Combination of Indium–Tin Oxide and SiO2/AlN Dielectric Multilayer Reflective Electrodes for Ultraviolet-Light-Emitting Diodes

Abstract

We have investigated novel reflective electrodes by combining an indium–tin oxide (ITO) layer and a SiO2/AlN dielectric multilayer (DM) for UV-light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The reflectance of 10 pairs of SiO2/AlN DM reached 98.5% at 350 nm. As a result, the ITO/DM electrodes simultaneously satisfied the requirements of high reflectivity in the UV region, good contact characteristics, and current spreading. The light output power of the UV LED with an ITO/DM electrode is 1.2 and 1.6 times higher than those of LEDs with ITO/Al and Ni/Au electrodes, respectively.