High-power and reliable GaN-based vertical light-emitting diodes on 4-inch silicon substrate

High-power and reliable GaN-based vertical light-emitting diodes (V-LEDs) on 4-inch silicon substrate were fabricated and characterized in this article. The metallization scheme reliability was improved by depositing the Pt/Ti films that surround the compressed Ag/TiW films to protect it from environmental humidity. We demonstrated that although current crowding in V-LEDs was not as severe as that in lateral light-emitting diodes (L-LEDs), high current density around the opaque metal n-electrode in V-LEDs remained a problem. A SiO₂ current blocking layer (CBL) was incorporated in V-LEDs to modify the current distribution. Roughening the emitting surface of V-LEDs with KOH and H₃PO₄ etchant was compared and the influence of surface roughening on the emission property of V-LEDs was studied. The high-power V-LEDs showed low forward voltage with small series resistance and high light output power (LOP) without saturation up to 1300 mA. Under 350 mA injection current, V-LEDs achieved an excellent light output power (LOP) of 501 mW with the peak emission wavelength at 453 nm. The prominent output performance of V-LEDs demonstrated in this work confirmed that integrating the optimized metallization scheme, SiO₂ CBL and surface texturing by KOH wet etching is an effective approach to higher performance V-LEDs.