Analysis of size dependence and the behavior under ultrahigh current density injection condition of GaN-based Micro-LEDs with pixel size down to 3 μm

Abstract In this paper, the GaN-based green micro light-emitting diodes (Micro-LEDs) with various sizes (from 3 to 100 μ m) were fabricated and electro-optically characterized. Atom layer deposition (ALD) passivation and potassium hydroxide (KOH) treatment were applied to eliminate the sidewall damage. The size dependence of Micro-LED was systematically analyzed with current-versus-voltage and current density-versus-voltage relationship. According to the favorable ideality factor results (<1.5), the optimized sidewall treatment was achieved when the device size shrank down to <10 μ m. In addition, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) droop phenomenon, luminance and output power density characteristics were depicted up to the highest current density injection condition to date (120 kA cm −2 ), and 6 μ m device exhibited an improved EQE performance with the peak EQE value of 16.59% at 20 A cm −2 and over 600k and 6M cd cm −2 at 1 and 10 A cm −2 , indicating a greater brightness quality for over 3000 PPI multiple display application. Lastly, the blue shift of 6 μ m device with elevating current density was observed in electroluminescence spectra and converted to CIE 1931 color space. The whole shifting track and color variation from 1 A cm −2 to 120 kA cm −2 were demonstrated by color coordinates.