Patent Publication Number: US-7223998-B2

Title: White, single or multi-color light emitting diodes by recycling guided modes

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention is related to light emitting diodes (LEDs), and more particularly, to new structures for producing white, single or multi-color LEDs with high extraction efficiency by recycling guided modes. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   (Note: This application references a number of different publications and patents as indicated throughout the specification by one or more reference numbers within brackets, e.g., [x]. A list of these different publications and patents ordered according to these reference numbers can be found below in the section entitled “References.” Each of these publications and patents is incorporated by reference herein.) 
   A light emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when electrically biased in the forward direction. This effect is a form of electroluminescence. 
   LEDs are typically comprised of a chip of semiconducting material impregnated or doped with impurities to create a structure known as a pn junction. When forward biased, electrons are injected into the pn junction from an n-region of the device and holes are injected into the pn junction from a p-region of the device. The electrons and holes release energy in the form of photons as they recombine. The wavelength of the light, and therefore its color, depends on the bandgap energy of the materials forming the pn junction. 
   As semiconductor materials have improved, the efficiency of LEDs has also improved, and new wavelength ranges have been used. For example, gallium nitride (GaN) based LEDs are probably the most promising for a variety of applications. GaN provides efficient illumination in the ultraviolet (UV) to amber spectrum, when alloyed with varying concentrates of indium (In), for example. 
   Unfortunately, most of the light emitted within an LED is lost due to internal reflections at the semiconductor-air interface. Typical semiconductor materials have a high index of refraction, and thus, according to Snell&#39;s law, most of the light will remain trapped in the materials, thereby degrading efficiency. However, by choosing a suitable geometry for the LED, a higher extraction efficiency can be achieved, wherein extraction efficiency refers to the ability of the photons generated by a particular system to actually escape the materials as “useful” radiation, i.e., extracted light. 
     FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor LED  100  that illustrates how a portion of the light  102  emitted from a QW  104  traverses an escape cone  106  in order to be extracted from the device  100 , while a large fraction of the emitted light  108  is trapped and reflected within the device  100 . In this situation, the reflected light  108  is referred to as guided light modes, or guided modes, because the light  108  is confined within the device  100  and guided transversely within the semiconductor materials comprising the device  100 . 
   One method to reduce the effects of the internal reflection is to create light redistribution through random texturing of the surface of the device, which leads to multiple variable-angle incidence at the semiconductor-air interface of the device. 
     FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor LED  200  that illustrates this concept, wherein the top surface  202  of the LED  200  is textured, the bottom surface  204  of the LED  200  comprises a reflector, the air is shown to have a refractive index of n=1, and the semiconductor material of the LED  200  is shown to have a refractive index of n=3.5. 
   The textured-surface approach has been shown to improve emission efficiency to approximately 9–40%, due to the very high internal efficiency and low internal losses of the device, which allows many reflections or passes for the emitted light before it is extracted from the device. [ 1 , 2 ] 
   Another method to reduce the percentage of light trapped is to use a micro-cavity LED (MCLED), also known as a resonant cavity LED (RCLED). [ 3 , 4 ] MCLEDs offer opportunities to create solid-state lighting systems with greater efficiencies than existing systems using traditional LEDs. As a result of incorporating an active medium within a resonant cavity, MCLEDs emit a highly compact and directional light beam. The higher extraction efficiency and greater brightness of these devices are their main advantages over conventional LEDs. This higher extraction efficiency is, however, limited to values in the 40% range as the micro-cavity structure also leads to very efficient emission into guided modes. Thus, it would be useful if these guided modes could be extracted. 
   Beyond simple monochrome LEDs, the generation of high-efficiency, good color-rendering, white LEDs is one of the most important goals the industry is trying to achieve. White light is currently made in one of two ways:
         1. By selectively combining the proper combination of red, green and blue (RGB) LEDs. However, this solution is costly and the overall light output of each RGB LED degrades at a different rate, thereby resulting in an eventual color imbalance.   2. By using a phosphor coating, typically yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), on a surface of a blue LED. The blue LED excites the phosphor, thereby causing it to glow white (Nichia). This is the dominant method of achieving white light output. Alternatively, this method may use a UV-emitting LED in combination with a luminescence conversion LED (LUCOLED).       

