Plasmonic-enhanced efficiency of AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet LED by graphene/Al nanoparticles/graphene hybrid structure

Abstract

The AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light-emitting diode (DUV LED) has advantages of environmentally friendly materials, tunable emission wavelength, and easy miniaturization. However, the light extraction efficiency (LEE) of an AlGaN-based DUV LED is low, which hinders its applications. Here, we design a graphene/Al nanoparticles/graphene (Gra/Al NPs/Gra) hybrid plasmonic structure, where the strong resonant coupling of local surface plasmons (LSPs) induces a 2.9-times enhancement for the LEE of the DUV LED according to the photoluminescence (PL). The dewetting of Al NPs on a graphene layer by annealing is optimized, resulting in better formation and uniform distribution. The near-field coupling of Gra/Al NPs/Gra is enhanced via charge transfer among graphene and Al NPs. In addition, the skin depth increment results in more excitons being coupled out of multiple quantum wells (MQWs). An enhanced mechanism is proposed, revealing that the Gra/metal NPs/Gra offers a reliable strategy for improving the optoelectronic device performance, which might trigger the advances of LEDs and lasers with high brightness and power density.