Generation of sidewall defects in InGaN/GaN blue micro-LEDs under forward-current stress

Abstract

This work investigates the effect of current stress on InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well flip-chip blue micro light-emitting diodes (μ-LEDs) with a mesa size of 30 × 30 μm2 and describes the stress-related mechanisms: defect aggregation and generation, which cause the change in optoelectronic performance of μ-LEDs. A forward-current stress is applied at 75 A/cm2 (0.7 mA) for 200 h. The device performance degrades with increasing stress time except until 25 h. During the initial 25 h of aging, the light output power and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) increase due to the improved crystal quality caused by aggregation of point defects in the active region, which are supported by the ideality factor and the S-parameter. The high-resolution emission-microscope images reveal that the generation of point defects at mesa sidewalls rather than the active region is crucial in performance degradation. We highlight, in particular, that the aging test generates sidewall point defects even though the sidewalls were properly passivated by a thick SiO2 layer. The mechanisms of defect aggregation and generation due to aging are consistently described by the ideality factor, the S-parameter, and the EQE.