Improved light extraction of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with surface-textured indium tin oxide electrodes by nickel nanoparticle mask dry-etching

Abstract

GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with surface-textured indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent current spreading layer were fabricated. The ITO surface was textured by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching technology using a monolayer of nickel (Ni) nanoparticles as the etching mask. The luminance intensity of ITO surface-textured GaN-based LEDs was enhanced by about 34% compared to that of conventional LED without textured ITO layer. In addition, the fabricated ITO surface-textured GaN-based LEDs would present a quite good performance in electrical characteristics. The results indicate that the scattering of photons emitted in the active layer was greatly enhanced via the textured ITO surface, and the ITO surface-textured technique could have a potential application in improving photoelectric characteristics for manufacturing GaN-based LEDs of higher brightness.