Improvements in optical power and emission angle of blue light emitting diodes using patterned sapphire substrates with low threading dislocation densities

GaN blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a peak emission wavelength of approximately 461nm were fabricated on a c-face lens patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) and an unpatterened sapphire substrate (UPSS) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The crystal structure of an epitaxial GaN film was improved by using the PSS. The peak wavelengths with electroluminescence intensities of 462 and 464nm were measured for PSS and UPSS LEDs using a 20mA injection current. It was found that the electroluminescence intensity of the LEDs grown on the lens PSS was about 61% higher than that of the LEDs prepared on the UPSS. The emission angle of the PSS LED increased by 1.5 times compared with that of the UPSS LED. The luminous intensities of both LEDs increased similarly on both circular and square reflectors. The output power of the PSS LED was 33% greater than that of the LED UPSS. In addition, the reduction in full width at half maximum (FWHM) in the ω-scan rocking curves of GaN on the PSS suggested an improved crystal quality. These significant improvements in output power and emission angle resulted from the enhanced light extraction and the reduced threading dislocation (TD) density using the PSS method.