Pandey et al.

Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Official journal of the JHL 2689-9620

https://doi.org/10.37188/lam.2023.031 www.light-am.com

Review Open Access

Recent progress on micro-LEDs

Ayush Pandey , Maddaka Reddeppa and Zetian Mi*

Abstract
With the advent of technologies such as augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) that are moving towards displays with
high efficiency, small size, and ultrahigh resolution, the development of optoelectronic devices with scales on the
order of a few microns or even smaller has attracted considerable interest. In this review article we provide an
overview of some of the recent developments of visible micron-scale light emitting diodes (LEDs). The major
challenges of higher surface recombination for smaller size devices, the difficulty in attaining longer emission
wavelengths, and the complexity of integrating individual, full color devices into a display are discussed, along with
techniques developed to address them. We then present recent work on bottom-up nanostructure-based sub-
micron LEDs, highlighting their unique advantages, recent developments, and promising potential. Finally, we
present perspectives for future development of micro-LEDs for higher efficiencies, better color output and more
efficient integration.
Keywords: LED, Micro-LED, Nanowire, GaN, Display

Introduction comparison of these technologies is shown in Table 1.

III-V semiconductor optoelectronic devices have been The pioneering technology for modern displays was
widely used in a variety of fields, such as in illumination, LCDs, using liquid crystals to block emission from a
displays, data communication, horticulture, and biological backlight, and colors were attained through color filters.
detection. To date, however, these applications required However, it had some limitations including color
individual devices to be relatively large, of the order of a saturation, slow response times and poor conversion
few hundred of microns or more, often driven by the need efficiency8,10. More importantly, a large fraction of the
to maximize the output power1–3. Now, the development of optical power generated from the backlight was being
advanced displays with ultrahigh resolution (e.g., >2,000 wasted in these displays as they were not self-emitting.
pixel per inch (PPI)), especially those for augmented and
LCD displays are also difficult to scale down to small sizes
virtual reality (AR and VR), makes it necessary to use
with high resolution. Therefore, displays moved towards
smaller device sizes for improving the resolution4.
more energy-efficient self-emitting displays comprised of
Biomedical and visible-light communication applications
LEDs, which could be either inorganic (e.g., III-nitride
of microscale light sources have also been of great interest
based) or organic LEDs. While OLEDs have been widely
recently4–7. The micro-LED devices would have the
benefits of higher self-emissive brightness, ultra-high adopted in displays, they are not without their limitations.
integration density, robustness and stability as compared to Primary among them is the limited brightness of OLEDs
existing technologies, such as liquid crystal displays (<1000 cd/m2) which is a major drawback. OLEDs also
(LCDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs)8. A suffer from an efficiency roll-off at higher injection
currents, resulting in significantly lower output power than
Correspondence: Zetian Mi ([email protected])
inorganic LEDs11. Furthermore, OLEDs need longer burn-
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University
of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA in times, and they are highly resistive, usually operating at

© The Author(s) 2023

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation,
distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a
link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article′s
Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article′s Creative Commons license and
your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 2 of 24

Table 1 Comparison between some candidate technologies for future display applications9.
Technology
Properties
Liquid Crystal Organic LED Quantum Dot Based Inorganic Micro-LED

Emission Backlit Self-emitting Self-emitting/Backlit Self-emitting

Luminance Low Medium Medium High

Contrast Poor High High High

Lifetime Long Medium Short/medium Long

Toxicity Low Low High Low

Response Time ms μs ns ns

Power Consumption High Medium Medium Low

Cost Low Medium Medium High

current densities on the order of mA/cm2 from Refs. 12–14. Table 2 Micro-LED size requirements for different
Moreover, it has remained challenging to achieve high PPI applications8, 22-25.
OLED displays due to the shadow effect of the fine metal Application LED Dimensions (in μm)
mask used to define pixels. It has also been difficult to
AR/VR 1-5
achieve high efficiency OLEDs at shorter emission
Wearables 5-30
wavelengths (higher energy photons), severely limiting the
performance of blue-emitting devices15–19. Generally Phones 5-50

speaking, the maximum operational temperature of OLEDs Televisions 20-80

is limited to 50-70 ˚C, and they have much shorter Automotive Displays 50-100
lifetimes than inorganic devices. These issues can be
Digital Displays 80-100
readily solved by using inorganic LEDs, which have
excellent stability, robustness, brightness, and long
lifetimes. Inorganic LEDs typically reach their peak recombination. This difference is magnified for devices in
efficiencies at current densities of ~0.1-100 A/cm2, making the micron and nanoscale, wherein even blue-emitting
them extremely bright with output luminance greater than devices struggle to attain high efficiencies.
100,000 cd/m2 from Ref. 20. – a necessity for high-power The low device efficiency has spawned great interest in
applications. These features have led to their widespread improving micro-LED performance, with many research
adoption in diverse applications such as general lighting, groups actively working in the field27–33. This has resulted in
automotives, horticulture and medicine21. a marked improvement in the device efficiency for small-
However, the above applications of inorganic LEDs are area blue InGaN LEDs, with most research work focusing
primarily suited for large-area devices, and at present the on techniques to effectively passivate the sidewalls of the
efficiencies of visible-emitting inorganic III-nitride micro- devices so as to reduce non-radiative surface
LEDs are extremely low, as compared to their larger area recombination. D. Hwang et al. reported an external
counterparts. This is of particular concern for future micro- quantum efficiency (EQE) of 40.2% for a device with a
LED display applications, which need small LED chip size of 10 μm × 10 μm in the blue spectrum34. A high EQE
sizes. The approximate maximum size requirements for of 20.2 ± 0.6% for blue micro-LEDs was reported very
individual micro-LEDs in some major applications are recently by a top-down approach, wherein a conventional
summarized in Table 28, 22–25. Further reductions in device multiple-quantum well epilayer LED heterostructure was
area would be beneficial in terms of lowering the cost of etched to form nano-rods that were then passivated using
the displays25. an SiO2-based sol-gel35. However, the successful
While the efficiency is inherently higher for shorter realization of high-efficiency small-area devices has not
wavelength blue-emitting devices26, it is significantly lower been replicated for green and red InGaN LEDs. A peak
for devices having longer wavelength green and red EQE of 14% for green micro-LEDs was demonstrated with
emissions, due to the generation of defects when growing a device size of 40 × 40 μm36. J.M. Smith et al. have
layers with high In composition and the stronger studied the effect of surface recombination on device size
polarization fields, that together deteriorate radiative for micro-LEDs with diameters between 1 μm and 30 μm.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 3 of 24

They measured a maximum EQE of ~7% for green micro- significantly less impacted by temperature due to the better
LEDs with device dimensions of 6 × 6 μm37. For devices quantum-confinement of charge carriers, as compared to
with red emission, P. Li et al. have examined in detail the AlInGaP devices, which improves their usability in
temperature dependent properties of red micro-LEDs with applications where heating can affect performance102.
an area of 60 μm × 60 μm, and a peak EQE of 3.2%38. They Finally, and most importantly, a lower surface recom-
have also demonstrated a red-emitting micro-LED with a bination velocity has been measured in the III-nitrides, as
tunnel junction contact, having a maximum EQE of 4.5%39. compared to AlInGaP, making them a preferable
Recently, Y.M. Huang et al. reported a 6 μm × 25 μm sized alternative for small-area devices103,104. This is due to the
red micro-LED with a peak EQE of 5.02%, with a focus increase in the dominant effect of surface recombination
for visible light communication applications40. A peak EQE for micro-LEDs especially those with dimensions < 5 μm,
of 1.75% has also been demonstrated for a device with which have a high surface-area to volume ratio.
2 μm diameter41. The EQE of some III-nitride based LEDs Instead of using a combination of III-V semiconductor
from literature, of different emission colors, are plotted in materials for emitting at different wavelengths, phosphors
Fig. 1 for varying device active areas26,29, 32–101. The EQE of and quantum dots have been proposed for color
the LEDs shows a drastic reduction when the area of the conversion. While this method might simplify the
production of displays, there are several technological
LEDs becomes smaller for all wavelengths. This reduced
challenges. To date, color converters suffer from low
efficiency greatly inhibits the commercialization of micro-
conversion efficiency, poor/non-uniform color due to
LED technology. The causes for this efficiency cliff will be
cross-talk, and size limitations8,105, which greatly limit their
discussed in the next section.
application for micron-scale devices. While phosphors can
Regarding the emission wavelength of devices,
be created with nanoscale particles, that could potentially
conventionally, the III-nitrides (AlInGaN) are more
be used in micro-LEDs, the reduced size of the particles
generally used for shorter wavelength blue-green emission,
results in a decrease of their color conversion efficiency106.
whereas the smaller bandgaps of AlInGaP alloys make
Quantum-dot based color conversion technologies are a
them better suited for yellow-red emission. However, promising alternative, especially to a mass-transfer
specifically for micro-LEDs, several factors have approach for micro-LED displays, however their
motivated the investigation of using InGaN to cover long- incorporation is also complicated with an increase in
wavelength red devices as well. Firstly, the bandgaps fabrication steps, and hence cost. Quantum dots are also
attainable through the InGaN material system can cover the known to suffer from saturation and degradation when
entire visible spectrum, which could enable full-color red- under illumination, which can also lead to leakage of the
green-blue (RGB) devices made from a single material. It light that is used for exciting them, thereby affecting the
has also been shown that InGaN-based LEDs are output color107,108. Furthermore, toxicity is a major concern
with quantum dots, as several of the compounds used for
Device lateral dimension (μm) making them are comprised of heavy metals, such as Pb
1 10 100 1000 and Cd9. Active research is being undertaken to address
NanoLED Micro-LED Mini-LED Conventional LED these problems, however, fundamentally, the fact that both
100
Blue InGaN LEDs quantum dot and phosphors involve the down-conversion
of short-wavelength blue light to attain longer wavelength
Green InGaN LEDs
10 green and red emission means that they would be
EQE (%)

