Full-color single nanowire pixels for projection displays

Multicolor single InGaN/GaN dot-in-nanowire light emitting diodes (LEDs) were fabricated on the same substrate using selective area epitaxy. It is observed that the structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN quantum dots depend critically on nanowire diameters. Photoluminescence emission of single InGaN/GaN dot-in-nanowire structures exhibits a consistent blueshift with increasing nanowire diameter. This is explained by the significantly enhanced indium (In) incorporation for nanowires with small diameters, due to the more dominant contribution for In incorporation from the lateral diffusion of In adatoms. Single InGaN/GaN nanowire LEDs with emission wavelengths across nearly the entire visible spectral were demonstrated on a single chip by varying the nanowire diameters. Such nanowire LEDs also exhibit superior electrical performance, with a turn-on voltage ∼2 V and negligible leakage current under reverse bias. The monolithic integration of full-color LEDs on a single chip, coupled with the capacity to tune light emission characteristics at the single nanowire level, provides an unprecedented approach to realize ultrasmall and efficient projection display, smart lighting, and on-chip spectrometer.