ZnO transparent conductive electrodes embedded with Pt nanoclusters for high-efficiency GaN-based light-emitting diodes

ZnO transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) embedded with Pt nanoclusters were developed for the fabrication of reliable and efficient GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The 200-nmthick ZnO films sputtered on Pt nanoclusters showed good TCE performance, i.e., a specific contact resistance of ∼10⁻⁵ Ωcm², a sheet resistance of 50 Ω/sq, and an optical transmittance of 81.5% at 450 nm. LEDs fabricated with the ZnO TCEs embedded with Pt nanoclusters showed lower forward voltages and improved device reliability as compared to the reference LEDs fabricated with pure ZnO TCEs. This is attributed to the role of the interfacial Pt nanoclusters, suppressing the generation of sputtering surface damage on p-GaN and hence enhancing the carrier transport via Ohmic formation.