Vertical GaN Nanowires and Nanoscale Light-Emitting-Diode Arrays for Lighting and Sensing Applications

• Published in: ACS applied nano materials 2019-07, Vol.2 (7), p.4133-4142
• Main Authors: Mariana, Shinta, Gülink, Jan, Hamdana, Gerry, Yu, Feng, Strempel, Klaas, Spende, Hendrik, Yulianto, Nursidik, Granz, Tony, Prades, Joan Daniel, Peiner, Erwin, Wasisto, Hutomo Suryo, Waag, Andreas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2574-0970; 2574-0970
• DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.9b00587

For various lighting and monolithic sensor systems application, vertically aligned three-dimensional (3D) gallium nitride (GaN)- and indium gallium nitride (InGaN)/GaN-based LED nanowire arrays with sub-200 nm feature sizes (down to 35 nm) were fabricated using a nanosphere lift-off lithography (NSLL) technique combined with hybrid top-down etching (i.e., inductively coupled plasma dry reactive ion etching (ICP-DRIE) and wet chemical etching). Owing to the lithographic opening and well-controlled surface functionalization prior to the polystyrene nanosphere (PN) deposition, vertical GaN nanowire arrays with an area density of 9.74 × 108 cm–2 and an aspect ratio of >10 could be realized in a specified large area of 1.5 × 1.5 mm2. Optoelectrical characteristics of the nanoLEDs were further investigated in cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements, in which multiquantum well (MQW) shows a clear CL-emission at a wavelength of 465 nm. Thus, using NSLL to manufacture low-cost but highly ordered 3D GaN-based nanowires and nanoLEDs is a feasible alternative to other sophisticated but more expensive nanolithography methods.