Effects of three-dimensional strain distribution on the performance of GaN-based light-emitting diodes on patterned sapphire substrates

Abstract

Depth-resolved confocal Raman and micro photoluminescence (PL) are adopted to analyze GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an ex situ sputtered AlN nucleation layer on patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs). The strain on PSSs is measured by Raman spectral mapping, and the results demonstrate that the strain distribution within the LED structures strongly correlates to the pattern array of the PSS. Cone regions with less dislocations have lower strain than plane regions. The array pattern of the PSS’s surface can directly affect strain existing in the later crystal growth even at the position of the layer before the p-GaN growth. Moreover, the two-dimensional micro-PL mapping of the GaN-based LED samples on a PSS reveals a close relationship with the strain distribution on the sample surface. It is found that the strain as well as the PL intensity difference can be mitigated by proper pre-strained layers in order to realize high efficiency LEDs.