Phone 518-276-8775 EFSchubert@rpi.edu www.LightEmittingDiodes.org
© E. F. Schubert 2005
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Energy Conservation – A Singular Opportunity
Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley: “Energy is the single most

important problem facing humanity today” and “conservation
efforts will help the worldwide energy situation”.
Testimony to US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, April 27, 2004 1943 – 2005
Solid-state light-sources offer singular opportunity for conservation of energy
Multiple light-emitting diodes LED with wavelength (λ) converter

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Quantification of Solid-State Lighting Benefits
Energy benefits*
• 22 % of electricity used for lighting
• LED-based lighting can be 20 × more efficient than
incandescent and 5 × more efficient than fluorescent lighting
• Annual electrical energy savings 1.20 PWh (Peta = 1015)
• Alleviate need for 133 power stations
Environmental benefits*
• Reduction of CO2 emissions, 952 Mtons, global warming gas
• Reduction of SO2 emissions, acid rain
• Reduction of Hg emissions by coal-burning power plants
• Reduction of hazardous Hg in homes
Economic benefits*
• A 10% improvement of luminous efficiency could result in
financial savings of $ 20.0 Billions per year
(*) 1.0 PWh = 11.05 PBtu = 11.05 quadrillion Btu “=” 0.1731 Pg of C = 173.1 Mtons of C
1 kg of C “=” [(12 amu + 2 × 16 amu) / 12 amu] kg of CO2 = 3.667 kg of CO2
OIDA and DOE predictions for US by 2025, see also R. Haitz et al. Adv. in Solid State Physics, Physics Today 2001
Economic benefits were detailed by M. S. Shur, tutorial on solid-state lighting, 2004
Information on mercury from Associated Press article, March 15, 2005 “EPA targets utilities’ mercury pollution”
1.20 PWh energy savings and alleviated need for 133 power stations are extrapolated data for year 2025
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Solid-state lighting
Inorganic devices:
• Semiconductor plus phosphor illumination devices
• All-semiconductor-based illumination devices
Organic devices:
• Remarkable successes in low-power devices (Active matrix OLED
monitors, thin-film transistors, TFT-LCD monitors)
• Substantial effort is underway to demonstrate high-power devices
Predicted growth of LED market
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Smart Lighting – A New Dimension
Spectral composition, polarization, color temperature, temporal modulation,

and spatio-chromatic emission pattern can be controlled
Smart Lighting is based on highly efficient sources with fully controllable

and tunable characteristics to enable adaptation to specific requirements
and environments
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History of LEDs
First report on LED by Henry Round in 1907

• Essentially all colors were demonstrated
• Active material was highly impure SiC (no p-n junction)
• Metal-semiconductor contacts with rectifying characteristics
Henry J. Round
(1881 – 1966)
Round’s 1907 publication Experiments indeed work
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Light emission in first LED
First LED did not have pn junction!

• Metal-semiconductor junction (Schottky diode)
• Light was generated by either minority carrier injection (forward) or by
avalanching (reverse bias)
• “Beginner’s luck”
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History of AlGaAs IR and red LEDs
• There is lattice mismatch between AlGaAs and GaAs

• Growth by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE)
• Growth technique at present time: Organometallic vapor phase epitaxy
(OMVPE or MOCVD)
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One of the first application of LEDs
• IBM was one of first companies to employ LEDs

• LEDs served to verify function of printed circuit boards (PCBs)
• LEDs served to show status of central processing unit (CPU)
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Red GaP LEDs
• N doping of GaP results in green emission

• Zn-O doping of GaP results in red emission
• However, efficiency is limited
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Application for GaP:N green LEDs
• LEDs for dial pad illumination

• Telephone company (AT&T) decided that green is better color than red
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LEDs in calculators
• LEDs were used in the first generation of calculators

• Displayed numbers could not be seen in bright daylight
• LEDs consumed so much power that all calculators had rechargeable batteries
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History of GaN blue, green, and white light emitters
• Blue emission in GaN in 1972, Maruska et

al., 1972
• However, no p-doping attained
• Devices were developed by RCA for three-
color flat-panel display applications to
replace cathode ray tubes (CRTs)
• Nichia Corporation (Japan) was first

company to commercialize blue LEDs
• Dr. Shuji Nakamura was instrumental in
development
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Applications of green LEDs
High-brightness
LEDs for outdoor
applications
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History of AlGaInP visible LEDs
• Hewlett-Packard Corporation and Toshiba Corporation developed first high-

brightness AlGaInP LEDs
• AlGaInP suited for red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green emitters
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Recent applications Î High power applications
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Radiative and nonradiative recombination
Recombination rate is proportional to product of concentrations of

electrons and holes
R=Bnp
where
• B = bimolecular recombination coefficient
• n = electron concentration
• p = hole concentration
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Radiative electron-hole recombination
n = n0 + ∆n and p = p0 + ∆ p
n free electron concentration

n0 equilibrium free electron concentration
∆n excess electron concentration
dn dp
R = − =− = Bn p
dt dt
R recombination rate per cm3 per s