ultimately less efficient than light sources that intrinsically

produce that color.
1 The above discussion highlights that despite their low
Red InGaN LEDs efficiencies, the prospect of creating monolithic RGB
LEDs makes III-nitride inorganic devices the foremost
0.1 approach for future micro-LED display technology. This
10−1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 review article firstly discusses the unique challenges
Device area (μm ) 2
associated with III-nitride micro-LEDs, including their
Fig. 1 EQE of some III-nitride blue, green and red LEDs reported in fabrication, the difficulties in attaining longer emission
the literature, plotted against the device active area26, 29, 32-98, showing a wavelengths such as green and red, as well as their
drastic reduction of the efficiency with reducing device dimensions.
integration into displays. We then discuss the novel
Our previous work is indicated by the stars64, 65, 98-101.
nanostructure-based approach by which several of these
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 4 of 24

outstanding issues can be addressed. Our work on high- size. This study emphasized the main challenge associated
efficiency green micro-LEDs is then presented, including with top-down micro-LEDs – mitigating the impact of
initial Ga-polar tunnel-junction devices, to more recent plasma damage induced defects in the near-surface region.
high-efficiency excitonic N-polar green submicron LEDs. Several methods have been investigated to recover from
This is followed by our work on developing N-polar sub- the plasma etch induced damage, including annealing,
micron scale red InGaN LEDs. Subsequently, the use of exposure to nitrogen plasma, wet chemical etching, and
photonic crystals to address the color purity of InGaN surface treatments. It has been found that thermal
micro-LEDs is considered, with a demonstration for green annealing can reduce crystallographic damage in the near-
micro-LED devices, along with their use for creating surface region, partially recovering the device
photonic crystal surface emitting lasers. The versatility of characteristics115,116. Extending the duration of the annealing
nanostructure devices is then further exemplified through a was shown to have further beneficial effects on crystal
demonstration of green-emitting devices directly on non- quality, however it would also result in the decomposition
native silicon substrates, as well as the realization of multi- of the active region, affecting the emission wavelength and
color pixels monolithically grown in a single epitaxy step. luminescence efficiency. It was shown that through the
Finally, we conclude with a summary of the major combination of thermal annealing with a step where the
roadblocks and outlook for nanostructure-based III-nitride etched surface was exposed to N2 plasma, the surface
optoelectronic devices. stoichiometry was improved and the device characteristics
could be recovered117. Hydrogen plasma treatment has been
Challenges of Micro-LEDs shown to enhance the peak EQE by 1.4 times in InGaN-
based green micro-LEDs. This was attributed to the
Plasma Etching – Effect on LED efficiency deactivation of Mg acceptors around the device mesa,
The primary reason for the efficiency cliff, i.e., the which inhibited the injection of charge carriers along the
degradation in LED efficiency with decreasing lateral region with a high density of surface defects56. Surface
dimension, is the increased surface recombination when the treatments immediately after mesa etching have been
device areal sizes are reduced. Conventional top-down studied, including using atomic layer deposition (ALD) for
processing of III-V devices requires a plasma etch step to depositing a dielectric Al2O3, or an (NH4)2S treatment,
define the device mesas, however this also results in severe which can effectively passivate surface states57,118. Blue-
surface damage along the periphery of the mesas, forming emitting InGaN micro-LEDs with an EQE of ~20.2% have
crystal defects and dangling bonds and also introducing been obtained by sol-gel SiO2 passivation, which was
impurities37,42,49,109. The surface defects created through this shown to be over two times more effective than SiO2
process play a major role on the carrier injection properties, deposited using plasma-enhanced ALD35. The low-
especially when the ratio of surface area to volume is high, temperature sol-gel deposition approach avoided exposing
as in the case of micro-LEDs. Further, the non-radiative the device sidewalls to thermal or plasma effects that occur
surface recombination depends strongly on the material in ALD, thereby minimizing any additional surface or
properties. In this regard, the III-nitrides are more structural defect creation that could occur due to atomic
promising candidates, as compared to AlInGaP devices, for reactions. Through a combination of chemical treatment
long wavelength micro-LEDs due to their significantly and sidewall passivation, M.S. Wang et. al. reported device
reduced surface recombination velocities103. The large size-independent peak EQE of micro-LEDs119. Finally, wet
variation in the reported surface recombination velocities is etching, typically using KOH, was shown to be effective in
likely due to different fabrication procedures and the removing leakage paths formed during the plasma etch
different In compositions of the active regions in the step. It was found that the device performance could be
samples studied. The plasma etch step has a detrimental recovered after wet etching ~50-60 nm of the
impact on the p-doped layer, where exposure to plasma semiconductor, indicating the extent of plasma damage to
results in an N-deficient near-surface region. These point the crystal, however this depth would also be affected by
defects typically compensate the Mg acceptors, resulting in conditions of the plasma etch120,121. In addition, this method
a low free hole concentration that can impact the charge is not selective, attacking even non-etched regions of the
transport properties of the device110–114. To show the effect device, as well as any metal contacts. However, despite
of plasma etching, J. M. Smith et al. studied the size- these extensive studies, the efficiency of micro-LEDs
dependent characteristics of blue and green InGaN micro- fabricated utilizing the conventional top-down etching
LEDs. Their investigation revealed that the EQE drops off process remains quite limited, especially for green and red
drastically when the device is scaled below 10 μm in lateral devices.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 5 of 24

Long-Wavelength InGaN Epitaxy improving the crystal quality52,132. This method greatly
There is a large lattice mismatch between the constituent helped in red-shifting the emission wavelength, however
binary compounds of InGaN alloys – InN and GaN have a the efficiency remained below 2%, even for larger area 400
lattice mismatch of ~10%122. This makes it extremely μm × 400 μm devices. Another similar technique to relax
difficult to grow high-quality InGaN epilayers with strain involved the growth of a superlattice beneath the
emission in the green and red regions of the visible active region, which also assisted in increasing the In
spectrum, due to the tendency of InGaN to form defects content of the InGaN active region45,133.
and dislocations123,124. The low miscibility of InGaN alloys Pseudo-substrates, created by selectively performing
also causes significant phase separation for high In content electrochemical etching of doped GaN layers to form
alloys, which results in broad luminescence peaks that porous layers, were shown to be an effective tool to relax
make it hard to achieve pure red emission125. Another epitaxial films46,66,134. While red micro-LEDs have been
consequence of the lattice mismatch is that the grown demonstrated with this method, the fabrication process is
InGaN epilayers would also be under a large compressive quite complex, requiring a regrowth of the LED on the
strain, and the resulting strong piezoelectric field spatially substrate after it has been made porous. Further, the porous
separates the electron and hole wavefunctions51. The nature of the substrate creates problems with electrical
reduced overlap of the carrier wavefunctions limits stability, reliability, and thermal conduction. Utilizing this
radiative carrier recombination, further reducing the approach, micro-LEDs with areas of up to 6 μm × 6 μm
internal quantum efficiency (IQE). The emission color of were shown, with an on-wafer EQE of ~0.2%.
the generated light also depends on the injected carrier Recently, semi-relaxed InGaN pseudo-substrates have
density. At low carrier injections where the piezoelectric been investigated for the growth of the LED structure,
polarization fields cause severe band bending, the emission where an InGaN layer first grown on GaN is separated
energy is lower than the bandgap of the alloy. At higher from the substrate using Smart Cut™ technology, and then
injection currents, where the injected carriers can screen transferred onto a sapphire substrate with SiO2-SiO2
the polarization fields, thereby flattening the bands, the bonding70. The subsequent device structure growth is done
emission wavelength shifts closer to the bandgap. This on the InGaN pseudo-substrate layer, which has a lattice
quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) implies a current constant more closely matched to the red-emitting InGaN
dependance for the emission color, limiting the applicable active region. The quality of the transferred pseudo-
brightness range of practical color devices126,127. substrates and their p-type doping, however, remain
Various methods have been developed to enable obstacles affecting device performance and yield.
efficient red emission of InGaN. High-efficiency large-area Strain relaxation was also achieved through the partial
red and orange LEDs were demonstrated by implementing decomposition of an InGaN underlayer beneath the active
V-pits to relax compressive strain, thereby helping to region135–137. This method did not involve additional
increase indium incorporation80,128,129. The V-pits are usually fabrication steps, and only used thermal annealing of an
formed at the start of the growth of the low temperature InGaN decomposition layer grown beneath a high
layer, extending through the active region. They can help temperature InGaN/GaN superlattice decomposition stop
enhance the injection of carriers, as holes can be layer. The high temperature caused voids to form in the
transported from the semi-polar facets of the V-pit into the InGaN decomposition layer, helping to relax the
deeper quantum wells. With the use of this technique, an InGaN/GaN superlattice, as well as the subsequent active
EQE of 24% was attained for a large-area 1 mm2 LED region growth. While this technique is quite promising, the
having emission at 608 nm. However, while the average defects and surface roughness as a result of the high
size and density of V-pits can be somewhat controlled, temperature growth and annealing are problems that need
their location cannot, which is a major detriment to their to be addressed, which have so far limited the device EQE
inclusion in small-area micro-LEDs, where individual to below 1%.
devices may randomly contain a few of them.
The large compressive strain in InGaN impacts indium Integration of micro-LEDs into displays
incorporation into the crystal lattice, making it difficult to To date, the integration of individual, multi-color micro-
achieve long wavelength green and red emission130,131. LEDs into a high-resolution display has remained a major
Several groups have attempted to address this challenge by challenge. A single pixel contains at least three different
deliberately relaxing the strain within the active region. A color LEDs (RGB), while displays contain several million
thick underlying n-GaN buffer layer was shown to reduce pixels. VR applications require a pixel density of at least
residual in-plane stress of the InGaN active region, 60 pixels per degree (PPD) to match the visual acuity of a
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 6 of 24

