Recent progress of metasurfaces in light-emitting diodes

Abstract

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been known as the most widely used light source in lighting and displays for more than 60 years. There is still room for progress in the performance of LEDs, especially since the current devices with various types of different light-emitting layer materials have converged to unity in terms of internal quantum efficiency, and there is an urgent need to improve the light extraction efficiency. Metasurfaces (MSs) have received attention from researchers as structures that can be integrated with LEDs to efficiently modulate the phase and amplitude of light through resonance and scattering, which can reduce light loss. This paper reviews the development of metasurfaces in LEDs so far. The different working mechanisms of metasurfaces composed of different materials are first analyzed in depth. Subsequently, three aspects of light extraction, angle change, and polarization modulation are described in detail according to different applications of metasurfaces in LEDs. Finally, the current status of metasurface applications in LEDs is summarized, and the future development prospects are envisioned.