B bimolecular recombination coefficient
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Carrier decay (low excitation)
∆n(t ) = ∆n0 e − B( n0 + p0 )t
τ = [ B (n0 + p0 ) ] −1
τ carrier lifetime
B bimolecular recombination coefficient
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Recombination lifetime: Theory versus experiment
Radiative lifetime decreases with doping concentration

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Radiative recombination for low-level excitation
Radiative lifetimes determine switch-on and switch-off times of LEDs

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Nonradiative recombination in the bulk
• Radiative and non-radiative recombination

• Generation of light competes with generation of heat
• This is a very fundamental issue
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Recombination mechanisms
• Recombination via deep levels

• Auger recombination
• Radiative recombination
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Visualization of defects
• Dark spots are clusters of defects

• Dark spots are dark because lack of radiative recombination
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Shockley-Read recombination
• Mid-gap levels are effective non-radiative recombination centers
p0 ∆n + n0 ∆p + ∆n ∆p
RSR =
(N t vpσp )−1 (n0 + n1 + ∆n) + (N t vn σn )−1 ( p0 + p1 + ∆p )
1 p0 + n0 + ∆n
=
τ (N t vpσp )−1(n0 + n1 + ∆n) + (N t vnσn )−1( p0 + p1 + ∆p )
⎛ p +n ⎞ ⎡ ⎛ E − EFi ⎞ ⎤
τi = τn0 ⎜⎜ 1 + 1 1 ⎟⎟ = τ n ⎢ 1 + cosh ⎜ T
0
⎟⎥
⎝ 2ni ⎠ ⎣ ⎝ kT ⎠⎦
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Nonradiative recombination at surfaces
• Surface
recombination
• Surface
recombination
velocity
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Surface recombination
⎡ τ S exp (−x / L n ) ⎤
n(x) = n0 + ∆n(x) = n0 + ∆n∞ ⎢ 1 − n ⎥
⎣ Ln + τ nS ⎦
S surface recombination velocity

x distance from semiconductor surface
Ln carrier diffusion length
Surface recombination velocities of semiconductors
GaAs S = 106 cm/s

GaP S = 106 cm/s
InP S = 103 cm/s
Si S = 101 cm/s
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Demonstration of surface recombination
• Making surface recombination “visible”
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Competition: radiative & nonradiative recombination
τ −1 = τ r −1 + τ nr −1
τ r −1
ηint =
τ r −1 + τ nr −1
τ carrier lifetime
τnr nonradiative carrier lifetime
τr radiative carrier lifetime
ηint internal quantum efficiency
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LED basics: Electrical properties
Shockley equation for p-n junction diodes
I =
⎛ Dp
eA ⎜
⎜ τp
pn 0 +
Dn
τn
⎞
⎟
(
np0 ⎟ e eV kT – 1 )
⎝ ⎠
=
⎛ Dp
eA ⎜
⎜ τp
ni2
ND
+
Dn
τn NA ⎟
(
ni2 ⎞⎟ eV kT
e –1 )
⎝ ⎠
= Is ( eeV kT – 1 )
where Is is the saturation current of the reverse-biased diode
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P-n junction band diagram
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Diode current-voltage characteristics
Forward voltage is approximately equal to Eg / e
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Diode forward voltage
UV-LEDs frequently show excess forward voltage
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Deviations from ideal I-V characteristic
eV (nideal kT)
I = Is e
V − I Rs
I − = I s e e (V − I Rs ) ( nideal kT )
Rp
nideal diode ideality factor

Rs parasitic series resistance
Rp parasitic parallel resistance
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Non-ideal I-V characteristics and critical points
Problem areas of diode can be

identified from I-V characteristic
There are 4 critical points

in diode I-V characteristic
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I-V “Doctor”
Shockley
equation
Real diode
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I-V “Doctor”
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Methods to determine series resistance
Method shown above suitable for series resistance measurement

At high currents, diode I-V becomes linear due to dominance of series
resistance. Diode series resistance can be extracted in linear regime
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Carrier distribution in pn homo- and heterojunctions
In DH, carriers are confined to thin active region

Non-radiative recombination is less likely
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Carrier overflow in double heterostructures
Carrier leakage out of active region is undesirable

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Saturation of output power due to leakage
A large number of QWs reduces current leakage out of active region
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Electron blocking layers
Electron
blocking
layer
Hole
blocking
layer
Which of
the two
would be
more
effective?
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Diode forward voltage
V = h ν / e ≈ Eg / e
Eg ∆EC − E0 ∆EV − E0
V = + I Rs + +
e e e
I Rs resistive loss
∆EC – E0 electron energy loss upon injection into quantum well
∆EV – E0 hole energy loss upon injection into quantum well
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Temperature dependence of diode voltage
Diode voltage decreases with increasing temperature due to

decrease in energy gap and increase in saturation current density
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Temperature dependence of diode voltage
Forward-voltage temperature coefficient is about – 2.0 mV / K