     FIG. 3A  is a cross-sectional view of the structure of a white LED  300  comprised of a gallium indium nitride (GaInN) blue LED die  302 , a phosphor-containing epoxy  304  encapsulating the die  302 , and bond wires  306  leading from the die  302  to a package  308 , which is sealed by a cap  310 .  FIG. 3B  is a cross-sectional view that illustrates the wavelength-converting phosphorescence  312  and blue luminescence  314 . 
   The problems with the structure of  FIGS. 3A and 3B  are the poor efficiencies of the LED, the optical coupling between the LED and phosphor, the low brightness, and the non-planar fabrication technique. 
   Another structure that may be used to obtain a white LED is the photon recycling semiconductor LED (PRS-LED), which comprises an epitaxially-grown indium gallium nitride (InGaN) based blue LED bonded to a second wafer containing an aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) active region.  FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the structure of a PRS-LED  400 , wherein the PRS-LED  400  is comprised of a sapphire substrate  402 , a p-GaN layer  404 , a primary InGaN active region  406  emitting light  408  in the blue wavelength range, an n-GaN layer  410 , and an electrically-inactive AlGaInP photon recycling wafer  412  re-emitting a complementary colored light  414 , such as yellow/orange. A p-type contact  416  and n-type contact  418  are placed on the bottom of the PR+S-LED  400 . 
   The first PRS-LED was demonstrated as a hybrid device by Guo and colleagues in 1999. [ 5 ] This device emits two discrete wavelengths, and the combined output should be perceived as white light. The PRS-LED can also be designed to emit other colors by the proper combination of emitting species, which is not possible with conventional LEDs. In addition, more recycling layers are possible, giving rise to bi-chromatic and tri-chromatic PRS-LEDs. The drawbacks here are the mediocre optical coupling efficiency between emitters and the poor efficiency of the active blue LED. 
   Notwithstanding the above, what is needed in the art are new LED structures that provide white, single or multi-color light and increased light extraction efficiency, while retaining a planar structure, so that they are easily manufacturable at low cost. The present invention solves that need. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention discloses a white, single or multi-color light emitting diode (LED) comprising a mirror for reflecting photons within the LED; a first active region, adjacent the mirror, comprised of one or more current-injected layers for emitting photons when electrically biased in a forward direction; a second active region, adjacent the first active region, comprised of one or more optically-pumped layers for emitting photons, wherein the optically-pumped layers are optically excited by the photons emitted by the current-injected layers, thereby recycling guided modes; and an output interface, adjacent the second active region, for allowing the photons emitted by the optically-pumped layers to escape the LED as emitted light. 
   The mirror, which usually is also a contact layer, reflects an energy flux from the first active region and thus multiplies the photons emitted from the current-injected layers that optically excite the optically-pumped layers in the second region. In one embodiment, the current-injected layer lies at an antinode of an electric field of an optical wave to the mirror to enhance coupling effects. A value “d” represents a distance between the mirror and the first active region, such that:
 
 d=λ/ 4 or λ/4 +n λ/ 2 (approximately) for a metallic mirror, or
 
 d=λ/ 2 or λ/2 +n λ/ 2 for a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror,
 
where λ is the wavelength of the optical wave. Moreover, a thickness of the first region is adjusted so as to obtain a micro-cavity enhancement effect due to reflections at the mirror and at an interface between the first and second regions. Consequently, the first and second active regions are close and are not separated by a substrate in order to achieve an efficient recycling.
 
   The first active region is comprised of doped materials, and the current-injected layers are electrically-active layers. Moreover, the current-injected layers of the first active region comprise emitters such as quantum wells (QWs) or quantum dots (QDs). 
   In contrast, the second active region is comprised of undoped materials, and the optically-pumped layers comprise electrically-passive layers. Moreover, the optically-pumped layers are comprised of quantum wells (QWs), quantum dots (QDs), phosphors, dyes, light emitting polymers, or other light emitting molecules, wherein any color of light is achieved by combining emitters at desired wavelengths in the optically-pumped layers. 
   The optically-pumped layers are optically-pumped by the guided modes of the current-injected layers, absorb the guided modes and re-emit the absorbed guided modes at the same or different wavelengths as the current-injected layers. 
