(Invited) High Output Power Deep Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes with Hemispherical Lenses Fabricated Using Room Temperature Bonding
Authors: Ichikawa Masatsugu , Endo Shinya , Sagawa Harunobu , Fujioka Akira , Kosugi Takao , Mukai Takashi , Uomoto Miyuki , Shimatsu Takehito 
Published: February 2020

AlGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are attractive candidates for next-generation light sources in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region because they can cover the spectral range of 210 – 365 nm through control of the Al content in the epitaxial layers. Moreover, they are environmentally friendly, having zero mercury content and a long lifetime. These excellent properties of AlGaN-based DUV LEDs are suitable for sterilization and polymer curing applications, however, their output power is not yet sufficient for practical applications. One method to improve output power of DUV LEDs is the enhancement of the light extraction efficiency from the LEDs chips to the air by connecting graded refractive index medium outside the chips. The refractive index medium should have the long-term reliability against DUV.

We designed and fabricated the hemispherical lensmade of inorganic materials as a refractive index medium, and bonded the hemispherical lenses to the LEDs using room temperature bonding methods. We demonstrated high output power 255 nm and 280 nm LEDs with lenses [M. Ichikawa et al., APEX, to be contributed]. For this study, the excellent properties of fabricated LEDs with lenses are reviewed in connection with the bonded interface structure in light of new experimental data.

The following figures (A) and (B) show schematic illustrations of LED chips and hemispherical lenses. We fabricated AlGaN-based 255 nm and 280 nm LEDs on sapphire substrates with a size of 1 mm square. A flip-chip type LED was produced to extract DUV light through the sapphire substrate. A simulation study predicted that the refractive index of the hemispherical lens was optimum when the lens was made of sapphire, which was the same material as that of LED substrates. Moreover, the light extraction efficiency was most enhanced when the lens diameter exceeded 3 mm. Therefore, we fabricated hemispherical lenses made of sapphire, with diameters of 3 or 5 mm.

The LED chips were bonded to sapphire lenses at room temperature using two different bonding methods as shown in figure (C). One was surface activated bonding (SAB). In this method, the bonding surfaces of sapphire are sputter-etched and activated using an Ar fast ion beam. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images revealed that the surfaces of sapphire are consisted of several nanometer-thick amorphous layers, which were the damaged layers of the sapphire by the Ar ion beam irradiation. A large loading force was necessary to bond sapphire to sapphire. However, no light absorption was observed at the SAB interface.

Another bonding method was atomic diffusion bonding (ADB). In this method, metal films are fabricated on two flat sapphire surfaces using sputter deposition with subsequent bonding of the two films on the sapphire in vacuum. Very thin Al films were used as the metal films for this study because the extinction coefficient of aluminum is small. A light absorption was slightly observed at the bonded interface in the DUV region. However, sapphire could be bonded without applying too high loading pressures. Moreover, ADB is applicable to bonding any mirror-polished substrates, in addition to sapphire, which is expected to extend the applications.

The LEDs with lenses had higher light extraction efficiency than conventionally structured LEDs without lenses. In SAB devices, the maximum external quantum efficiency of the 255 nm LED was 4.56% at 100 mA, and that of the 280 nm LED was 10.1% at 1 A. As a result, at a forward current of 350 mA, the output power of a 255 nm LED with a lens increased by a factor 2.8, reaching 73.6 mW. Furthermore, that of the 280 nm LED increased by a factor of 2.3, reaching 153 mW.

The output powers of ADB devices were also significantly higher than those of conventionally structured LEDs without lenses but were slightly lower than those of SAB devices because of a light absorption at the bonding interface. A further enhancement of output powers of ADB devices can be expected by tuning bonding process.

The findings in this study would contribute not only to the research in DUV LEDs but also to the research of visible light LEDs.

Figure 1