Diode forward-voltage can be used to assess junction temperature
with high accuracy
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Drive circuits
Constant-current drive circuit

Constant-voltage drive circuit
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
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LED basics: Optical properties
Internal, extraction, external, and power efficiency
number of photons emitted from active region per second Pint /(hν)
ηint = =
number of electrons injected into LED per second I /e
number of photons emitted into free space per second

ηextraction =
number of photons emitted from active region per second
number of photons emitted into free space per sec. P/(hν)

ηext = = = ηint ηextraction
number of electrons injected into LED per sec. I /e
P
ηpower =
IV
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Emission spectrum
Electron and hole momentum must be conserved

Photon has negligible momentum
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Emission spectrum
I(E) ∝ E − Eg e −E / (k T) I(E) = emission spectrum
E = Eg + 12 k T Energy of maximum emission intensity
∆E = 1.8 k T Spectral width

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The light escape cone
Total internal reflection occurs inside LED chip

Light escape cone defined my critical angle for total internal reflection
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Light escape in planar LEDs
Pescape 1 ⎡ ⎛ φ 2 ⎞⎤ 1
≈ ⎢1 − ⎜ 1 − c ⎟ ⎥ = φ 2
Psource 2 ⎣ ⎝ 2 ⎠⎦ 4 c
• φc = critical angle of total internal reflection

• Problem: Only small fraction of light can escape from semiconductor
Pescape 1 nair 2
=
Psource 4 ns 2
Above equation gives less than 10 % extraction efficiency for typical III-V
semiconductors
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The lambertian emission pattern
Psource nair 2
Iair = cos Φ
4π r 2 ns 2
Iair emission intensity in air

Φ angle with respect to surface normal
Lambertian emission pattern has cosine-function dependence

Diffuse sources also have lambertian emission pattern
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Far-field patterns
Die shaping
can change
emission
pattern
“Natural” LED
has a planar
surface
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Effect of epoxy
Epoxy increases extraction efficiency by reducing the refractive-index

contrast
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Temperature dependence of emission intensity
Temperature dependence is characterized in terms of a characteristic

temperature T1
I = I0 exp ( – T / T1)
High T1 is desirable
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High internal efficiency LED designs
Double heterostructures
Confinement of carriers in active region of double heterostructure (DH)

High carrier concentration in active region
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Homostructures versus double heterostructures
High carrier concentration in active region of DH reduces non-radiative

recombination
At present time, practically all LEDs have a DH or QW active region
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Efficiency versus active layer thickness
Why is there a lower limit and an upper limit of the active-layer thickness
for high efficiency?
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Doping of active region
Why is undoped active region optimum?
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Non-radiative recombination and lifetime
Device reliability affected by surface recombination
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Lattice matching
Lattice matching crucial for high efficiency

Multitude of defects are created in mismatched material systems
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Lattice matching
Dark lines are due to dislocation lines

Radiative efficiency low at dislocation lines
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Pseudomorphic layers
Thin layers can be elastically strained without incurring defects
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Lattice matching
Lattice matching better than 0.2 % required in AlGaInP material system

Major challenge: High-quality crystal growth on mismatched substrates
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High extraction efficiency structures
Absorption of below-bandgap light in semiconductors
Free-carrier absorption (below bandgap)

Urbach tail (below bandgap)
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Double heterostructures
Barrier regions of double heterostructures (DHs) are optically transparent

All efficient LEDs use DH designs
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Shaping of LED dies
Light within escape cone can escape from semiconductor chip

Light outside escape cone “rattles around” and cannot escape
Die shaping promises advantages
However, die shaping can be expensive
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Rectangular parallelepiped shape versus cylinder
Cylinder shape advantageous over parallelepiped shape

Additional cost of cylinder shape?
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Shaping of LED dies
Are these structure practical?

Will a point-like emission region provide much power?
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Truncated inverted pyramid (TIP) LED
Additional manufacturing cost for die shaping
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Truncated inverted pyramid (TIP) LED
TIP LED is of the most efficient AlGaInP LED designs
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Effect of current-spreading layer
Light is generated under top contact

Top contact shadows light
Current-spreading layer spreads current to edges of the LED chip
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Current-spreading layer
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Depression in center region is due to opaqueness of top contact
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“Current-spreading layer” is also called “window layer”
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Why is there a lower limit and an upper limit for the optimum thickness
of the current-spreading layer?
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Theory of current spreading
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Theory of current spreading
Current spreading length:
t nideal k T
Ls =
ρ J0 e
e
t = ρ Ls2 J0
nideal kT
t = thickness of current spreading layer
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Current crowding in LEDs on insulating substrates
Current chooses “path of least resistance”