   The photons emitted by the optically-pumped layers escape the LED as emitted light through an output interface comprising a textured surface, a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), an epoxy structure, or other structure. Further, an epoxy dome may be added on the output interface to increase an escape cone. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout: 
       FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor light emitting diode; 
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor light emitting diode with a textured surface; 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are cross-sectional views of light emitting diodes with a phosphor-containing epoxy encapsulating the die; 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a photo recycling semiconductor light emitting diode; 
       FIGS. 5A–5B  are cross-sectional views of light emitting diodes according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIGS. 6A–6B  are cross-sectional views of light emitting diodes according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of a light emitting diode according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIGS. 8A–8B  are cross-sectional views of light emitting diodes according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIGS. 9A–9B  are cross-sectional views of light emitting diodes according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of a light emitting diode according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of a light emitting diode according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIGS. 12A–12B  are graphs showing the extraction percentage versus wavelength for the light emitting diode of  FIG. 11 , wherein  FIG. 12A  shows the emission from the current-injected layer, while  FIG. 12B  shows the emission from the optically-pumped layer; 
       FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of a light emitting diode according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIGS. 14A–14B  are graphs showing the extraction percentage versus wavelength for the light emitting diode of  FIG. 13 , wherein  FIG. 14A  shows the emission from the current-injected layer, while  FIG. 14B  shows the emission from the optically-pumped layer; 
       FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional view of a light emitting diode according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIGS. 16A–16B  are graphs showing the extraction percentage versus wavelength for the light emitting diode of  FIG. 15 , wherein  FIG. 16A  shows the emission from the current-injected layer, while  FIG. 16B  shows the emission from the optically-pumped layer. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In the following description of the preferred embodiment, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
   Overview 
   The present invention describes new LED structures that provide white, single or multi-color light and increased light extraction efficiency while retaining a planar structure. The new LED structures have direct emission outside the structure and, in addition, convert guided light in different colors through absorption and re-emission by additional emitting species, to achieve a high-efficiency white, single or multi-color LED. 
   The structure includes a bottom mirror, one or more current-injected layers, one or more electrically-passive, optically-pumped layers for recycling photons generated by the current-injected layers, which are emitted at a same or longer wavelength, with the emitted light escaping through a top output interface. Preferably, the LED structure is thin enough to efficiently recycle the guided modes. 
   The current-injected layers may comprise quantum wells (QWs) or quantum dots (QDs), while the optically-pumped layers may comprise quantum wells (QWs), quantum dots (QDs), phosphors, dyes, light emitting polymers, light emitting molecules, such as aluminum tris(8-hydroxyquinoline), etc. The emitters in the current-injected layers and the optically-pumped layers may output single or multiple wavelengths of light in order to provide better color rendering properties. 
   The bottom mirror may be a metallic mirror, a composite metal-dielectric mirror, or a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), and can also be used as a contact layer. The top output interface comprises either a textured surface, a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), an epoxy structure, or some other structure, wherein a layer of epoxy may be added to the top output interface. 
   The efficiency of the new LED structures is increased by the fact that the guided modes that are usually lost are recycled. The new LEDs retain a planar single layer structure, making them easily manufacturable at low cost. 
   Such photon recycling concepts for guided light (i.e., internally reflected at the medium-air interfaces) are equally applicable to any emitter, such as displays, and are quite independent of the materials systems used. 
   White, single or multi-color LEDs have many possible applications, including signage, displays, automotive lights, and other illumination applications, such as street illumination, that require excellent efficiency. In the longer term, general purpose lighting can use white LEDs. By using different emitters at different colors, the present invention is able to perform good color rendering and high-quality illumination. A big advantage of the LED structure of the present invention is that it can allow the properties for the type and quality of light produced to be tailored by adding emitters of various colors. 
   LED Structure 
   The present invention uses a thin film LED structure that is able to efficiently recycle guided modes within the LED. This is based on the fact that, in an LED, some light that cannot be extracted is either absorbed in the contacts, reabsorbed by the active layer (eventually giving rise to further emission by photon auto-recycling), dissipated by defects or free carrier absorption, or reflected within the LED as guided modes (for a large part). 
   LEDs of the present invention include a second active region to recycle the “lost” photons of these guided modes; thus, the “lost” photons are reused. This second active region comprises one or more optically-pumped layers that are optically-pumped by the guided modes of one or more current-injected layers of a first active region. The second active region absorbs the guided modes and then re-emits at the same or different wavelengths. 
