Blue Light-Emitting Diodes With an Embedded Native Gallium Oxide Pattern Structure

InGaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) were embedded by an insulated disk-array gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) pattern structure that was formed through a photoelectrochemical oxidation process on a GaN layer. A 4-μm-diameter native Ga₂O₃ pattern with a top air-void structure was observed in the lower undoped GaN layer acting as a lateral overgrowth mask and as a light scattering center. In the patterned-Ga₂ O₃ LED structure (PGO-LED), the light output power had an approximate 28% enhancement when compared to a conventional LED at 20 mA. In the PGO-LED structure, the lower piezoelectric field and the slightly higher internal quantum efficiency in the InGaN active layers were both measured through a bias-dependent and temperature-dependent microphotoluminescence measurement. The LED structure consists of Ga₂O₃ disk-array patterns with top air-void structures that increase external quantum efficiency for nitride-based LED applications.