Effect of a thin Au and ZnO layer on optical properties of 1D PhC structures patterned in LED surface

Abstract

1D patterns with different periods were fabricated by Electron Beam Direct Write (EBDW) lithography with the aim to improve the Light Emitting Diode (LED) efficiency, i.e. the light out coupling. Three sets of 1D PhC LED samples with bare PhC, thin Au, and ZnO layers were prepared. The highest Light Extraction Enhancement (LEE) was achieved for 600 nm Photonic Crystals (PhC) period in the case of bare and Au deposited PhC, and for 500 nm PhC period in the case of ZnO deposited PhC, respectively. LEE was studied by measuring L-I characteristics of untreated reference LEDs compared to patterned LEDs.