   The second active region may be comprised of emitter species such as QWs of any kind, such as InGaN (Zn:Si), QDs, phosphors, dyes, light emitting polymers, or light emitting molecules. Quite often, these species have excellent photoluminescence efficiencies, but are often difficult to excite electrically. In the present invention, these species are used in a most favorable implementation, that of photo-excitation. 
   The same structure can also be used to perform higher extraction in only one color, wherein the optically-pumped layer is designed so that it emits at the same or at a nearby wavelength as the current-injected layer. The advantage compared to the other structures, where the electrically-pumped layer is reabsorbing the guided light and performing the photon recycling, is that the optically-pumped layers performing the recycling are located in undoped materials. Therefore, free-carrier absorption, which is a major loss mechanism, is generally absent. Moreover, any type of color can be achieved by combination of well-chosen emitters at desired wavelengths. 
   To achieve an efficient recycling, the two active regions must be close and not separated by a sapphire substrate (or other substrate) as described in [ 5 ]; thus, the total size of the device should be relatively thin (e.g., the thickness of the two emitting layers should not be much greater than about 10 light wavelengths). 
   A bottom mirror with high reflectivity is added to reflect a downward energy flux from the first active region and thus multiplies (e.g., by 2) the photons emitted from the first active region that optically excite the second active region. The bottom mirror is also used as a contact layer. This mirror can either be aluminum, rhodium, silver, a DBR, or any other material or structure, so long as it yields high reflectivity combined with good contact properties. 
   The current-injected layer should lie at an antinode of an electric field of an optical wave close to the mirror to enhance the effects of the coupling. If placed at an antinode, the emission from the current-injected layer will be multiplied (e.g., by 4). 
   The photons emitted from the second active region escape the LED through an output interface on top of the LED. The output interface may comprise a textured surface, a DBR, an epoxy structure, or some other structure. Generally, the textured surface provides for chaotic light ray trajectories, which will impinge, after a few reflections at most, within the escape angle of the semiconductor-air interface. On the other hand, the DBR will typically be centered on the blue wavelength (if blue is emitted by the electrically-injected layer) to allow non-blue light to escape at once. Finally, epoxy can be added on the top to increase the escape cone if needed and thus also increase the light extracted (e.g., by a factor of 2). 
   Various alternative embodiment of the present invention are described in more detail below. 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B  are cross-sectional views of the structure of LEDs  500  according to the present invention, which include textured surfaces and multiple QWs. Each LED  500  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  502 , a doped first region  504 , and an undoped second region  506 . The high-reflectivity mirror  502  is also used as a p-contact  508 . The doped first region  504  includes a p-GaN layer  510 , current-injected QWs layer  512  and n-GaN layer  514 . The upper surface of the n-GaN layer  514  includes an n-contact  516 . The undoped second region  506  includes an undoped GaN layer  518 , optically-pumped QWs layer  520  and an undoped GaN layer  522 , wherein the undoped GaN layer  522  includes a textured surface from which light  524  escapes. 
   Only the QWs  512  in the first region  504  are current-injected, while the QWs  520  in the second region  506  are optically-pumped by the light generated by the QWs  512  in the first region  504 , and thus the p-contact  502  needs to be created close to the QWs  512 . The value d represents the distance between the p-contact  502  and the QWs  512 , and comprises:
 
 d=λ/ 4 or λ/4 +n λ/ 2 (approximately) for a metallic mirror 502
 
 d=λ/ 2 or λ/2 +n λ/ 2 for a DBR mirror 502
 
where λ is the wavelength of the emitted light.
 
   Consequently, for a metallic mirror  502 , the emitting QWs layer  512  is placed about λ/4 or λ/4+n λ/2 from the bottom metallic mirror  502 , and the thickness of the first region  504  is adjusted so as to obtain a micro-cavity enhancement effect due to the reflections at the bottom mirror  502  and at the interface between the first and second regions  504  and  506 . Similarly, for a DBR mirror  502 , the emitting QWs layer  512  is placed about λ/2 or λ/2 +n λ/ 2 from the bottom DBR mirror  502 , and the thickness of the first region  504  is adjusted so as to obtain a micro-cavity enhancement effect due to the reflections at the bottom mirror  502  and at the interface between the first and second regions  504  and  506 . 
   The current-injected QWs  512  can emit light either in the blue or UV range. If UV QWs  512  are used, then a UV-mirror needs to be placed on top of the device  500 , so that the UV light is not extracted, but other wavelengths are extracted. To produce white light, at least two or more optically-pumped QWs  520  are needed. 