human with 20/20 visual acuity. Practical headsets would achieving high efficiency micro-LEDs. The bottom-up
require a field of view of at least 100 degrees, which approach to growing nano or micro-LEDs precludes the
corresponds to a 6K screen resolution. Considering that need for plasma etching of the active region to define
typical headsets would have dimensions of the order of device mesas, as in the case of conventional top-down
2 inches, these screens would require pixel densities in LEDs, thereby avoiding the creation of surface defects.
excess of 3000 PPI138. Further, glasses-like AR displays Both metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)
would likely require even higher densities23,24,138, and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been used for the
necessitating small LED chip sizes, as shown in Table 2. growth of nanostructures on a variety of lattice mismatched
In a display, pixels are arranged in an array, and driven substrates with dislocation-free crystals, greatly enhancing
in either a passive or active-matrix configuration. Both the quantum efficiency of charge carrier recombina-
configurations use row and column interconnect lines to tion3,27, 142–162. The high surface area to volume ratio during
select a line and apply the appropriate driving voltage crystal epitaxy is also beneficial for strain relaxation and
(current) to the pixels in that line. This is done at a high promoting the incorporation of indium in InGaN
frequency so that the eye perceives a single image across layers163–165. Nanostructures have an enhanced dopant
the display. The primary difference between the two incorporation, due to strain relaxation, which is crucial to
techniques is that while the individual LEDs in a passive maximizing injection efficiency in LEDs166–169. The
matrix array are switched on for a short period of time, incorporation of wide-bandgap AlGaN in InGaN
however, the presence of a charge storage capacitor in nanostructures also results in the spontaneous formation of
active-matrix arrays allow for the devices to stay on until a core-shell structure, with the wider bandgap material
the value assigned to them is updated. This enables forming the shell, thereby shielding the low bandgap active
significantly higher brightness at similar input currents for region from the effects of surface recombination146.
active matrix displays. However, the additional backplane Selective area epitaxy (SAE) of nanostructures has been
transistors needed for active-matrix displays using micro- demonstrated, using both MBE and MOCVD, which
LEDs require micro-CMOS circuitry. This is typically allows for precisely defining the dimensions, shape,
achieved through a transfer process. Traditional pick-and- morphology, and placement of the nanostructures prior to
place methods for integration would struggle to handle epitaxy170–176. The growth involves a precise control of
such large quantities of devices while maintaining high growth conditions to allow crystal formation only in areas
throughput, yield, and precision. Further, the large number where the substrate is exposed, with no growth occurring in
of devices makes it imperative to develop effective the mask region covering the substrate elsewhere. The
methods for defect identification, testing and mitigation. morphology of the growth has been shown to depend
While pick-and-place would remain viable in applications critically on growth conditions, as well as the condition of
with low PPI requirements, for emerging technologies the substrate. K. Kishino et al. studied the selective-area
requiring high PPI, such as AR/VR, the placement of the growth of InGaN/GaN nanowires using MBE177–181, and
devices and their yield are major challenges with pick-and- demonstrated multi-color (red, green, blue, yellow) pixels
place mass transfer139. monolithically grown on a substrate. By varying the
Direct wafer-scale mass transfer can enable wafer-to- dimensions of the nanowires, the emission wavelengths of
wafer or die-to-wafer assembly, greatly simplifying the InGaN/GaN nanowires could be tuned through the entire
fabrication process. This monolithic integration of the visible spectrum. Their work demonstrated how the
LEDs onto complementary metal-oxide semiconductor emission wavelength of nanostructures depends on their
(CMOS) and low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) dimensions, as well as configuration in an array – where
backplanes has been demonstrated for producing screens of the effect of shadowing of material during epitaxy can
different sizes and resolutions140,141. However, so far these affect composition. L. Samuelson et al., studied selective-
displays have only been in a single color, with the area growth of micron-scale and smaller platelets,
expectation that color-converting quantum dots could be pyramids and nanowires using MOCVD, especially for
potentially integrated into them for making a full-color their application in micro-LEDs182,183. T. Wang et al.
display. demonstrated a peak EQE of ~9% for a green LED array,
grown using selective area epitaxy, wherein the diameter of
Nanostructure-based Micro-LEDs individual devices was ~3.6 μm33,44. They further
Considering the challenges facing micro-LED demonstrated red-emitting micro-LEDs using this method
efficiency, integration and long-wavelength operation, with a peak EQE of 1.75%41. In addition, they
nanostructures offer an alternative path and solution for monolithically integrated a high-electron-mobility
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 7 of 24

transistor (HEMT) with a micro-LED, to target high-speed the emission spectral broadening can be greatly reduced.
visible-light communication applications184. A record This approach has been further exploited in the design and
modulation bandwidth of 1.2 GHz was measured from the fabrication of nanostructure-based surface emitting lasers,
monolithically integrated bottom-up device, showcasing i.e., photonic crystal surface emitting lasers (PCSELs).
the possibilities of bottom-up device epitaxy and Finally, the unique growth process of nanostructures can
fabrication. enable their easy integration onto a variety of substrates,
A schematic of the SAE process used in plasma-assisted which could be utilized to monolithically integrate the
molecular beam epitaxy is shown in Fig. 2a. Through this micro-LED devices with circuitry comprising of different
process, highly uniform arrays can be grown over materials, such as silicon and SiOx188,189.
relatively large areas, shown in Fig. 2b. The composition of
the alloys can be readily tuned by adjusting the ratio of the High Efficiency Green Micro-LEDs
metal fluxes for the constituent elements (In and Ga). Strong green emission has previously been demonstrated
Photoluminescence spectra from nanostructures grown from nanowires grown using plasma-assisted molecular
using this method are shown in Fig. 2c, with emission beam epitaxy (PA-MBE)100,142,158,190,191. To fabricate micro-
covering the entire visible spectrum. As the incorporation LED devices, nanowire arrays were patterned on Ga-polar
of In depends strongly on the arrangement of GaN-on-sapphire substrates for SAE using a thin 10 nm Ti
nanostructures, due to effects such as adatom migration mask layer100. Electron beam lithography was used to etch
and flux shadowing from adjacent structures, through this vias defining the injection openings into this layer. Then,
method multiple different InGaN emission colors can be using optimized growth conditions for high selectivity of
attained2,177,185. growth (growth only in the openings where GaN is
The arrangement of the nanostructures can also be set exposed), a multiple quantum disk InGaN/AlGaN LED
such that they form a photonic crystal or metasurface was grown. Following the active region, a p-AlGaN
structure186,187. By carefully designing the photonic crystal, electron blocking layer was grown to reduce electron
the emission properties of the nanostructures formed within overflow. High resolution TEM images show that this
them can be enhanced – the light extraction efficiency can AlGaN layer, along with the AlGaN barriers in the active
be increased, emission could be made more directional, and region, form a shell around the InGaN active region. The

ires
Nanow
a
nings
ire ope
Ti mask EBL Nanow Nanowire
AG
deposition k for S patterning growth
Ti mas

i
aN:S
lar G
N-po

b c
Normalized intensity (a.u.)

1 μm
450 500 550 600 650
Wavelength (nm)
Fig. 2 a Schematic of the SAE process for the growth of nanostructures. This figure has been adapted with permission of the Chinese Laser Press,
from the Ref. 65: A. Pandey et al., “Strain-engineered N-polar InGaN nanowires: towards high-efficiency red LEDs on the micrometer scale”,
Photonics Research, vol. 10, no. 12, pp. 2809-2815, 2022. b SEM image of an array of nanowires grown using SAE. c PL spectra measured from
various InGaN/GaN nanowire arrays covering the visible spectrum.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 8 of 24

presence of the high bandgap Al-rich shell greatly reduced shown in Fig. 3c. Furthermore, as the micro-LEDs were
the impact of surface recombination on the nanostructures, fabricated in arrays of nanowires, with individual
which should already be low due to the absence of any nanowires having identical emission and morphology,
plasma etching steps. An n++/p++ GaN tunnel junction there were relatively small variations in the normalized
contact layer was also incorporated above the p-GaN layer EQE of different area devices formed in the same array,
to improve the hole injection to the active region. shown in Fig. 3d.
To fabricate the nanowires into micro-LEDs, nanowire
arrays were first filled with Al2O3 deposited by ALD, N-Polar Green Micro-LEDs
which was then etched back to reveal the top of the Recently N-polar nanostructure-based LEDs have gained
nanowires. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition significant attention. Previous work on bottom-up
(PECVD) was then used for depositing a thick SiO2 nanostructure micro-LEDs was primarily aimed toward
insulation layer. Stepper lithography was used to etch materials with metal polarity. In metal-polar devices with
injection vias into the SiO2 layer to define the active area conventional structures having the p-type layer on top of
of the devices. Finally metal contacts were deposited and the active region, the polarization fields inhibit carrier
annealed. Fabricated devices exhibited relatively good I-V injection to the active region, resulting in severe electron
characteristics, and strong green electroluminescence (EL), overflow/leakage and nonradiative parasitic recombination
as shown in Fig. 3a. As the growth of the InGaN was outside of the device active region that diminishes device
primarily along the semi-polar facets of the Ga-polar efficiency146, 149, 192–194. Further, the tip of metal-polar
nanowires, the reduced polarization fields resulted in a nanowires has a faceted morphology that complicates
small wavelength shift with injection current, with EL device fabrication, unlike N-polar nanowires that have flat
spectra at different currents plotted in Fig. 3b. For micro- top surfaces195. The reversed polarization fields present in
LEDs having an area of 3 μm × 3 μm, a maximum EQE of N-polar devices are also beneficial to charge carrier
~5.5% was measured at a current density of ~3.4 A/cm2, injection and can greatly improve device emission

300 1.0
a b
250
Current density (A/cm2)

200
EL intensity (a.u.)

34.4 A/cm2
150 0.5
100
1.25 A/cm2
50

0
0
0 2 4 6 8 500 550 600
Voltage (V) Wavelength (nm)
6 2.0
c 400 d
5
1.5
Normalized EQE (a.u.)

