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On the nano-engineered III-nitride

quantum-wells-based deep-UV light
emitting diodes for COVID
disinfection applications

Bhattarai, Trailokya, Raja, M. Yasin Akhtar, Ebong,

Abasifreke, Bhutta, M. Khizar

Trailokya Bhattarai, M. Yasin Akhtar Raja, Abasifreke Ebong, M. Khizar

Bhutta, "On the nano-engineered III-nitride quantum-wells-based deep-UV
light emitting diodes for COVID disinfection applications," Proc. SPIE 11877,
Second iiScience International Conference 2021: Recent Advances in
Photonics and Physical Sciences, 118770A (1 July 2021); doi:
10.1117/12.2600576

Event: 2nd iiScience International Conference 2021: Recent Advances in

Photonics and Physical Sciences, 2021, Faisalabad, Pakistan

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 On the Nano-Engineered III-Nitride Quantum-Wells based Deep-UV
Light Emitting Diodes for COVID Disinfection Applications
Trailokya Bhattarai, M. Yasin Akhtar Raja, Abasifreke Ebong, and M. Khizar Bhutta*
Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communication, University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
NC 28223
*Currently Senior Manager Engineering, Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, MI, USA
Emails: raja@uncc.edu, tbhattar@uncc.edu, aebong1@uncc.edu

Abstract:
Deep UV light has potential and previously been used for deactivating various microorganisms and has shown its
germicidal effects. III-Nitride quantum-well based deep UV-LEDs can be used effectively in deactivating pathogens.
Several researchers have reported that the deep UV-LEDs are useful in deactivating viruses. However, the data published
in the literature seem to be insufficient and inconsistent, thus, necessitating further studies for the use of deep UV-LED to
combat COVID virus. This article, therefore, reviews the LED-structure and materials for producing UV-wavelengths for
applications in deactivating Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). This incorporates the design and simulation-based Nano-
Engineered III-Nitride quantum well deep-UV LEDs that will deliver the required wavelength. The design is based on
AlGaN/AlN Multiple Quantum wells (MQWs) for deep-UV LEDs capable of producing the wavelength 250 nm < λ ˂ 300
nm. Material combinations and the device-structures aim to achieve the desired wavelengths, spectral and optical power
attributes required to deactivate coronavirus. It utilizes nano-bandgap engineering techniques comprising various Al/Ga
compositions and AlN epi-layers, and superlattice structures. Using the appropriate number of quantum wells in the device
design will achieve the desired wavelengths and power levels.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; deep UV-LEDs; AlGaN/AlN Quantum wells; LEDs structures; UV-Disinfection.

1.Introduction

The Coronavirus disease caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 145 million with a death toll of
over three million people (at the time of writing this manuscript) worldwide since its onset in December 2019 (COVID-
19). It was declared a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020 and has since become very
challenging for all nations’ hospitals and medical professionals. The scientific and medical research communities are
facing a great challenge and the entire human civilization is endangered by the submicron/nanometric size virus. The global
pandemic has called for quick ways to detect with high accuracy and minimize further spreading. Thus, there are intensive
efforts all over the world to develop reliable methods that involve UV-LEDs to detect and annihilate instantaneously with
UV light. The use of deep-UV LEDs is established in the emerging applications that encompass air-, water-, and surface-
sterilization/decontamination, bio-agents detection and identification, and UV-curing in nano-fabrication processes.

UV radiation has shown promise in deactivating different bacteriophages like MS2, T4, T7, and bacteria like E. Coli.1
Although UV radiation has been used to combat SARS-CoV-1 in the past, it has not been tested conclusively yet with
SARS-CoV-2. Thus, it has a high potential that UV LEDs irradiation proves to be the right technology for SARS-CoV-2
deactivation and several other pathogens. Deep UV LEDs sources can be developed through the use of multi-quantum
wells in conjunction with the III-nitrides (AlN/AlGaN) based technology.2

Extensive research efforts are ongoing in the field of micro-and nano-photonics to enhance the performances of UV and
deep-UV light emitting devices.3,4 The nature of micro-and nano-photonic devices allows the development of cost-effective
and mass-reproducible LED packages and photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Although many of the ideas and potential
of these devices have been identified long ago, only recently a transition from research to engineering application has been
made for micro-and nano-structured UV and deep-UV photonic devices due to various technological advances overcoming
the material challenges.5.6

Second iiScience International Conference 2021: Recent Advances in Photonics and Physical Sciences,
M. Y. A. Raja, Z. Nazli, S. A. Haider, M. I. Asghar, F. Jubeen, S. Parveen, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 11877,
118770A · © 2021 SPIE · CCC code: 0277-786X/21/$21 · doi: 10.1117/12.2600576