   The size of the surface texturing of the layer  522 , e.g., the roughness on an output interface of second region  506 , should be approximately λ/2 or larger. Light randomization allows each photon to bounce a few times inside the device  500  before it escapes, and thus ensures better re-emission of the non-injected QWs  520  and also better color mixing. 
   The mesa formed by the second region  506  could either be square or cut by an angle. Moreover, such shaping can be used to redirect the light escaping from the device  500 . 
   Eventually, the optical randomization could be created in the second region  506  when using phosphor particles with sizes 0.1-1 μm and an index of refraction different from the surrounding layer material. 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B  are cross-sectional views of the structure of LEDs according to the present invention, which include MCLEDs and multiple QWs. Each LED  600  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  602 , a doped first region  604 , and an undoped second region  606 . The high-reflectivity mirror  602  is also used as a p-contact  608 . The doped first region  604  includes a p-GaN layer  610 , current-injected QWs layer  612  and n-GaN layer  614 . The upper surface of the n-GaN layer  614  includes an n-contact  616 . The undoped second region  606  includes an undoped GaN layer  618 , optically-pumped QWs layer  620 , undoped GaN layer  622 , and DBR mirror  624  from which light  626  escapes, wherein the DBR mirror  624  is centered on the blue wavelength. Alternatively, epoxy may be used instead of or in addition to the DBR mirror  624 . 
   In this structure, light extraction out of the second region  606  is provided by the DBR mirror  624  at the blue wavelength of the QWs  612  emissions from the first region  604 , thus creating a micro-cavity enhancement effect for that emission. The DBR mirror  624  might be ineffective for emissions from the second region  606 , or by proper adjustment of overall structure thickness, a double micro-cavity effect could be achieved for both emitted light wavelengths by using a DBR mirror  624  efficient at both wavelengths. 
   As mentioned above, instead of putting a DBR mirror  624  on top of the second region  606 , epoxy may be used instead, which increases the escape cones for both wavelengths. A semiconductor-epoxy interface also acts as a weak mirror (e.g., by means of fresnel reflectivity) to create a weak micro-cavity effect, which is provided by the overall optical thickness in a number of λ/2 (including the metal dephasing of about λ/4). 
     FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an LED according to the present invention, which includes a cavity, multiple QWs and light output through the substrate&#39;s high-reflectivity mirror. The LED  700  is comprised of a transparent substrate  702  (e.g., sapphire), a GaN buffer  704 , a DBR mirror  706  (or an arrow mirror), an undoped GaN layer  708 , an optically-pumped QWs layer  710  emitting a complementary colored light, an undoped GaN layer  712 , an n-GaN layer  714 , a current-injected QWs layer  716 , a p-GaN layer  718 , and a high-reflectivity mirror  720 . The high-reflectivity mirror  720  is also used as a p-contact  722 , while an n-contact is placed on the undoped GaN layer  712 . Epoxy  726  may be placed on the substrate  702  to provide fresnel reflectivity for the emitted light  728 . 
     FIGS. 8A and 8B  are cross-sectional views of the structure of LEDs according to the present invention, which include MCLEDs, blue QWs and QDs. Each LED  800  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  802 , which is also used as a p-contact  804 , a p-GaN layer  806 , current-injected QWs layer  808 , n-GaN layer  810 , optically-pumped, directly-grown QDs layer  812  (which are used as the recycling emitter species instead of QWs), and DBR mirror  814  from which light  816  escapes, wherein the DBR mirror  814  is centered on the blue wavelength. The upper surface of the n-GaN layer  810  includes an n-contact  818 . Note that the DBR mirror  814  could be replaced by epoxy, which would increase the escape cones for both wavelengths and the semiconductor-epoxy interface would act as a weak mirror (e.g., by means of fresnel reflectivity) to perform a weak micro-cavity effect, provided by the overall optical thickness in a number of λ/2 (including the metal dephasing of about λ/4). 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B  are cross-sectional views of the structure of LEDs according to the present invention, which include MCLEDs and phosphor layers. Each LED  900  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  902 , which is also used as a p-contact  904 , a p-GaN layer  906 , current-injected QWs layer  908 , n-GaN layer  910 , phosphor  912  (emitting in complementary colors), and DBR mirror  914  from which light  916  escapes, wherein the DBR mirror  914  is centered on the blue wavelength. The upper surface of the n-GaN layer  910  includes an n-contact  918 . 