4 300
Power (nW)
EQE (%)

3 1.0
200
2
100 0.5
1

0 0 0
0 10 20 30 0 2 4 6 8 10
Current density (A/cm2) Lateral dimension (μm)
Fig. 3 a J-V of a fabricated green-emitting TJ micro-LED. The inset shows a device under operation. b EL spectra measured at different injection
currents for the device. c EQE and output power vs. current density for a high-efficiency green micro-LED. d Normalized EQE vs lateral
dimension for different devices. This figure has been reprinted from Ref. 100: X. Liu et al., “High efficiency InGaN nanowire tunnel junction
green micro-LEDs”, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 119, no. 14, p. 141110, 2021., with the permission of AIP Publishing.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 9 of 24

characteristics at high current injection192. N-polar InGaN injection vias in the insulating SiO2 layer at the sub-micron
has been shown to have a higher decomposition scale. The inset of Fig. 5a shows an SEM image of the
temperature than its metal-polar counterpart, which can injection window for a sub-micron device which consisted
make higher growth temperatures possible, resulting in of only four nanowires. Fabricated devices showed
improved material quality196,197. negligible reverse leakage current, as plotted in Fig. 5a.
Taking advantage of these benefits, high efficiency N- The turn-on voltage of the device could be reduced in
polar green nanowire sub-micron scale LEDs have been future work by optimizing the device fabrication process.
demonstrated. To ensure the N-polarity of the grown Fig. 5b plots the EL spectra from the device at different
nanowires, an N-polar GaN substrate was used for seeding injection currents. The main emission peak is at ~530 nm,
the initial nanowire nucleation. Over a base n-GaN and it remained stable with varying injection current.
segment, a six-period InGaN quantum disk/AlGaN barrier Green emission was observed from a sub-micron device
active region was grown, followed by a p-type AlGaN under operation, even under room-light illumination,
electron blocking layer and a p-GaN contact layer. A shown in the inset of Fig. 5b. The variation of the
schematic of the nanowires and their structure is shown in measured output power with injection current is plotted in
Fig. 4a. SEM images of the nanowires following growth Fig. 5c, and the EQE vs. injection current in Fig. 5d. The
confirm the uniform morphology and flat top surface, EQE reached a maximum of ~11% at a relatively low
shown in Fig. 4b. Similar to studies on Ga-polar structures, current density of 0.83 A/cm2. The low current
an AlGaN shell was formed, protecting the active region corresponding to the peak EQE suggests that the non-
from surface recombination. This was confirmed with radiative SRH recombination is minimal in the devices .
elemental mapping of the active region, presented in This confirmed both the excellent material quality, as well
Fig. 4c, for In and Al. High resolution atomic-scale images as the benefits of the bottom-up fabrication process which
shown in Fig. 4d also confirmed the N-polarity of the avoided exposing the active region to plasma damage.
grown nanowires. The structure of the quantum wells formed in the
To fabricate devices using the above nanowire arrays, nanowire are also of extreme interest, as previous work has
they were planarized using Al2O3 deposited by ALD and shown that InGaN insertions in N-polar GaN nanowires
SiO2 deposited by PECVD. Lithography was used to define tend to form a faceted surface to facilitate strain

a
p-GaN

p-AlGaN

AlGaN barrier
×6
InGaN quantum disk

n-GaN

N-polar n-GaN-on-sapphire substrate

b c In d
[0001]
-

Al

1 nm
500 nm
50 nm
Fig. 4 a Schematic and device structure of N-polar green micro-LEDs. b SEM image of an array of InGaN/GaN nanowires. c Elemental mapping
of the active region in the nanowires for In and Al. d High resolution atomic scale image of the nanowire, confirming the N-polar orientation. This
figure has been reproduced with permission of the Chinese Laser Press, from the Ref. 99: X. Liu et al., “N-polar InGaN nanowires: breaking the
efficiency bottleneck of nano and micro LEDs”, Photonics Research, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 587-593, 2022.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 10 of 24

5
350 a b
300 4

Current density (A/cm2)

2 μm
250 27.9 A/cm2

Intensity (a.u.)
3
200
150 19.3 A/cm2
2
100
5.95 A/cm2
200 nm 1
50
0 0.89 A/cm2
0
−8 −6 −4 −2 0 2 4 6 8 450 500 550 600
Voltage (V) Wavelength (nm)
12
40 c d
10

30 8
Power (nW)

EQE (%)
20 6

4
10
2
0
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 0.1 1 10 100
Current density (A/cm2) Current density (A/cm2)
Fig. 5 a J-V of a fabricated N-polar green-emitting submicron scale LED. The inset shows an SEM image of an injection window that forms a
submicron device. b EL spectra from a submicron LED measured at different injection currents. The inset is an optical microscope image of an
operating device under room light illumination. Plots of measured c output power and d EQE with current density for the submicron LED. This
figure has been reproduced with permission of the Chinese Laser Press, from the Ref. 99: X. Liu et al., “N-polar InGaN nanowires: breaking the
efficiency bottleneck of nano and micro LEDs”, Photonics Research, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 587-593, 2022.

relaxation27, 198–200. These facets are formed along the semi- binding energy in the faceted regions201–203. The improved
polar planes, with different indium compositions, resulting excitonic recombination can greatly reduce nonradiative
in a complex geometry for the active region. The benefits Shockley-Reed-Hall recombination and therefore enhance
of strain relaxation and highly confined InGaN active device efficiency.
regions along the facets can localize charge carriers, These nanowires were fabricated into submicron scale
promoting excitonic recombination, potentially further devices using the process described above. The inset of
increasing the peak EQE of the device. This advantage has Fig. 7a shows a submicron injection window, similar to
been harnessed recently to realize high efficiency excitonic that used in the device. The designed area of the submicron
green submicron scale nanowire LEDs98. Fig. 6a-c show LED is ~750 nm × 750 nm. The J-V characteristic of the
TEM images of nanowires, along with high resolution fabricated device is shown in Fig. 7a, with low reverse
images at the center and the facets for the InGaN active current leakage. The inset of Fig. 7b shows a camera image
region within the nanowire. Elemental maps of the Ga and of a submicron device at high injection current, with bright
In ratio at different positions along the radius of the green emission. A microscope image of the device
nanowire showed an increase in indium composition for operating at low injection is shown in Fig. 7c. The
the growth along the semi-polar facets. The extent of variations of EQE and WPE vs. current density are plotted
faceting is a consequence of the growth conditions and the in Fig. 7b, c, respectively. The excitonic nature of
dimensions of the nanowires, which must be controlled to recombination promoted a high efficiency, especially at
tune the emission properties from the facets177,198. The high low current injections, as measured here with a peak EQE
indium composition and low strain in the faceted InGaN of 25.2%. The corresponding peak WPE was 20.7%,
regions200 is essential for promoting carrier recombination suggesting efficient carrier injection. At higher injection
within them, especially at low current injection. Further, currents, when the carrier density exceeds the Mott density,
these factors also improve the electron-hole wavefunction Coulombic screening would cause the excitons to
overlap, increasing the exciton oscillator strength and disassociate204 and free carrier (electron and hole)
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 11 of 24

