Improved wavelength stability and heat dissipation of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes using a graphene interlayer on patterned sapphire substrate

Abstract

This study presents a straightforward strategy that embeds a graphene interlayer between InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (InGaN LEDs) and patterned sapphire substrate (PSS substrate) for substantial improving device performances of wavelength stability and heat dissipation. The InGaN LEDs on the graphene interlayer/PSS substrate (Gr-LED) have lower piezoelectric fields of 1.16 MV/cm than 1.60 MV/cm for InGaN LEDs on the PSS substrate (Ref-LED). The low piezoelectric field diminishes the screen of the polarization field resulting in a stable electroluminescence peak wavelength. At 100 mA driving current, the chip temperature of Gr-LED shows a decrease in around 24.4 °C relative to Ref-LED. The thermal resistances measured in a vacuum environment are 351 and 128 °C/W for Ref-LED and Gr-LED, respectively. The low thermal resistance of Gr-LED is believed to be due to a low misfit dislocation density of the aluminum nitride nucleation layer that increases the vertical direction of heat transport to PSS. This work demonstrates that the graphene/PSS substrate is a promising substrate for high-power InGaN LEDs.