How can current crowding be reduced?
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Theory of current crowding
Theory of current crowding in LEDs on insulating substrates
J ( x) = J (0) exp (− x / Ls )
Ls = (ρc + ρptp ) tn /ρn
Ls = current spreading length
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Experimental evidence of current crowding
Non-uniform light emission clearly observable
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Cross-shaped contacts and other contact geometries
Circular top contact suited for small LEDs

Large-die LEDs require different contact geometries
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Transparent substrate technology
Regular AlGaInP LEDs are grown on GaAs substrates

GaAs is absorbing (absorbing substrate = AS)
Î Transparent-substrate (TS) technology
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Small forward-voltage penalty for TS technology
Wafer-bonded hetero-interface can produce additional voltage drop

Doping of GaP substrate should be low to reduce free carrier absorption
Doping of GaP substrate should be high to reduce ohmic losses
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AS versus TS technology
TS technology has higher light output than AS technology
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Anti-reflection optical coatings
Dielectric material Refractive Transparency

(n − n air ) 2 index range
R = s SiO2 (Silica) 1.45 > 0.15 µm
(ns + nair ) 2
Al2O3 (Alumina) 1.76 > 0.15 µm
Table: Refractive
TiO2 (Titania) 2.50 > 0.35 µm
index and
transparency range
Si3N4 2.00 > 0.25 µm
of common
dielectrics suitable as
anti-reflection (AR) ZnS 2.29 > 0.34 µm
coatings (after Palik,
1998) CaF2 1.43 > 0.12 µm
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LED with DBRs
DBR = Distributed Bragg reflector

DBRs reduce reflection losses
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Distributed Bragg reflectors
tl,h = λ l,h / 4 = λ 0 / (4 nl,h )
… valid for normal incidence
tl,h = λ l,h / ( 4 cos Θl,h ) = λ 0 / ( 4 nl,h cos Θ l,h )
… valid for oblique incidence
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DBRs
Important parameters are:

• Reflectivity
• Spectral width
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DBRs
Material system Bragg Transparency
wavelength range
Al0.5In0.5P / GaAs 590 nm 3.13 3.90 0.87 > 870 nm
(lossy)
Al0.5In0.5P / Ga0.5In0.5P 590 nm 3.13 3.74 0.87 > 649 nm
(lossy)
Al0.5In0.5P / 615 nm 3.08 3.45 0.37 > 592 nm
(Al0.3Ga0.7)0.5In0.5P
Al0.5In0.5P / 590 nm 3.13 3.47 0.34 > 576 nm
(Al0.4Ga0.6)0.5In0.5P
Al0.5In0.5P / 570 nm 3.15 3.46 0.31 > 560 nm
(Al0.5Ga0.5)0.5In0.5P
AlAs / GaAs 900 nm 2.97 3.54 0.57 > 870 nm
SiO2 / Si 1300 nm 1.46 3.51 2.05 > 1106 nm
Table 7.2. Properties of distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) materials used for visible and
infrared LEDs. DBRs marked as ‘lossy’ are absorbing at Bragg wavelength (data after
Adachi, 1990; Adachi et al., 1994; Kish and Fletcher, 1997; Babic et al., 1999; Palik, 1998).
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Current blocking layers
Blocking layers require epitaxial regowth
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Packaging
Conventional packages provide

Electrical path
Optical path
Function of encapsulant dome
• Index contrast is reduced by epoxy dome Î increases light extraction
• Hermeticity, mechanical stability, chemical stability
• Encapsulants: Epoxy resin, PMMA, or silicone
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Power package
Power packages provide

Electrical path
Optical path
Thermal path
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Thermal resistance
Rapid progress is being made with thermal resistance of packages

Figure of merit: Thermal resistance = dT/dP where T = temperature
increase and P = thermal power dissipated in package
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Visible-spectrum LEDs
The GaAsP, GaP, GaAsP:N and GaP:N material system
Lattice mismatched system

GaAsP suitable for indicator lights
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GaAsP
Material system has a direct-indirect transition
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GaAsP
Summary: The GaAsP, GaP, GaAsP:N and GaP:N material system has
the fundamental problem of lattice mismatch and is not suitable for high-
power LEDs
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The AlGaAs/GaAs material system
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AlGaAs/GaAs
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AlGaAs/GaAs
Summary: The AlGaAs material system is suited for IR and

red high-power LEDs
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The AlGaInP/GaAs material system
High-brightness system for red, orange, and yellow LEDs
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AlGaInP/GaAs
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AlGaInP/GaAs
Summary: The AlGaInP material system is suited for IR, red, orange,
and amber high-power LEDs. Efficiency decreases for yellow, yellow-
green, and green LEDs.
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GaN material system
Summary: The
GaInN material
system is suited for
UV, violet, blue,
cyan and green
high-power LEDs.
Efficiency
decreases in the
green spectral
range.
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Progress in luminous efficiency of LEDs
Strong progress in LED performance for several decades
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Comparison across spectrum
Note lack of efficient LEDs at 550 nm