This study brought excitons to the foreground in the

a b
search for routes to overcome the efficiency bottleneck of a
broad range of nanoscale optoelectronic and quantum
devices including LEDs, lasers, detectors, and single
5 nm photon source, to name a few. It also opens up another
avenue in tuning the dimensions of the grown nanowires –
c which are crucially responsible for the extent of strain
relaxation and faceting, thereby affecting excitonic
recombination.
100 nm
5 nm N-polar Sub-micron Red LEDs
As N-polar green emitting submicron LEDs showed
0.20 d Edge of nanowire Between excellent performance, the next step was extending them
Atomic fraction of indium

center
and edge
towards longer wavelength in the red64. Firstly, a relatively
0.15
Center thick InGaN segment was used to minimize the QCSE. An
0.10 p-GaN of wire n-GaN
in-situ anneal at a temperature 50°C higher than the growth
0.05 temperature of the InGaN segment was incorporated to
improve the emission intensity of the active region. Such
0 Active region
an anneal step had previously been demonstrated to greatly
0 20 40 60 80 100
Position (nm) enhance the luminescence by reducing the density of
Fig. 6 a STEM HAADF image of nanowires comprising an excitonic defects205,206. Here, an order of magnitude increase in the
micro-LED. High-resolution HAADF images of the InGaN quantum photoluminescence emission was measured from the
disk active region from b the center of the nanowire and c near the device active region using the in-situ anneal, as shown in
sidewalls of the nanowire. d Atomic fraction of indium plotted along Fig. 8a. TEM of grown nanowires in Fig. 8b showed a
the growth direction in different regions of the nanowire. This figure
thick InGaN active region, and elemental mapping
has been reprinted with permission from Ref. 98: A. Pandey et al.,
“An Ultrahigh Efficiency Excitonic Micro-LED”, Nano Letters, vol.
nanowires in Fig. 8c, plotted along the growth direction,
23, no. 5, pp. 1680-1687, Mar 8, 2023. Copyright 2023 American confirmed the presence of graded interfaces, suggesting
Chemical Society. that there was significant In inhomogeneity due to effects
such as composition pulling and In diffusion. This would
explain the broad FWHM of the emission.
recombination from the central region of the nanowire Red-emitting micro-LEDs were then fabricated,
(away from the facets) would dominate, and this effect following the process as the green N-polar submicron
contributes to the sharp decline of efficiency above devices. The J-V characteristics of a 750 nm × 750 nm area
0.3 A/cm2. device are plotted in Fig. 9a, showing a sharp turn-on at

a 102 b c
25
20
101
Current density (A/cm2)

20
15
100 250 nm
15
WPE (%)
EQE (%)

10−1 10
10
10−2 5
5
10−3
0 0
−6 −4 −2 0 2 4 6 8 0.1 1 10 100 0.1 1 10 100
Voltage (V) Current density (A/cm2) Current density (A/cm2)
Fig. 7 a J-V characteristic of the excitonic green micro-LED. The SEM image in the inset shows a submicron device injection window. b EQE and
c WPE vs. current density for the device. The inset of b shows a camera image of an operational device at high current injection. The inset of
c shows an optical microscope image of a device at low current injection. This figure has been reprinted with permission from Ref. 98: A. Pandey
et al., “An Ultrahigh Efficiency Excitonic Micro-LED”, Nano Letters, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 1680-1687, Mar 8, 2023. Copyright 2023 American
Chemical Society.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 12 of 24

a 1.2 b c 100
Annealed Ga
1.0 sample 80
p-GaN n-GaN

Atomic fraction (%)

0.8
Active
Counts (a.u.)

60
region
0.6
40
0.4

20
0.2 Non-annealed
×5 In
0 50 nm 0
550 600 650 700 0 50 100 150 200
Wavelength (nm) Position (nm)
Fig. 8 a PL spectra for a non-annealed sample and a sample with in-situ annealing. b TEM image showing the location of Ga and In atoms in the
nanowire crystal. c Plot of the elemental map of In and Ga along the growth direction. This figure has been reproduced with permission of the
Chinese Laser Press, from the Ref. 64: A. Pandey, Y. Malhotra, P. Wang, K. Sun, X. Liu, and Z. Mi, “N-polar InGaN/GaN nanowires: overcoming
the efficiency cliff of red-emitting micro-LEDs”, Photonics Research, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1107-1116, 2022.

a b c 1.2
1.0
10 2 6 A/cm2
1.0
0.8
Current density (A/cm )

101
2

0.8
Counts (a.u.)

100 0.6

EQE (%)
0.6
10−1
0.4
0.4
10−2

10−3 0.2 0.2

10−4 0.5 A/cm2 0

0
−8 −4 0 4 8 500 550 600 650 700 750 1 10 100
Voltage (V) Wavelength (nm) Current density (A/cm2)
Fig. 9 a J-V characteristics of a red submicron LED. b EL spectra of the InGaN/GaN micro-LED measured at different injection currents.
c Variation of the EQE vs. injection current density. This figure has been reproduced with permission of the Chinese Laser Press, from the Ref. 64:
A. Pandey, Y. Malhotra, P. Wang, K. Sun, X. Liu, and Z. Mi, “N-polar InGaN/GaN nanowires: overcoming the efficiency cliff of red-emitting
micro-LEDs”, Photonics Research, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1107-1116, 2022.

~2.5 V, with negligible reverse leakage current. Injection- SPSL in conventional planar quantum well devices207–209.
dependent EL spectra for the device have been plotted in The benefits of the SPSL layer for strain relaxation can be
Fig. 9b, confirming the peak emission at ~620 nm at low further enhanced with the use of nanostructures, due to the
injection currents. At higher injection currents a blue-shift increased surface area to volume ratio, thereby allowing for
was seen in the EL peak, as is expected due to the QCSE. more efficient red emission.
The EQE vs. current density has been plotted in Fig. 9c, A four-period InGaN (8 nm)/GaN (8 nm) SPSL was
showing a peak of ~1.2% at a current density of 0.5 A/cm2. included in InGaN/GaN nanowires through which it was
This was the first demonstration of a submicron scale red possible to significantly red-shift the PL emission from an
micro-LED, and the efficiency attained was significantly InGaN dot active region, as shown in Fig. 10a. Micro-LED
better than conventional top-down fabricated micro-LEDs devices fabricated on nanowires with the incorporated
with areas of 100 μm2 or smaller at the time of this work. SPSL showed excellent J-V characteristics, seen in
To further improve the nanowire-based red micro-LEDs, Fig. 10b. The variation of the EQE and WPE with current
an InGaN/GaN short-period superlattice (SPSL) was density for the submicron LED is plotted in Fig. 10c. The
incorporated beneath the device active region65. Previous EQE reached a peak value of ~2.2%, and the WPE peaked
work has shown the benefits in strain relaxation and at 1.7%. The EL spectra for the devices, plotted in
achieving longer wavelength emission by incorporating a Fig. 10d, showed a peak emission ~630 nm. While lower
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 13 of 24

450 500 550 600 650

a b 30

InGaN/GaN
SPSL

Current density (A/cm2)

20

Counts (a.u.)
InGaN dots
only

10

InGaN dots+InGaN/GaN SPSL 0

450 500 550 600 650 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4

Wavelength (nm) Voltage (V)
c 2.5 d SPSL InGaN dot
emission emission
2.0 EQE 1.2 A/cm2
EQE/WPE (%)

Counts (a.u.)
1.5

1.0
WPE
0.5 A/cm2
0.5

0.1 1 10 500 550 600 650

Current density (A/cm2) Wavelength (nm)
Fig. 10 a PL spectra measured for samples containing only the InGaN/GaN SPSL, only the InGaN dot, and both the SPSL and InGaN dot. b J-V
characteristics and c current-dependent EQE and WPE of a red submicron LED with an InGaN/GaN SPSL incorporated beneath the active region.
d EL spectra of the InGaN/GaN micro-LED measured at different injection currents. This figure has been reproduced with permission of the
Chinese Laser Press, from the Ref. 65: A. Pandey et al., “Strain-engineered N-polar InGaN nanowires: towards high-efficiency red LEDs on the
micrometer scale”, Photonics Research, vol. 10, no. 12, pp. 2809-2815, 2022.

injection spectra were dominated by the emission from the clusters and inter-diffusion of In between the InGaN active
InGaN dot, at higher currents the SPSL also contributed a region and the surrounding layers. The QCSE also causes a
green-yellow emission peak that could distort the spectral current dependence of the emission peak, resulting in large
purity of the emitted light. shifts of emission wavelength as the device is operated at
There remains significant room for performance higher currents. To address these problems, the use of
improvement for these red micro-LEDs. The devices photonic crystal arrays has been demonstrated to tune the
shown here have relatively high turn-on voltages and low emission properties of devices by forming optical
WPE, which limits their practical use. To tackle these microcavities71,186,210. The Purcell effect within such
problems, further improvement and tuning of the device is photonic crystals can further increase the IQE of the
in progress, with an emphasis on improving the p-doping desired emission186. Utilizing such photonic crystals, it has
within the GaN contact layer, as well as by including an been shown that the emission can be significantly narrowed
electron-blocking layer and tunnel junction in the device to a few nanometers in wavelength178,186,210 thereby greatly
heterostructure. enhancing the emission from selected optical resonance
modes.
Photonic Crystals for Spectral Engineering The dimensions, spacing and arrangement of the
While high-efficiency long-wavelength InGaN-based nanostructures that form a photonic crystal play a direct
micro-LEDs have been demonstrated, their spectral purity role in the emission properties. Fig. 11a shows a schematic
has remained a challenge125. These devices typically have of a hexagonal array of nanowires with their reciprocal
large full-width half maximum (FWHM) of the emission lattice vectors. Fig. 11b plots the simulated photonic band
due to the inhomogeneous In distribution as a result of structure of an InGaN/GaN nanowire photonic crystal,
phase separation, composition-pulling, local In-rich having an emission wavelength λ = 505 nm, lattice constant
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 14 of 24

a b 0.9
Solid: TE polarization c 1
0.8 Dotted: TM polarization
a
0.7
d
0.6

Frequency (a/λ)
Γ
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1 500 nm
M 0 0
K Γ M K Γ
Fig. 11 a Schematic of a nanowire photonic crystal array, with the lattice constant a, nanowire diameter d, and the reciprocal lattice vectors
labelled. b Simulated photonic band structure for a 2D hexagonal array of nanowires designed for an emission wavelength λ = 505 nm, a = 250 nm
and d = 212.5 nm. c Electric field profile of the band edge mode calculated by 3D finite-difference time-domain method for a 5 μm × 5 μm
nanowire array having λ = 505 nm. This figure is reprinted with the permission of John Wiley and Sons, from the Ref. 186: Y. H. Ra, R. T. Rashid,
X. Liu, J. Lee, and Z. Mi, “Scalable nanowire photonic crystals: Molding the light emission of InGaN”, Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 27,
no. 38, p. 1702364, 2017.