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 11877 118770A-1

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 The direct bandgap III-nitride materials having wide-bandgap like InN (0.8 eV), GaN (3.4 eV), and AlN (6.2 eV) are
considered as highly important materials for photonic crystals and photonic devices.7 III-Nitride materials have useful
applications and benefits in UV/blue emission. The optoelectronic devices made from these materials provide a short
wavelength which is used for high optical storage density. It also has the ability for biohazard substance detection and
destruction. A large band-offset of 2.8 eV or 4.3 eV for GaN/AlGaN and InGaN/AlGaN heterostructures allow readily
quantum well (QW) based devices. UV-photonic devices and their material properties allow them to withstand extremely
harsh conditions of temperature, chemical, and radiation exposures.
High-efficiency ultraviolet UV/DUV LEDs have great applications in medical use, chemical and bio-agent detection, and
microbial disinfection. The internal quantum efficiency (QE) of InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) blue LED is close to
100%, however, a large part of the light is lost due to the parasitic absorption of lateral guided modes in the material. For
deep UV LEDs (<300 nm) with AlGaN/AlN as the active layer and buffer layer, the extraction efficiency must be
improved. In addition to improving the material quality, novel device architectures are required for light management.
Numerous process routes have been investigated that would allow very close control of the composition, bandgap, and
lattice constant(s) of ternary III-N semiconductor alloys to control crucial properties of the desired devices. Wurtzite
structures of GaN and AlN have lattice mismatches of ~ 2.4% and 4% along the a- and the c-axes, respectively. The direct
bandgap energies (UV wavelengths) of AlxGa1-xN alloys (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) range from 3.4 eV (360 nm in GaN) to 6.2 eV (200
nm in AlN). Thus, the AlxGa1-xN alloys are attractive for UV/DUV LEDs and LDs (laser diodes). The large bandgaps and
high-field electron mobilities also make these materials candidates for high-power, and high-frequency microelectronic
and microbial deactivation applications. In this work, we will first review the potential UV-LED structures and material
composition that would be employed to deliver the high-efficiency desired wavelength used in the detection and
deactivation of COVID. Simulations of the device structures would be carried out (follow-up works) to enable the
optimization of the number of QWs, supper-lattices, and full-stack of epi-layers for high efficiency, in particular for the
deactivation by short wavelengths.

P-GaN
p-AlGaN

MQW

n-AlGaN

n-AlGaN:Si

AlGaN/AlN templete

Figure 1: A Schematic of a deep-UV LEDs epi-structure grown by PE-MOCVD

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 2. Developments in Deep UV LEDs

There have been inordinate efforts to develop AlGaN-based deep-UV emission with λ ≤ 300 nm, the quantum-well
structure-based LEDs requiring active layers with Al-composition > 60%.8 Inevitably, the alloy composition for the p- and
n-cladding should be more than that of the active layer for transparency requirements. The desired high Al-composition
causes not only dislocations in epi-structures, but also leads to poor p- and n-type conductivity in the cladding layers,
which limits current injection.9 Achieving p-AlGaN with a high Al-content by Mg-doping is another challenging issue.
Based on advanced bandgap engineering, different material structures have been utilized by several researchers to improve
the material quality and the UV LED output power levels. In the recent past, the R&D community also faced current-
crowding in the typical 300 x 300 μm square geometry lateral injection LEDs. The lateral structure and the poor
conductivity of the n- and p-cladding layers led to the so-called current-crowding and the inhomogeneous effects. This can
and did significantly limit the output optical power levels. The practical success of such material requires the epitaxial
growth of material-layers with low-densities of structural defects and well-controlled n- and p-type doping.
During the past couple of decades, there have been continuous improvements in the growth quality of III-Nitride materials.
For example, almost 18 years ago, Hagan et al.10 demonstrated the existence of a high-quality alloy system in the range
from GaN to AlN by synthesizing AlxGa1-xN nano-layers using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Over four decades ago,
Baranov et al.11, measured the electrical and optical properties at 1050 ˚C by growing Al xGa1-xN films up to x= 0.45 by
chloride vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) and Yosida et al.12 used the reactive molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to deposit AlxGa1-
xN layers that contained the entire composition range on sapphire and Si substrates. The elimination of gas-phase pre- (or
parasitic) reactions between NH3 and metalorganics was very important for achieving the growth of high Al-content
AlxGa1-xN films. Despite all early efforts, there have been several issues related to the poor quality of as-grown materials,
for example, the high-density of defects and localized strain effects. Khan et al.13 were able to grow AlxGa1-xN solid
solutions over the entire binary system using MOVPE at low pressure (5-100 Torr), a relatively good quality material
required for practical devices. However, Koide et al.14, found that white, Al-rich deposits were observed on AlGaN layers
and that control over the solid composition was impossible at low-gas velocities (0.7 - 2 cm/sec) at atmospheric pressure.
They referred these deposits to involatile adduct formation, which depleted the Al precursor in the gas phase.
In those situations, it was essential to have control on the doping and the associated conductivity of AlGaN solid
solutions for the success of this epi-structures needed for optoelectronic and high-power, and high-frequency electronic
devices. Thus, one of the major challenges was to achieve highly conductive AlxGa1-xN solid solutions with high Al-
content. Several controlled experiments15,16 were carried-out by pioneers to address those issues and found that a steady
decrease in the electron concentration and the associated n-type conductivity of these alloys was linked with the increase
in Al-fraction of x. In some studies,17 deep-UV LEDs epi-structure were used as-grown on a basal-plane sapphire substrate
using ‘custom-designed vertical pulsed-enhanced metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (PE-MOCVD) system. The
AlN/AlGaN superlattice helped in reducing the tensile strain resulting from the fine grain structures. Those improved
growth techniques based on nano-bandgap engineering helped to reduce the dislocation density thereby increasing the
UV/DUV emitter’s efficiency.18, 19 The epi-structures grown on sapphire substrates using AlN epilayer template were used
to fabricate high-efficiency UV/DUV lighting devices. The benefits of inserting an AlN epitaxial layer as a template for
the growth of subsequent III-nitride device structures20 were exploited in the studies conducted over a decade ago.