   In this device, the phosphor  912  grains should be small enough to fit into a small order cavity. If only phosphor  912  is used on top of structure, with no mirror  914 , the result is a textured surface that results in disordered scattering, thanks to the granularity of the phosphor  912  and its index difference with the matrix. 
   In addition, instead of putting a DBR mirror  914  on the top of the structure, epoxy may be used, which will increase the escape cones for both wavelengths. Moreover, the semiconductor-epoxy interface acts as a weak mirror (e.g., by means of fresnel reflectivity) to create a weak micro-cavity effect, which is provided by the overall optical thickness of λ/2 (including the metal dephasing of about λ/4). 
     FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an LED according to the present invention, which includes an MCLED and side textured surfaces for guided mode extraction. The LED  1000  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  1002 , a doped first region  1004 , and an undoped second region  1006 . The doped first region  1004  includes a p-GaN layer  1008 , current-injected QWs layer  1010  and n-GaN layer  1012 . The undoped second region  1006  includes an undoped GaN layer  1014 , optically-pumped QWs layer  1016 , undoped GaN layer  1018 , and DBR mirror  1020 , wherein the DBR mirror  1020  is centered on the blue wavelength. The LED  1000  includes side textured surfaces  1022  and  1024  for lateral guided modes extraction. Note also that, in this structure, the optically-pumped QWs  1016  could be replaced by QDs, or any other source of light that can recycle the guided modes. 
   Simulation Results 
     FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an LED according to the present invention, which was used for the basis of simulation. The LED  1100  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  1102 , p-GaN layer  1104 , current-injected layer  1106 , n-GaN layer  1108 , optically-pumped layer  1110 , DBR mirror  1112  and epoxy  1114 . The high-reflectivity mirror  1102  is also used as a p-contact  1116 , while an n-contact  1118  is placed on the n-GaN layer  1108 . In this example, the size of the cavity for the device  1100  is 200 nm, and the position of the current-injected layer  1106  is λ/4 from the mirror  1102 . 
     FIGS. 12A–12B  are graphs showing the extraction percentage versus wavelength for the LED of  FIG. 11 , wherein  FIG. 12A  shows the emission from the current-injected layer, while  FIG. 12B  shows the emission from the optically-pumped layer. According to the graphs, the total light expected comprises 40% extraction in blue ( FIG. 12A ) and 18% extraction in yellow ( FIG. 12B ). 
     FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an LED according to the present invention, which was used for the basis of simulation. The LED  1300  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  1302 , p-GaN layer  1304 , current-injected layer  1306 , n-GaN layer  1308 , optically-pumped layer  1310 , DBR mirror  1312  and epoxy  1314 . The high-reflectivity mirror  1302  is also used as a p-contact  1316 , while an n-contact  1318  is placed on the n-GaN layer  1308 . In this example, the size of the cavity for the device  1300  is 510 nm, and the position of the current-injected layer  1306  is λ/4 from the mirror  1302 . 
     FIGS. 14A–14B  are graphs showing the extraction percentage versus wavelength for the LED of  FIG. 13 , wherein  FIG. 14A  shows the emission from the current-injected layer, while  FIG. 14B  shows the emission from the optically-pumped layer. According to the graphs, the total light expected comprises 38% extraction in blue ( FIG. 14A ) and 19% extraction in yellow ( FIG. 14B ). 
   Note that the results presented are subjected to many hypothesis such as the internal quantum efficiency of the optically-pumped layer, the internal and metal losses, etc. 
   The previous calculation was made for a structure with phosphor; thus, for the second step, the phosphor is simulated as multiple isotropic sources (one source every 20 nm, the number depending on the size of the cavity). The simulation also considered a blue emission at 470 nm and a photon recycling with a source emitting at 580 nm. 
     FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an LED according to the present invention, which was used for the basis of simulation. The LED  1500  includes a high-reflectivity mirror  1502 , p-GaN layer  1504 , current-injected layer  1506 , n-GaN layer  1508 , undoped GaN layer  1510 , optically-pumped layer  1512 , undoped GaN layer  1514 , DBR mirror  1516  and epoxy  1518 . The high-reflectivity mirror  1502  is also used as a p-contact  1520 , while an n-contact  1522  is placed on the n-GaN layer  1508 . The size of the cavity for the device  1500  is 510 nm, the position of the current-injected layer  1506  is λ/4 from the mirror  1502 , and the position of the optically-pumped layer  1512  is 300 nm from the DBR  1516 . 