a = 250 nm and lateral dimension d = 0.85a. The Γ point in crystals, where the photonic band edge resonant effect
the photonic band structure corresponds to zero group allows the formation of standing waves211,212 in nanocrystal
velocity of light, which is necessary for creating a surface-emitting lasers (NCSELs). Fig. 13a schematically
resonance mode. Fig. 11c shows the calculated profile of depicts a green-emitting NCSEL, with the inset containing
the electric field profile for a nanowire array having a optical microscope images of a fabricated laser diode when
lateral dimension of 5 μm. TM-polarized light with electric switched off and under operation. Fabricated NCSELs
field parallel to the c-plane of the nanowire crystals showed a turn-on voltage of ~3.3 V at room temperature,
dominated the band-edge mode. Through further design with the J-V curve plotted in Fig. 13b. The semi-log scale
optimization, effective guiding of the light mode has also plot in the inset confirmed low leakage current for the
been demonstrated using smaller arrays of nanowire-based device under reverse bias. The EL spectra at different
photonic crystals186,211. injection currents, measured under continuous-wave bias,
Photonic crystals have also been incorporated in micro- are shown in Fig. 13c. At lower injection currents a broad
LEDs creating photonic nanocrystal (PhNC) devices210. The emission peak was seen, however as the current increased,
EL spectra for a 3 μm × 3 μm PhNC micro-LED showed a a lasing peak at ~523.1 nm began to dominate the spectrum
stable emission peak at ~548 nm over nearly four orders of with a narrow linewidth. The output power of the laser is
magnitude variations of injection currents, illustrated in plotted against the injection current in Fig. 13d, with a
Fig. 12a186,210,212, which showed the successful mitigation of threshold current Jth ~400 A/cm2, that is significantly lower
the impact of the QCSE-related blue-shift in than conventional III-nitride VCSELs187, 218–222. Fig. 13d, f
emission45,46,58,66. A relatively low efficiency droop of only plot the FWHM and wavelength, respectively, of the lasing
~30% was measured up to an injection current of peak against injection current. As the injection crossed the
200 A/cm2, shown in Fig. 12b. lasing threshold, there was a sharp reduction in the FWHM
from ~30 nm to ~0.8 nm. The lasing peak position showed
Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting Lasers little variation with increasing injection current and
Dense, small-area lasers are of interest for applications remained stable at ~523.1 nm above threshold.
including visible light communication, data storage and This work showcased the extreme versatility of the
biosensing187,213,214. Photonic nanocrystal-based devices can selective area growth method for the realization of micron-
also be extended for creating surface-emitting lasers which scale or smaller optoelectronic devices. The measured
can be used for the aforementioned purposes212. Typical threshold current density is significantly lower than
vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) require conventional planar devices operating at a similar emission
high quality dielectric Bragg reflectors (DBRs), which is a wavelength. The selective area growth of the photonic
complex task considering the lattice mismatch between III- crystal also allows lasing without the presence of a
nitride layers and the relatively small difference in distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) – a thick, multi-layer
dielectric constant215–217. This can be avoided in photonic structure that is quite complex to grow with high quality –
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 15 of 24

a 5 b
210.8 A/cm2 1.0
4
48.7 A/cm2 0.8

Relative EQE (a.u.)

EL intensity (a.u.)
3
19.83 A/cm2 0.6

2 4.87 A/cm2
0.4

1 2.09 A/cm2
0.2
0.50 A/cm2
0
0
520 540 560 0 50 100 150 200 250
Wavelength (nm) Current density (A/cm2)
Fig. 12 a EL spectra of a PhNC micro-LED with different injection currents. b Relative EQE of the PhNC micro-LED versus injection current.
This figure is reprinted from Ref. 210: X. Liu, Y. Wu, Y. Malhotra, Y. Sun, and Z. Mi, “Micrometer scale InGaN green light emitting diodes with
ultra-stable operation”, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 117, no. 1, p. 011104, 2020, with the permission of AIP Publishing.

a b d 15 CW
Current density (A/cm2)

1.5 102
R.T.
Current density (kA/cm2)

100 12
1.2

Output power (μW)

ing
Las
10−2
9
0.9
10−4
6
0.6
20 μm −6 −4 −2 0 2 4 6 8
Voltage (V) 3
0.3
SP Jth~400 A/cm2
Lasing

0
0
−6 −4 −2 0 2 4 6 8 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8
5 μm Voltage (V) Current density (kA/cm2)
c e 32
CW 30
FWHM (nm)

R.T. 28
p-contact 1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5
n-c
on
tac 1.2 kA/cm 2 f Current density (kA/cm2)
t
El intensity (a.u.)

524.0
Wavelength (nm)

0.7 kA/cm2
×1.75 523.5
0.45 kA/cm2
e ×5.5
strat 0.2 kA/cm2 523.0
Sub
×60 522.5
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5
450 480 510 540 570 600
Current density (kA/cm2)
Wavelength (nm)
Fig. 13 a Schematic of an InGaN/GaN NCSEL. Optical microscope images of a green NCSEL under operation and when off are shown in the
inset. b J-V characteristics of the green NCSEL, with a semi-log scale plot of the J-V curve in the inset. c Injection-dependent EL spectra measured
at different injection currents under CW bias at room temperature. d Output power vs. injection current of the NCSEL, showing a threshold current
of ~400 A/cm2. Plots of e spectral linewidth and f peak wavelength with injection current. This figure is from Ref. 212: Y.-H. Ra, R. T. Rashid, X.
Liu, S. M. Sadaf, K. Mashooq, and Z. Mi, “An electrically pumped surface-emitting semiconductor green laser”, Science Advances, vol. 6, no. 1, p.
eaav7523, 2020. © The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee AAAS. Distributed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/”. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.

for the III-nitrides. While the severe heating effect limited Advantages of Nanostructures for Monolithic
high-power operation of this device, proper packaging and Integration
thermal management can greatly benefit its performance As nanostructures can be grown to be nearly defect-free
for potential applications in projectors, optical storage and on a variety of substrates, even those with a large lattice
communication, as well as displays. mismatch, this opens up an avenue for the direct
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 16 of 24

integration of micro-LEDs with their back-plane circuitry. The inset of Fig. 14d shows bright green emission from the
Green-emitting N-polar nanowire micro-LEDs with stable device under operation. A stable emission peak was
operation were demonstrated on silicon substrates, showing measured shown in the EL spectra plotted in Fig. 14e. The
stable emission by engineering the strain and polarization variation of the peak position with injection current is
within the active region, which is comprised of InGaN shown in Fig. 14f, confirmed the stable emission, with
quantum wells and AlGaN barriers223. An SEM image of negligible change up to injection currents of over 1
the grown nanowires is shown in Fig. 14a. The AlGaN kA/cm2. The potential integration of micro-LED structures
barrier in the active region of the nanowires formed a shell epitaxially grown directly on Si wafer can significantly
structure around the InGaN quantum well active region, reduce the manufacturing cost and complexity involved in
shown in the TEM images in Fig. 14b, c. This thin AlGaN the integration for display applications.
shell minimized the impact of surface recombination on the As has been previously shown, the emission color of
InGaN quantum wells. Further, the use of AlGaN barriers nanowires is also strongly dependent on their dimensions
induced a tensile strain within the grown layers, that and spacing2, 177, 224–226. During selective area growth of
compensated for the compressive strain in the InGaN InGaN by molecular beam epitaxy, the incorporation of
layers. The strain compensation promoted In incorporation metal adatoms depends on both the incoming metal flux,
within the nanowires and also assisted in screening of the along with a contribution from the adatom migration along
QCSE. The J-V characteristic of fabricated sub-micron the lateral surfaces of the nanostructures. This is especially
scale nanowire micro-LED devices is shown in Fig. 14d, true for In adatoms, which have a diffusion length of
displaying low reverse leakage current and a rectification ~100 nm depending on the growth temperature177, that is
ratio of over four orders of magnitude at voltages of ±8 V. comparable to the dimensions of nanostructures. It should

a b

[0001]
-

-
[1100]

40 nm

c
500 nm 4 nm

Wavelength (nm)
d e 700 600 500 400 f
2.40
10−6 1500 A/cm2 520
EL intensity (arb. units)

103 2.35
Peak energy (eV)

Wavelength (nm)

10 −7
530
Current (A)