Lack of efficient devices at 550 nm is referred to as the “green gap”
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Comparison: Light bulb versus LED
Incandescent bulb luminous efficiency: ~ 17 lm/W

Luminous flux of 60 W incandescent bulb: ~ 1000 lm
Approximate price of 60 W bulb: ~ 1.00 $
Price per lumen: 10-3 $/lm
LEDs need a 1 to 2 order of magnitude improvement in luminous flux
and price per lumen
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Optical characteristics of high-brightness LEDs
Note that green emitter shows broadest emission line

Green emitters need further development
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Light output power (LOP) versus current
The AlGaInP material is more mature than GaInN
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Temperature dependence
GaInN output power has weak dependence on temperature
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Electrical characteristics of high-brightness LEDs
The AlGaInP material is more mature than GaInN
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Forward voltage versus temperature
Forward voltage decreases with temperature

Forward-voltage temperature coefficient is about – 2 mV / K
Forward voltage can be used for junction-temperature measurements
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Resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes
Insert a light-emitting active region into an optical microcavity

Optical mode density is changed
Resonant cavity: Optical mode density has maximum at emission
wavelength
Enhanced spontaneous emission results
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RCLED design rules
First design rule

R1 << R2
(Light-exit mirror should have lower reflectivity than back mirror)
Second design rule

Use shortest possible cavity length Lcav. Typically Lcav = λ / 2
Third design rule

2 ξ α Lactive < (1 − R1 )
(Absorption loss in active region should be smaller than the
mirror loss of the light-exit mirror)
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Cavity modes
RCLEDs are designed to overlap the natural emission band with an

optical mode
Comparison of long and short cavities yields that short cavities are
advantageous
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VCSEL versus RCLED
VCSEL = vertical cavity surface emitting laser

VCSEL has lower emission intensity than RCLED in spontaneous regime
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First RCLED
First RCLED had GaInAs active region and AlGaAs confinement layers
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Cavity mode and RCLED emission
RCLED emission spectrum is well described by cavity mode

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RCLED spectrum
RCLED has narrow emission line along the normal direction
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RCLED performance
High emission intensity along surface-normal direction
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Reduced material dispersion with RCLEDs
Due to narrow emission line, less material dispersion is obtained
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650 nm RCLED for communications
Excellent device for plastic optical fiber (POF) communications
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Spectrum of RCLEDs for POF communication
Plastic optical fibers (POFs) have loss minimum at 550 – 650 nm
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Commercial RCLEDs
RCLEDs were commercialized in year 2000
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Human vision
Cones: Provide color sensitivity

Rods: Color-insensitive
Color perception depends on light level
Scotopic vision regime: Low-light-level-vision regime
Photopic vision regime: High-light-level-vision regime
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Spectral sensitivity of rods and cones
Approximate spectral sensitivity

• There are radiometric units (W, W/m2, etc.)
• There are photometric units (lm, cd, lux, etc.)
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Eye sensitivity function and luminous efficacy
Visible range:
390 – 720 nm
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Photopic and scotopic vision regime
There are several

standards:
Photopic:
• CIE 1931
• CIE 1978
Scotopic:
• CIE 1951
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History of photometric units
Photograph shows plumber’s candle

A plumber’s candle emits a luminous
intensity of 1 candela (cd). The cd is
historical origin of all photometric units.
First definition (now obsolete): “The luminous intensity of a

standardized candle is 1 cd”
Second definition (now obsolete): “1 cm2 of platinum (Pt) at 1042 K

(temperature of solidification) has a luminous intensity of 20.17 cd”
Third definition (current): “A monochromatic light source emitting

an optical power of (1/683) Watt at 555 nm into the solid angle of 1
steradian (sr) has a luminous intensity of 1 cd”
Candlepower and candle are obsolete units. Candlepower and candle

measure luminous intensity and are approximately equal to one cd.
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Luminous flux, illuminance, and luminance
Definitions
Luminous flux: A light source with a luminous intensity of 1 cd emits a
luminous flux of 1 lm into a solid angle of one steradian
• An isotropic light source with a luminous intensity of 1 cd emits a total
luminous flux of 4π lm = 12.56 lm
• Green light (555 nm) with power 1 W of has luminous flux 683 lm
Illuminance: If a 1 m2 surface receives a luminous flux of 1 lm, then the
illuminance of the surface is 1 lux
• Example: Moonlight 1 lux; reading light 102 – 103 lux; surgery light 104 lux;
direct sunlight 105 lux
Luminance is the luminous intensity emitted per unit area of a light
source.
• Luminance is a figure of merit for displays. Typical displays have a luminance
of 100 – 500 cd/m2.
Efficacy of radiation gives number of lumens per optical Watt
Efficiency of source gives number of lumens per electrical Watt
• Amongst LEDs with same output power, green LEDs are brightest
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Luminous flux and efficiency
Luminous flux (Unit: lm)