     FIGS. 16A–16B  are graphs showing the extraction percentage versus wavelength for the LED of  FIG. 15 , wherein  FIG. 16A  shows the emission from the current-injected layer, while  FIG. 16B  shows the emission from the optically-pumped layer. According to the graphs, the total light expected comprises 35% extraction in blue ( FIG. 16A ) and 18% extraction in yellow ( FIG. 16B ). 
   Modifications and Variations 
   Instead of using quantum wells to recycle guided modes, many other types of highly photoluminescent materials may be used, such as:
         quantum dots,   phosphors,   dyes,   light emitting polymers,   light emitting molecules, or   InGaN (Zn:Si) with luminescence based on donor-acceptor pairs, as described above.       

   In addition, LEDs of different colors may be constructed by mixing complementary-color materials. Monocolor LEDs can also be improved by using QWs as the photo-pumped species, with the same or slightly downwards shifted energies. 
   When using QWs with poor efficiency due to internal electric fields, such as resulting from piezo effects in nitrides, a bias electrode may be used to enhance the internal quantum efficiency of that optically-pumped QWs without injecting current. 
   When the converted light does not have enough power to meet LED color requirements, current injection can be used in the so-called optically-pumped layers to increase intensity, either using a common set of electrodes with the main electrically pumped species or independent electrodes. 
   Although the present invention has described two-region structures, other structures may be used as well, so long as they are based on the concept of guided mode recycling. For example, three-region structures would recycle two main guided modes, and other multiple-region structures would operate in a like manner. 
   The advantage of photon recycling by adding layers versus micro-cavity effects or light randomization depends on variables such as internal losses, internal quantum efficiency, etc., which depend on the device under consideration. Still, the concepts of the present invention allow the use of a wide variety of excellent photoluminescent materials that are not amenable to high-efficiency electroluminescence. 
   All the concepts described herein are also applicable to LEDs based on other materials, and in particular, those leading to mono-color LEDs, such as those based on the GaAlInAsP materials system. The concepts described herein are also relevant to emitters and displays based on organic molecules and electroluminescent polymers, and their combinations to other materials. 
   REFERENCES 
   The following references are incorporated by reference herein: 
   1. I. Schnitzer, and E. Yablonovitch, “30% External Quantum Efficiency From Surface Textured, Thin Film Light Emitting Diode,” Applied Physics Letters 63, page 2174–2176, (1993). 
   2. M. Boroditsky, E. Yablonovitch, “Light extraction efficiency from light-emitting diodes,” Proceedings of the SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering, SPIE-Int. Soc. Opt. Eng., 3002. p. 119–122, 1997. 
   3. H. Benisty, H D. Neve, and C. Weisbuch, “Impact of planar micro-cavity effects on light extraction—basic concepts and analytical trends,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron, vol. 34, p. 1612 (1998). 
   4. D. Delbeke, R. Bockstaele, P. Bienstman, R. Baets, and H. Benisty, “High-efficiency Semiconductor Resonant-Cavity Light-Emitting diodes: A review,” IEEE J. on selected topic in Quantum Electron, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 189, (2002). 
   5. X. Guo, J. W. Graff, and E. F. Schubert, “Photon Recycling Semiconductor Light Emitting diode,” IEDM Technical Digest, IEDM-99, p. 600, 1999. 
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   7. U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,464, to Chin, issued Feb. 25, 2003, and entitled Stacked light-mixing LED. 
   8. U.S. Pat. No. 6,504,180, to Heremans, et al., issued Jan. 7, 2003, and entitled Method of manufacturing surface textured high-efficiency radiating devices and devices obtained therefrom. 
   9. U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,038, to Chen, et al., issued Dec. 19, 2000, and entitled White light-emitting diode and method of manufacturing the same. 
   10. U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,924, to Krames, et al., issued Jul. 14, 1998, and entitled Ordered interface texturing for a light emitting device. 
   11. U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,977, to Hunt, et al., issued Nov. 8, 1994, and entitled Single mirror light-emitting diodes with enhanced intensity. 
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   CONCLUSION 
   This concludes the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The foregoing description of one or more embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.