10−8 102 2.30 540

10−9
101 2.25 550
10−10
125 A/cm2
560
10−11 100 2.20
−8 −4 0 4 8 2.00 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00 0 500 1000 1500
Voltage (V) Energy (eV) Current (A/cm−2)
Fig. 14 a SEM image of an N-polar nanowire array grown on silicon. b HAADF-STEM image of the active region of the nanowires. The green
lines show the AlGaN shell around the active region. c High-magnification HAADF image of the cyan-box region in b, showing the formation of a
GaN/AlGaN superlattice on the sidewall. d J-V curve for a sub-micron scale green-emitting nanowire micro-LED. The inset shows an operating
device. e Injection-dependent EL spectra of the device. f Variation of the emission peak with injection current for the device. This figure has been
reproduced from the Ref. 188: Y. Wu et al., “InGaN micro-light-emitting diodes monolithically grown on Si: achieving ultra-stable operation
through polarization and strain engineering”, Light: Science & Applications, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 1-9, 2022.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 17 of 24

be noted that there is also a difference between the epitaxy Fig. 16a. Probing the devices resulted in emission peaks in
of tightly packed nanowire arrays and single nanowires the blue, green, orange, and red wavelengths, attained by
with large spacing in between them, as nanowire arrays reducing the diameter of the nanowires. The EL spectra for
have the added effect of shadowing of the impinging metal the emission of the different diameter nanowire devices are
flux. By designing nanowires with different diameters, the shown in Fig. 16b, spanning from ~460 nm to ~660 nm.
nanowires will have different InGaN compositions, and This demonstration of multi-color devices that could
hence different emission wavelengths. By exploiting this together form a pixel, obtained from a single growth on a
unique effect, nanowires with emission from blue to red, single chip, highlights the unique capabilities of the
covering the entire visible spectrum, were grown in a selective-area epitaxy process, which could significantly
single epitaxial step, using selective-area epitaxy by simplify the integration of nano or micro-LEDs into
patterning openings of different diameters on a substrate as displays for practical applications.
shown in Fig. 15a224. The nanowires of smaller diameters
were observed to have a red-shifted emission wavelength. Conclusions and Future Work
A schematic of the grown nanowires is shown in Fig. 15b From an application perspective, display technologies
with the emission color of the different nanowires indicated present the most immediate use for micro-LEDs, however
in the diagram, along with the heterostructure of the micro and nanoscale optoelectronic devices will
nanowires. An SEM image of the grown nanowires is significantly impact other emerging applications as well.
shown in Fig. 15c. The grown nanowires were fabricated For example, micro-LED based optical interconnects have
into single nanowire devices, schematically shown in drawn considerable attention recently. Unlike electrical

a 550 nm 350 nm b Blue

Green c
Red p-GaN:Mg
Hole patterned Orange
c-axis <0001>

Ti mask InGaN/GaN
quantum dots

0.5 μm
GaN n-GaN:Ge
Sub Sub
stra 250 nm 150 nm stra
te Sub te
mic 300 nm
ron icron 1 μm
Subm
Fig. 15 a Schematic of the different size openings patterned for selective-area epitaxy. b Schematic of nanowires with different diameters having
different color emission wavelengths. The different layers that comprise the nanowires are shown on the right. c SEM image of the different size
nanowires that were grown. This figure has been reprinted with permission from Ref. 224: Y.-H. Ra et al., “Full-color single nanowire pixels for
projection displays”, Nano Letters, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 4608-4615, 2016. Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society.

Green
Blue Red
a Orange b 461 nm 526 nm 625 nm 659 nm D=630 nm
D=420 nm
Normalized EL intensity (a.u.)

D=320 nm
D=220 nm
P3
P4

p-c
on
tac
ct t
n-conta
P1
P2

Polyimide
Su Ti mask 400 500 600 700 800 900
bst
rate Wavelength (nm)

Fig. 16 a Schematic of fabricated single-wire devices having different diameters and emission wavelengths. b EL spectra of the different diameter
nanowire devices. This figure has been reprinted with permission from Ref. 224: Y.-H. Ra et al., “Full-color single nanowire pixels for projection
displays”, Nano Letters, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 4608-4615, 2016. Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 18 of 24

links which require high power for long distances, optical such a structure in N-polar devices, grown using selective
interconnects would have extremely low power area epitaxy, is of ongoing interest as it can improve both
consumption. The development of high-density micro-LED the charge carrier injection, as well as reduce efficiency
based optical transceivers has also enabled high droop. Optimized devices could be used in photonic
bandwidths that are robust over a wide range of crystals to realize narrow-linewidth, spectrally pure high
environmental conditions227,228. Micro-LEDs have also efficiency micro-LEDs, which could even be integrated
attracted attention in the field of biological sensing, where monolithically on a single chip. Finally, as the properties of
they have been shown to potentially replace complicated nanostructures grown using selective-area epitaxy is
existing sensors, as the diode of the LED can both harvest sensitive to their dimensions, it is critical to carefully
energy wirelessly (by absorbing photons) and transmit control and fabricate the substrate before epitaxy, as well
signals (by emitting photons)229. Nitride-based micro-LEDs as the nanostructure devices afterwards.
have also been used for imaging dyes, fluorescence In polar semiconductors such as InGaN, the distinct
spectroscopy and even stimulating neurons230. Some of ionic character can lead to strong electron phonon coupling
these unique applications may require the development of effect, which may significantly impact their electronic,
specialized micro-LED devices, that could be more easily optical and excitonic properties. Recent theoretical and
achieved with the versatile nanostructure-based approach. experimental studies have revealed that the exciton binding
Nanostructures have shown tremendous potential to energy in nanoscale III-nitride heterostructures can be
overcome critical challenges of nano or micron-scale dramatically increased, compared to their bulk
optoelectronic devices. The difficulties in creating long- structures188, 233–236. As an example, the exciton oscillator
wavelength III-nitride optoelectronic devices are greatly strength can be enhanced by one to two orders of
reduced in such nanostructures, and by utilizing them as magnitude in InGaN nanostructures with efficient strain
the basis of micro-LED devices, it is possible to attain relaxation235. Theoretical studies have further shown that
efficiencies significantly greater than conventional top- polaronic exciton contribution to the binding energy can be
down micro-LEDs, while reducing the dimensions of the as large as 190 meV in GaN nanowires237. Moreover, recent
devices down to the sub-micron scale. The benefits of studies have shown that the strong exciton-phonon
nanostructures are further expanded through the selective- interaction, i.e., the formation of polaronic excitons, can
area epitaxy process. It enables the bottom-up formation of further impact the charge carrier transport, relaxation, and
photonic crystals, that could be used to optimize the recombination. For example, the unique polaronic exciton
emission properties of LEDs, and even be incorporated for effect can transform an indirect bandgap h-BN to be
low-threshold, DBR-free surface-emitting lasers. The extremely bright light emitters in the deep UV238. As such,
major challenge of the integration of millions of individual, we envision that a fundamental study of excitons in InGaN
multi-color micro-LED devices into a practical display can deep nanostructures could offer a path to break the
be greatly simplified through the selective-area growth efficiency bottleneck of micro and nanoscale LEDs.
approach by allowing for the growth of complete pixels in The potential uses for micro-LED technologies have
a single epitaxy step, on a variety of substrates. motivated considerable resources into their development.
These previous works have shown the promise of While obstacles remain in the path of nanostructure-based
nanostructures and shone light on some active areas of micro-LEDs, they can be solved by a fundamental
research interest. The efficiency of green and red micro- understanding of the physics and properties of III-nitride-
LEDs can be improved through optimization of the p- nanostructures and the further development and refinement
doping in the nanowire heterostructures101. Furthermore, in of the epitaxy and fabrication methodologies. Accordingly,
the case of red-emitting micro-LEDs, research is ongoing III-nitride nanostructures offer a very promising path to
to further improve the strain relaxation, as well as to inhibit overcome the efficiency, scaling, and integration
the parasitic recombination at high currents from the SPSL challenges of micro-LEDs for many emerging and
layers. Nanowire micro-LEDs also typically peak in demanding applications.
efficiency at relatively low injection currents, showing
strong droop at higher injection currents. The use of an Acknowledgements
AlGaN electron blocking layer in these devices could The contents presented in this review article are based on results
published in the literature, including those at the University of
reduce the droop effect, and also form an Al-rich shell
Michigan. For the studies performed at the University Michigan, we
around the active region. While a tunnel junction contact acknowledge the support from NS Nanotech, Inc., U.S. Army Research
has been demonstrated for nanowires100,231,232, the use of Office, and National Science Foundation.
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 19 of 24