lm
Φ lum = 683
W ∫λ V (λ) P(λ) dλ
Luminous efficacy of radiation (Unit: lm / W)
⎛
Luminous efficacy = Φ lum / P = ⎜ 683
⎝
lm
W ∫λ
⎞
V (λ) P(λ) dλ ⎟
⎠
( ∫ P(λ) dλ )
λ
Luminous efficiency of source (Unit: lm / W)
Luminous efficiency = Φ lum / (IV )
Caution: Distinction between “efficiency” and “efficacy” not consistently made

in the literature. Some authors use “efficiency” and “efficacy” interchangeably
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Color matching functions
• The color matching functions are similar (but not identical) to the spectral
sensitivity of the cones
• Caution: There are different standards for the color matching functions
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Color matching functions and chromaticity
X = ∫λ x (λ) P(λ) dλ X, Y, and Z are tristimulus values

Because the color matching functions and
Y = ∫λ y (λ) P(λ) dλ the cone sensitivity functions are quite
similar, the tristimulus values X, Y, and Z
Z = ∫λ z (λ) P(λ) dλ represent the stimulation of the red, green,
and blue cone, respectively
Chromaticity diagram and chromaticity coordinates x, y
X Y
x = y =
X + Y + Z X + Y + Z
z chromaticity coordinate not needed, since x + y + z = 1
Uniform chromaticity coordinates u, v and u’, v’
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x, y and u’, v’ chromaticity diagram
Chromaticity diagrams allow us to quantify color (i.e. allows us to

introduce a color metrics or colorimetry)
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Color Temperature
As temperature
increases, hot
objects sequentially
glow in the red,
orange, yellow,
white, and bluish
white
red, 1000 K ≈ 730 °C
orange, 1300 K
bluish white, 10 000 K

white, 6000 K yellow, 2100 K
Hot physical objects exhibit heat glow (incandescence) and a color
Planckian radiator = Black, physical object with temperature T
Color temperature = Temperature of planckian radiator with same
location in chromaticity diagram 135 of 172
MacAdam ellipses
x, y diagram u’, v’ diagram
Color differences cannot be discerned with in the MacAdam ellipses

Axes of MacAdam ellipses are shown 10 × longer / wider than they are
Humans can discern about 50 000 different colors
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Color purity and dominant wavelength
Peak wavelength and dominant wavelength are different

• Peak wavelength is a quantity used in physics and optics
• Dominant wavelength is used by in human vision
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LEDs in the chromaticity diagram
Red and blue LEDs are near perimeter

Green LEDs are not at perimeter but are shifted towards center
Color purity and color saturation
Saturated color Unsaturated color
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69
White illuminant – the solar spectrum
There are many ways to create white light.

Sunlight is not an efficient way to create white light. Why?
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Color mixing and color rendition
Color gamut
Gamut of Red-Green-Blue light source has triangular shape
Area of gamut matters for displays, color printers, etc.
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70
Example of color mixing
RGB color mixing

Color gamut
Gamut size increases with the number of light sources
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Color rendition
A light source has color rendering capability

This is the capability to render the true colors of an object
Example: False color rendering

What is the color of a yellow banana when illuminated with a red LED?
What is the color of a green banana when illuminated with a yellow
LED?
Î Î
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71
Example of color rendition
Note the differences in color
Differences in the color rendition evident in this Auguste Renoir painting

(left-hand side: high CRI; right-hand side: low CRI)
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Example of color rendition
Note the differences in color
Differences in the color rendition evident in this Franz Marc painting

(left-hand side: high CRI; right-hand side: low CRI)
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72
Color rendition
The color rendering capability of a test light source is measured

in terms of the color rendering index
Color rendering index of a high-quality reference light source is
CRI = 100
An incandescent light source with the same color temperature
serves as the reference light source
Eight color sample objects serve as test objects
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Reflectivity of color sample objects
Sample objects
(Fruit, wood, etc.)
8 standard objects
(Î General CRI)
6 additional objects
(Î Special CRIs)
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73
Color rendering index (CRI)
• The reference objects are illuminated with reference light source. As a

result, object will have a certain color.
• The reference objects are then illuminated with test light source. As a
result, object will have a certain, but different, color.
• The CRI is a measure of the sum of the differences in color.
• If color difference is zero, then CRI = 100
• If color difference is > zero, then CRI < 100
• Some applications require high and very high CRI. Examples?
• Some applications do not require a high CRI. Examples?
• For some applications, CRI is irrelevant. Examples?
• Caution: CRI depends on the selection of the reference light source.