3. Bandgap Engineered UV-LEDs

Based on the improved nano-bandgap engineering, it was found that using AlN epilayers as templates for nitride devices
helps improve the long-existing lattice-mismatch issues. Further, with its excellent UV transparency down to 200 nm, the
insertion of AlN epilayer as a template for UV LED structures can enhance the epi-structure for high power, long lifetime
LEDs. In short, a high quality AlN epilayer with a thickness of about 1 m was grown as the epitaxial template for the
subsequent epi-layers within micro-and nano regimes.
Khizar and Raja21 in their previous work fabricated a typical Deep UV-LED based on the structure shown in Figure 1.
After dicing into a die, it was mounted on TO header in the flipped-chip configuration. A calibrated UV integrating optical
sphere was used to measure the light output power from the sapphire side since the submount side is nontransparent.
Compared with the usual square geometry, nano-patterned geometry with n contact encircles the p-type mesa disk showed
a significant improvement in their output power.

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 Figure 2: EL spectra, and comparison of I-V, L-I characterization of nano-patterned deep-UV LEDs [Khazir et. al]21

The electroluminescence (EL) spectrum of a representative LED under 40 mA dc driving is shown in Figure 2. The
emission had a 290 nm peak with a full width at half maximum of 16 nm. It was attributed that the long-wavelength
emission was caused mainly by electron recombination in the p-cladding layer with deep-level impurities associated most
likely with cation vacancies. By incorporating an electron-blocking layer, the injected electrons can be more effectively
confined in the active region (QWs), reducing the long-wavelength emission. Others observed contributions to the desired
emission spectrum came from the high-quality AlN template and the subsequent low defect structure, especially, reduction
of other recombination channels in the n-cladding layer. Further, based on advanced device processing techniques, it was
revealed that the mesa size can influence the LEDs performance, including the turn-on voltage, differential resistance,
output power, and power density, so on.

The higher efficiency of patterned LEDs was attributed to the improved total internal reflection (TIR) within the
epi-structure, whereas the better saturation current limits are mainly because of an excellent control on the threading
dislocation in the epi-layers. However, a relatively, higher value of the VF (the turn-on) voltages are the result of the use
of relatively high aluminum concentration (70%) in the n- and p-cladding layers and consequently lower quality n- and p-
ohmic contacts. Furthermore, the inset in fig 2 is the electroluminescence (EL) spectra of a 290 nm deep-UV LED. A full-
width half-maximum (FWHM) of ~16nm was estimated using EL micrograph. These findings will be used to develop
simulation-design and models for developing the devices with the desired spectral and optical power attributes for
achieving short wavelengths suitable to be used for disinfection and other applications requiring short wavelengths around
250 nm.

4. Concluding Remarks and Future Work

High power UV radiation is one of the potential methods of deactivating different bacteriophages such as MS2, T4, T7,
and bacteria like E. coli.22 Although UV radiation has been used to combat SARS-CoV-1, it has not been tested extensively
yet with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Thus, there is a high probability and potential that UV-LEDs irradiation could be the
right technology for SARS-CoV-2 deactivation. Especially, UV-C LEDs of specific wavelengths and particulate dose
strengths and certain exposure-times have the potential for the sterilization of contaminated surfaces and inactivation of
the virus. It has been reported that the UV-C light of wavelength 207 nm to 222 nm proved efficient in killing various
micro-organisms.23,24

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 Owing to the importance of deep-UV LEDs applications in COVID-19 pandemic and other areas, we will continue to
carry-out systematic simulations-based research and development. That would focus on the optimization of the design and
composition of the materials combinations and active nanometric (growth) layered-structures and additional nano-
structures in the plane of the devices to leverage the quantum effects along with the resonant structures. Once the optimal
goals are achieved, then the material growth and device fabrication will be pursued using foundry 25 options.

Acknowledgement: We would like to acknowledge that foundational work in the Nanophotonics Labs by Dr. M. Khizar
Bhutta who also designed and obtained material wafer grown as per our reference 21 and the experimental results included
in the section.

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