Simulation of metallic photonic crystal triangular arrays embedded in GaN light emitting diodes

The metallic photonic crystals (MPC) in gallium nitride (GaN) light-emitting diodes (LED) can exhibit photonic crystal band gaps and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomena. The simulation results are presented by using finite-different time-domain (FDTD) method. We designed the two-dimensional (2D) triangular arrays of metallic photonic crystals that are located on the p-GaN surface, ITO surface, inside the ITO layer, or inside the p-GaN layer to enhance the light extraction and thus improve the external quantum efficiency. The results included triangle array period parameter of 800 nm, fill factor (Rq) of 0.1, metallic thickness of 10 nm. It was shown that, for example, the light extraction efficiency was enhanced from 81.38% to 91.67% when the photonic crystal arrays were designed at 120 nm inside the ITO layer.