Transfer-printed yellow and red InGaN micro-LEDs on diamond for ultra-low-power high-speed optical interconnects.

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Materials Science
• Photonics

Background:

• Growing demand for high-speed, low-power computing necessitates advanced optical interconnects.
• Micro-light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) are promising candidates due to their high modulation bandwidth and low power consumption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize yellow and red InGaN micro-LEDs for high-speed, energy-efficient optical interconnects.
• To optimize micro-LED performance through advanced material engineering and fabrication techniques.

Main Methods:

• Superlattice strain engineering and a three-period quantum well design were employed to optimize InGaN micro-LEDs.
• Micro-LEDs were transfer-printed onto diamond substrates, and microlenses were fabricated using two-photon lithography for enhanced light coupling.
• Electrical-to-optical bandwidth and data transmission rates were measured using on-off keying (OOK) modulation over a fiber link.

Main Results:

• The 20 µm yellow micro-LED demonstrated an electrical-to-optical bandwidth of 2850.4 MHz.
• The 20 µm red micro-LED achieved a bandwidth of 2593.4 MHz.
• Yellow micro-LEDs achieved data rates of 1.5 Gbps with energy efficiencies as low as 0.056 pJ/bit.

Conclusions:

• Optimized InGaN yellow and red micro-LEDs show significant potential for high-speed, energy-efficient optical interconnects.
• The demonstrated performance highlights the viability of micro-LEDs for next-generation data transmission.