Micro-pixel light emitting diodes: Impact of the chip process on microscopic electro- and photoluminescence

Abstract

We investigated the influence of a μ-pixelated chip process on the photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) of a monolithic InGaN/GaN based blue light emitting diode with a continuous n-GaN layer. Particularly, we observed the impact of the metallic p-contact on the PL emission wavelength. A PL wavelength shift in the order of 10 nm between contacted and isolated areas was assigned to screening of internal piezoelectric fields due to charge carrier accumulation. μPL and μEL mappings revealed correlated emission wavelength and intensity inhomogeneities, caused by the epitaxial growth process. The edges of single pixels were investigated in detail via resonant confocal bias-dependent μPL. No influence on the intensity was observed beyond 300 nm away from the edge, which indicated a good working edge passivation. Due to the low lateral p-GaN conductivity, the μPL intensity was enhanced at isolated areas.