Recommended for reference light source: Planckian radiator.
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Color rendering
CIE = Commission Internationale de

L'Éclairage = International Commission on
Illumination (Vienna, Austria)
CIE color definition: Color = Brightness, hue, and saturation

Color rendering index: CRI = 100 – Σi = 1…8 ∆Ei*
∆Ei* depends also on color change and on luminance (brightness)
change of object!
Further complication: Chromatic adaptation and adaptive color shift.
CRI is a very good metric – but not an ideal one!
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74
Color render index examples
Light source Color rendering index

Sunlight 100
Quartz halogen W filament light 100
W filament incandescent light 100
Fluorescent light 60 – 85
Phosphor-based white LEDs 60 – 90
Trichromatic white light LEDs 60 – 90
Hg vapor light coated with phosphor 50
Na vapor light 40
Hg vapor light 20
Dichromatic white light LEDs 10 – 60
Green monochromatic light − 50
Table: Color rendering indices (CRI) of different light sources
CRI > 85 suitable for most (even most demanding) applications

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White light emitters based on LEDs
Di-chromatic with phosphor: Commercial success but limited color

rendering ability (CRI < 80)
Phosphor-based approaches: Excellent color stability
Phosphor-based approaches: Stokes-shift energy loss unavoidable
Tri-chromatic LED-based approaches
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75
Converters
There are different types of converters: Dyes, polymers, phosphors, and

semiconductors
Phosphor converters are most common type of converter
Ce-doped YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) is a common type of

converter
Phosphor-based white light emitters are very stable (no temperature

dependence)
Semiconductors and dyes have been used as converters but are not
very common
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Wavelength converter materials – phosphors
This shows a typical phosphor used in a fluorescent tube

Hg-lamp excitation at 200 – 250 nm
Typical LED excitation at 405 nm
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76
Wavelength converter materials – dyes
Long term stability?
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Wavelength converter materials – semiconductors
Semiconductors are a possibility but not commonly used
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77
Simplest approach: Dichromatic sources
Fundamentally
the most
efficient way to
create white
light
Two complementary wavelengths give white light

Example: Blue and yellow
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Luminous efficacy of dichromatic light sources
Di-chromatic source is most efficient way to create white light outstanding

Luminous efficacy > 400 lm/W for narrow emission lines
However, CRI is low Î unsuitable for illumination applications
Great display device (e.g. pedestrian traffic signal, display, etc.)
There is a fundamental trade-off between CRI and luminous efficacy
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78
White LEDs based on phosphor converters
First commercial white LED by Nichia Corporation (Japan)

Blue LED plus yellow phosphor
Phosphor: YAG: Cerium
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White LEDs based on phosphor converters
Measured in 2002
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79
Phosphor distributions
(a) Proximate distribution

(after Goetz et al., 2003)
(b) Proximate distribution Remote phosphor distributions reduce absorption of

(after Goetz et al., 2003) phosphorescence by semiconductor chip Î higher
efficiency
Remote phosphor distributions Î larger emission area
(c) Remote distribution

(after Kim et al., 2005)
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White LEDs based on semiconductor converters
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80
Photon recycling LED (PRS-LED)
Calculation of power ratio

of PRS-LED
Calculation of luminous
efficiency of PRS-LED
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Spectrum of PRS-LED
This is an all-semiconductor white LED
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81
Multi-LED white light sources
Experimental LED emission linewidth ranges between 2.7 kT and 8.2 kT

Much broader than predicted value of 1.8 kT
Difference due to alloy broadening
Alloy broadening particularly strong for GaInN
Alloy broadening helps color rendering
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Analysis of tri-chromatic LED source
Color temperature: 6500 K

Comparison of tri-LED and
6500 K planckian radiator.
Color temperature (TC) of
incandescent sources:
2800 K
Spectral depressions are no significant problem due to the broad

reflectivity features of real objects
Spectrum can be designed
Emission spectrum can be optimized
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82
Demonstration of trichromatic source
CRI depends strongly on alloy broadening

> 50 lm/W possible at this time (CRI > 80)
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Luminous efficacy and CRI for tri-chromatic source
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83
Luminous efficacy and CRI of tri-chromatic source
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Tri-chromatic white LED sources
All-semiconductor approaches to solid-state lighting provide highest

luminous efficacy and potentially highest luminous efficiency
CRI depends sensitively on source spectral width
Tri-chromatic systems with ∆E = 8 kT:
> 300 lm/W with CRI > 90, suitable for virtually all applications
Tri-chromatic systems with ∆E = 5 kT:
> 300 lm/W with CRI > 80, suitable for most applications
Intentional broadening is beneficial
Possible with today’s devices > 50 lm/W with CRI of > 80
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84
The Future: Smart Sources
Smart light sources can be controlled and tuned to adapt to different
requirements and environments
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Smart light sources will enable a wealth benefits and new functionalities
Example: Communicating automotive lights and room lights
Example: Circadian lights
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85
Bio-imaging systems Communications systems
New modes of
No phototoxicity! communication!
Fast recognition!
Circadian lighting systems

Support of
human health! Transportation systems
Safety!
Agriculture Space Display

NASA
171 of 172
Book Light-Emitting Diodes
Light-Emitting Diodes, E. F. Schubert, ISBN:

0521823307, Publication 2003, 328 pages 154
diagrams, 21 half-tones, 21 tables
This book covers all aspects of the technology and

physics of infrared, visible-spectrum, and white-light-
emitting diodes (LEDs) made from III–V
semiconductors.
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86

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Light Emitting Diodes and Solid-State Lighting

Energy Conservation – A Singular Opportunity

Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley: “Energy is the single most

 Solid-state light-sources offer singular opportunity for conservation of energy

Multiple light-emitting diodes LED with wavelength (λ) converter

Predicted growth of LED market

Spectral composition, polarization, color temperature, temporal modulation,

Smart Lighting is based on highly efficient sources with fully controllable

 First report on LED by Henry Round in 1907

Round’s 1907 publication Experiments indeed work

 First LED did not have pn junction!

