Green semipolar III-nitride light-emitting diodes grown by limited area epitaxy

The performance of multiple quantum well green and yellow semipolar light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is limited by relaxation of highly strained InGaN-based active regions and the subsequent formation of nonradiative defects. Limited area epitaxy was used to block glide of substrate threading dislocations and to reduce the density of misfit dislocations (MDs) directly beneath the active region of (2021) LEDs. Devices were grown and fabricated on a 1D array of narrow substrate mesas to limit the MD run length. Reducing the mesa width from 20 μm to 5 μm lowered the density of basal plane and non-basal plane MDs on the mesas and limited the number of defect-generating dislocation intersections. This improvement in material quality yielded a 73% enhancement in peak external quantum efficiency for the devices with the narrowest mesas compared to the devices with the widest mesas.