Light Emitting Diodes

NanoLab 2003
 Outline
• Motivation/Applications: Why LED’s?
• Background
• Fabrication
• Testing
• Conclusions
 Motivation/Applications:
Why LED’s?
• Wide range of colors
• Efficient and Reliable
– Saves money
• Requires less money to operate
• Generates less heat
– Good for electronics
– Reduced AC costs
• Last longer
Why Do We Care? Efficiency (lumens/watt)
 Light Bulbs vs LED’s
• Light Bulbs • LED’s
–Filament –No filament
• Sudden Failure- • Gradual Failure-Intensity
Breaks/Burns down decrease over time
–Recent bulbs last up to –Last from 50,000 to
two years at ~20 100,000 hrs (5-10 yrs)
lumens/watt –Recent LED’s
–Fluorescent tubes last (orange,red) have
about 7500 hrs at ~80 efficiency of ~100
lumens/watt lumens/watt
– Generate little heat
• Reduced A/C costs
 Applications
•Communication (fiber optics)
•Blue Laser Diodes
–Video Recording
–Data Storage
–Televisions
–Video Games
–High Density DVD’s
–DVD-ROM drive

• Extra Motivation:
–First company to produce efficient, reliable, cost-
effective WHITE LED’s will make lots of money.
 Isolated Atoms > Crystal > Artificial Atom
Diamond
lattice

isolated
atom
Background-Band Gaps and Lattice Constants

• Lattice mismatch reduces efficiency

Background-Band Gaps and Lattice Constants

Bandgap energy vs lattice constant of various III-

semiconductors at room temperature.
What are the III-Vs
Background-Band Gaps and Lattice Constants

Room-temperature bandgap energy vs lattice constant of

common elemental and binary semiconductors.
 Background -Lattice Mismatch

Two crystals with mismatched lattice constants resultion in dislocation at

or near the interface between the two semiconductors.

• Lattice mismatch reduces efficiency

 Background: pn Junctions and Recombination
• Electron from
Carrier distribution in pn homojunctions donor material
recombines
with hole in
acceptor
material.
• Produces
photon with
energy hv equal
to that of the
band gap.
• Smaller band
gaps give
infrared/red
light; larger
band gaps give
blue/UV light
 Background: pn Junctions and Recombination
Heterojunction under forward bias

• Electron and holes are trapped in the quantum wells.

• Such spatial overlap gratly enhances the
recombination rate - brightness, efficiency.
 Background: Ohmic Contacts
Contacts

Relatively little resistance

• http://nina.ecse.rpi.edu/shur/Ch3/sld043.htm
 Doping
Hole in Electrons
lower forced to
energy higher,
band partially
allows filled
for easier band
travel for electron
electrons moves
easier
 Making our Samples
• We are working with two
different samples
– GaAsP/GaAs
– GaAs/GaAs
• We dope the sample with
ZnAs (p-type) using the
quartz ampoule method
– ZnAs and our sample are
cleaned using TCE, Acetone,
and Methanol
– Our quartz is cleaned using
2.5% HF
– Seal the ZnAs and our sample
in quartz with vacuum
– Bake for 15 minutes for
roughly 2 mm of diffusion
 Making the Samples
• We use a black wax (softening point at
T~140oC) and 1% Bromine in Methanol
etch to make contacts
 Test LED’s using curve tracer
Current I (mA) • Check to see that
device actually works

• Find turn-on voltage

Voltage V (V) • P=VI, the less power it

takes to operate the
device, the better

Red LED at 1.5V, 16mA

The Setup

SpectraPro
Laser
Sample
Optic cable
Lens
 The Setup Continued

SpectraPro Setup Curve tracer

Gratings for SpectraPro
One of our LED’s

Current (mA)

Voltage (V)

Red LED, 1.5V,15mA

 Testing Our Sample
Intensity v Wavelength
• Use SpectraPro-150 to test wavelength, relative
Green Laser
intensity, and spectral length of our LED
150000
Red LED Testing
Intensity

100000
with
Intensity
50000 lasers
Intensity v Wavelength
0
400 450 500
Red
550
Laser
600 650 700
Wavelength (nm)
500000
400000
Intensity

300000
Intensity
200000
100000
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wavelength (nm)
 700000
600000
500000
Intensity

400000 Some
Intensity
LED’s
300000
200000
100000
0 Intensity v Wavelength
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750

12000 Wavelength (nm)

10000
8000
Intensity

6000 Intensity
4000
2000
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wavelength (nm)
 Intensity v Wavelength

40000
35000
30000
Intensity

25000
20000 Intensity
15000
10000
5000
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wavelength (nm)

White LED: RGB

 Conclusions
• Several samples were made
– Most did not reach a turn-on voltage when
applying a current using the curve tracer
– One LED was in the infrared range the other red
– The two LEDs that did turn on were not all that
efficient.
 References
• Photos from Jason Rausch
• E. Fred Schubert
– www.lightemittingdiodes.org
• Craford, M.George and Stringfellow, G.B.
High Brightness Light Emitting Diodes.
Academic Press, 1997.
• Professor Colin J Humphreys
– www.sterlinggroup.org.uk/lecture2001.htm