History of AlGaAs IR and red LEDs

• There is lattice mismatch between AlGaAs and GaAs

• IBM was one of first companies to employ LEDs

Red GaP LEDs

• N doping of GaP results in green emission

• LEDs for dial pad illumination

• LEDs were used in the first generation of calculators

• Blue emission in GaN in 1972, Maruska et

• Nichia Corporation (Japan) was first

Applications of green LEDs

• Hewlett-Packard Corporation and Toshiba Corporation developed first high-

Recent applications Î High power applications

 Recombination rate is proportional to product of concentrations of

Radiative electron-hole recombination

n free electron concentration

R recombination rate per cm3 per s

Recombination lifetime: Theory versus experiment

 Radiative lifetime decreases with doping concentration

 Radiative lifetimes determine switch-on and switch-off times of LEDs

Nonradiative recombination in the bulk

• Radiative and non-radiative recombination

• Recombination via deep levels

• Dark spots are clusters of defects

• Mid-gap levels are effective non-radiative recombination centers

Nonradiative recombination at surfaces

S surface recombination velocity

Surface recombination velocities of semiconductors

GaAs S = 106 cm/s

Demonstration of surface recombination

• Making surface recombination “visible”

LED basics: Electrical properties

Shockley equation for p-n junction diodes

where Is is the saturation current of the reverse-biased diode

Diode current-voltage characteristics

 Forward voltage is approximately equal to Eg / e

 UV-LEDs frequently show excess forward voltage

Deviations from ideal I-V characteristic

nideal diode ideality factor

Problem areas of diode can be

There are 4 critical points

Methods to determine series resistance

 Method shown above suitable for series resistance measurement

 In DH, carriers are confined to thin active region

Carrier overflow in double heterostructures

 Carrier leakage out of active region is undesirable

 A large number of QWs reduces current leakage out of active region

Electron blocking layers

Temperature dependence of diode voltage

 Diode voltage decreases with increasing temperature due to

 Forward-voltage temperature coefficient is about – 2.0 mV / K

 Constant-current drive circuit

Internal, extraction, external, and power efficiency

Solid-state light-sources offer singular opportunity for conservation of energy

First report on LED by Henry Round in 1907

First LED did not have pn junction!

Recombination rate is proportional to product of concentrations of

Radiative lifetime decreases with doping concentration

Radiative lifetimes determine switch-on and switch-off times of LEDs

Forward voltage is approximately equal to Eg / e

UV-LEDs frequently show excess forward voltage

Method shown above suitable for series resistance measurement

In DH, carriers are confined to thin active region

Carrier leakage out of active region is undesirable

A large number of QWs reduces current leakage out of active region

Diode voltage decreases with increasing temperature due to

Forward-voltage temperature coefficient is about – 2.0 mV / K

Constant-current drive circuit

Electron and hole momentum must be conserved

Total internal reflection occurs inside LED chip

Lambertian emission pattern has cosine-function dependence

Epoxy increases extraction efficiency by reducing the refractive-index

Temperature dependence is characterized in terms of a characteristic

Confinement of carriers in active region of double heterostructure (DH)

High carrier concentration in active region of DH reduces non-radiative

Why is undoped active region optimum?

Device reliability affected by surface recombination

Lattice matching crucial for high efficiency

Dark lines are due to dislocation lines

Thin layers can be elastically strained without incurring defects

Lattice matching better than 0.2 % required in AlGaInP material system

Free-carrier absorption (below bandgap)

Barrier regions of double heterostructures (DHs) are optically transparent

Light within escape cone can escape from semiconductor chip

Cylinder shape advantageous over parallelepiped shape

Are these structure practical?

Additional manufacturing cost for die shaping

TIP LED is of the most efficient AlGaInP LED designs

Light is generated under top contact

Depression in center region is due to opaqueness of top contact

“Current-spreading layer” is also called “window layer”

Current chooses “path of least resistance”

Non-uniform light emission clearly observable

Circular top contact suited for small LEDs

Regular AlGaInP LEDs are grown on GaAs substrates

Wafer-bonded hetero-interface can produce additional voltage drop

TS technology has higher light output than AS technology

DBR = Distributed Bragg reflector

Important parameters are:

Blocking layers require epitaxial regowth

Conventional packages provide

Power packages provide

Rapid progress is being made with thermal resistance of packages

Lattice mismatched system