Enhancement of the light extraction characteristics and wide-angle emissive behavior of deep-ultraviolet flip-chip light-emitting diodes by using optimized optical films

Abstract

We propose the use of optical films to enhance the light extraction efficiency (LEE) and wide-angle emission of traditional packaged deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs). Total internal reflection occurs easily in DUV-LEDs because they contain sapphire, which has a high refractive index. DUV-LEDs also contain an aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic substrate, which has high light absorption in the ultraviolet band. Photons are absorbed by the sapphire and AlN ceramic substrate, which reduces the LEE of DUV-LEDs. By adding a brightness enhancement film (BEF) on the sapphire surface and a high-reflection film (HRF) on the surface of the AlN ceramic substrate, the LEE of DUV-LEDs can be increased. Moreover, we designed a single-layer metal reflective film (SMRF) on the upper surface of the quartz glass in order to achieve wide-angle emission. Experimental results indicated that compared with traditional packaged DUV-LEDs, the light output power and external quantum efficiency of DUV-LEDs with a plated BEF, HRF, and SMRF increased by 18.3% and 18.2%, respectively. Moreover, an emission angle of 160° was achieved. In a reliability test, DUV-LEDs maintained more than 95% of the initial forward voltage and light output power after 1000 h of operation at 25°C, which indicated that the addition of an optical film can improve the light efficiency and long-term reliability of DUV-LEDs.