Author contributions 18. Laaperi, A. OLED lifetime issues from a mobile-phone-industry point
Z.M. supervised the project. A.P., M.R. and Z..M. contributed to the of view. Journal of the Society for Information Display 16, 1125-1130
writing of the manuscript. (2008).
19. Zou, Y. et al. High-performance narrowband pure-red OLEDs with
Conflict of interest external quantum efficiencies up to 36. 1% and ultralow efficiency
Some IP related to the work of nanowire LEDs at McGill University and roll-off. Advanced Materials 34, 2201442 (2022).
University of Michigan was licensed to NS Nanotech, Inc., which was co- 20. He, G. F. et al. White stacked OLED with 38 lm/W and 100, 000-hour
founded by Z. Mi. The University of Michigan and Z. Mi have a financial lifetime at 1000 cd/m2 for display and lighting applications. Journal of
interest in the company. the Society for Information Display 17, 159-165 (2009).
21. Cho, J. et al. White light-emitting diodes: history, progress, and
Received: 23 February 2023 Revised: 21 August 2023 Accepted: 25 August future. Laser & Photonics Reviews 11, 1600147 (2017).
2023 22. Wu, T. Z. et al. Mini-LED and micro-LED: promising candidates for the
Accepted article preview online: 26 August 2023 next generation display technology. Applied Sciences 8, 1557 (2018).
Published online: 06 December 2023 23. Chen, Z., Yan, S. K. & Danesh, C. MicroLED technologies and
applications: characteristics, fabrication, progress, and challenges.
Journal of Physics D:Applied Physics 54, 123001 (2021).
References 24. Zhou, X. J. et al. Growth, transfer printing and colour conversion
1. Chitnis, A. et al. Visible light-emitting diodes using a-plane techniques towards full-colour micro-LED display. Progress in
GaN–InGaN multiple quantum wells over r-plane sapphire. Applied Quantum Electronics 71, 100263 (2020).
Physics Letters 84, 3663-3665 (2004). 25. Paranjpe, A. et al. 45-2: invited paper: micro-LED displays: key
2. Kishino, K., Nagashima, K. & Yamano, K. Monolithic integration of manufacturing challenges and solutions. SID Symposium Digest of
InGaN-based nanocolumn light-emitting diodes with different Technical Papers 49, 597-600 (2018).
emission colors. Applied Physics Express 6, 012101 (2012). 26. Hurni, C. A. et al. Bulk GaN flip-chip violet light-emitting diodes with
3. Hahn, C. et al. Epitaxial growth of InGaN nanowire arrays for light optimized efficiency for high-power operation. Applied Physics Letters
emitting diodes. ACS Nano 5, 3970-3976 (2011). 106, 031101 (2015).
4. Lee, H. E. et al. Micro light-emitting diodes for display and flexible 27. Zhao, C. et al. Facile formation of high-quality InGaN/GaN quantum-
biomedical applications. Advanced Functional Materials 29, 1808075 disks-in-nanowires on bulk-metal substrates for high-power light-
(2019). emitters. Nano Letters 16, 1056-1063 (2016).
5. McGovern, B. et al. A new individually addressable micro-LED array 28. Zhang, G. G. et al. Single nanowire green InGaN/GaN light emitting
for photogenetic neural stimulation. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical diodes. Nanotechnology 27, 435205 (2016).
Circuits and Systems 4, 469-476 (2010). 29. Alhassan, A. I. et al. High luminous efficacy green light-emitting
6. James Singh, K. et al. Micro-LED as a promising candidate for high- diodes with AlGaN cap layer. Optics Express 24, 17868-17873 (2016).
speed visible light communication. Applied Sciences 10, 7384 (2020). 30. Saito, S. et al. InGaN light-emitting diodes on c-face sapphire
7. Lan, H. Y. et al. High-speed integrated micro-LED array for visible light substrates in green gap spectral range. Applied Physics Express 6,
communication. Optics Letters 45, 2203-2206 (2020). 111004 (2013).
8. Anwar, A. R. et al. Recent progress in micro-LED-based display 31. Shioda, T. et al. Enhanced light output power of green LEDs
technologies. Laser & Photonics Reviews 16, 2100427 (2022). employing AlGaN interlayer in InGaN/GaN MQW structure on
9. Liu, Z. J. et al. Micro-light-emitting diodes with quantum dots in sapphire (0001) substrate. Physica Status Solidi (A) 209, 473-476
display technology. Light:Science & Applications 9, 83 (2020). (2012).
10. Kim, S. S. et al. New technologies for advanced LCD-TV performance. 32. Narukawa, Y. et al. White light emitting diodes with super-high
Journal of the Society for Information Display 12, 353-359 (2004). luminous efficacy. Journal of Physics D:Applied Physics 43, 354002
11. Wang, Y. P. et al. High-efficiency red organic light-emitting diodes (2010).
based on a double-emissive layer with an external quantum 33. Bai, J. et al. Ultrasmall, ultracompact and ultrahigh efficient InGaN
efficiency over 30%. Journal of Materials Chemistry C 6, 7042-7045 micro light emitting diodes (μLEDs) with narrow spectral line width.
(2018). ACS Nano 14, 6906-6911 (2020).
12. Huang, Y. G. et al. Mini-LED, micro-LED and OLED displays: present 34. Hwang, D. et al. Sustained high external quantum efficiency in
status and future perspectives. Light:Science & Applications 9, 105 ultrasmall blue III–nitride micro-LEDs. Applied Physics Express 10,
(2020). 032101 (2017).
13. In, H. J. & Kwon, O. K. External compensation of nonuniform electrical 35. Sheen, M. et al. Highly efficient blue InGaN nanoscale light-emitting
characteristics of thin-film transistors and degradation of OLED diodes. Nature 608, 56-61 (2022).
devices in AMOLED displays. IEEE Electron Device Letters 30, 377-379 36. Li, P. P. et al. Demonstration of high efficiency cascaded blue and
(2009). green micro-light-emitting diodes with independent junction
14. Xia, S. C. et al. OLED device operational lifetime: insights and control. Applied Physics Letters 118, 261104 (2021).
challenges. 2007 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium 37. Smith, J. M. et al. Comparison of size-dependent characteristics of
Proceedings. 45th Annual. Phoenix, AZ, USA: IEEE, 2007, 253-257. blue and green InGaN microLEDs down to 1 μm in diameter. Applied
15. Fu, H. et al. Feeling blue? Blue phosphors for OLEDs. Materials Today Physics Letters 116, 071102 (2020).
14, 472-479 (2011). 38. Li, P. P. et al. High-temperature electroluminescence properties of
16. Monkman, A. Why do we still need a stable long lifetime deep blue InGaN red 40×40 μm2 micro-light-emitting diodes with a peak
OLED emitter?. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 14, 20463-20467 external quantum efficiency of 3.2%. Applied Physics Letters 119,
(2022). 231101 (2021).
17. Murawski, C., Leo, K. & Gather, M. C. Efficiency roll-off in organic light- 39. Li, P. P. et al. Red InGaN micro-light-emitting diodes (> 620 nm) with
emitting diodes. Advanced Materials 25, 6801-6827 (2013). a peak external quantum efficiency of 4.5% using an epitaxial tunnel
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 20 of 24

junction contact. Applied Physics Letters 120, 121102 (2022). 62. Narukawa, Y. et al. Ultra-high efficiency white light emitting diodes.
40. Huang, Y. M. et al. High-efficiency InGaN red micro-LEDs for visible Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 45, L1084 (2006).
light communication. Photonics Research 10, 1978-1986 (2022). 63. Narukawa, Y. et al. Improvement of luminous efficiency in white light
41. Feng, P. et al. A simple approach to achieving ultrasmall III-nitride emitting diodes by reducing a forward-bias voltage. Japanese Journal
microlight-emitting diodes with red emission. ACS Applied Electronic of Applied Physics 46, L963 (2007).
Materials 4, 2787-2792 (2022). 64. Pandey, A. et al. N-polar InGaN/GaN nanowires: overcoming the
42. Zhuang, Z., Iida, D. & Ohkawa, K. Effects of size on the electrical and efficiency cliff of red-emitting micro-LEDs. Photonics Research 10,
optical properties of InGaN-based red light-emitting diodes. Applied 1107-1116 (2022).
Physics Letters 116, 173501 (2020). 65. Pandey, A. et al. Strain-engineered N-polar InGaN nanowires: towards
43. Zhuang, Z. et al. 606-nm InGaN amber micro-light-emitting diodes high-efficiency red LEDs on the micrometer scale. Photonics Research
with an on-wafer external quantum efficiency of 0.56%. IEEE Electron 10, 2809-2815 (2022).
Device Letters 42, 1029-1032 (2021). 66. Pasayat, S. S. et al. Demonstration of ultra-small (< 10 μm) 632 nm red
44. Bai, J. et al. A direct epitaxial approach to achieving ultrasmall and InGaN micro-LEDs with useful on-wafer external quantum efficiency
ultrabright InGaN micro light-emitting diodes (μLEDs). ACS Photonics (>0. 2%) for mini-displays. Applied Physics Express 14, 011004 (2021).
7, 411-415 (2020). 67. Pynn, C. D. et al. Green semipolar III-nitride light-emitting diodes
45. Dussaigne, A. et al. Full InGaN red light emitting diodes. Journal of grown by limited area epitaxy. Applied Physics Letters 109, 041107
Applied Physics 128, 135704 (2020). (2016).
46. Dussaigne, A. et al. Full InGaN red (625 nm) micro-LED (10 μm) 68. Sato, H. et al. Optical properties of yellow light-emitting diodes
demonstration on a relaxed pseudo-substrate. Applied Physics Express grown on semipolar (1122) bulk GaN substrates. Applied Physics
14, 092011 (2021). Letters 92, 221110 (2008).
47. Guo, J. X. et al. Effect of AlGaN interlayer on luminous efficiency and 69. Wang, Z. et al. Red, green and blue InGaN micro-LEDs for display
reliability of GaN-based green LEDs on silicon substrate. Chinese application: Temperature and current density effects. Optics Express
Physics B 29, 047303 (2020). 30, 36403-36413 (2022).
48. Hashimoto, R. et al. High-efficiency green-yellow light-emitting 70. White, R. C. et al. InGaN-based microLED devices approaching 1%
diodes grown on sapphire (0001) substrates. Physica Status Solidi (C) EQE with red 609 nm electroluminescence on semi-relaxed
10, 1529-1532 (2013). substrates. Crystals 11, 1364 (2021).
49. Horng, R. H. et al. Study on the effect of size on InGaN red micro- 71. Wierer, J. J. , David, A. & Megens, M. M. III-nitride photonic-crystal
LEDs. Scientific Reports 12, 1324 (2022). light-emitting diodes with high extraction efficiency. Nature
50. Iida, D. et al. Enhanced light output power of InGaN-based amber Photonics 3, 163-169 (2009).
LEDs by strain-compensating AlN/AlGaN barriers. Journal of Crystal 72. Xu, C. et al. Effects of V-pits covering layer position on the
Growth 448, 105-108 (2016). optoelectronic performance of InGaN green LEDs. Journal of
51. Hwang, J. I. et al. Development of InGaN-based red LED grown on Semiconductors 40, 052801 (2019).
(0001) polar surface. Applied Physics Express 7, 071003 (2014). 73. Xu, F. F. et al. C-plane blue micro-LED with 1.53 GHz bandwidth for
52. Iida, D. et al. 633-nm InGaN-based red LEDs grown on thick high-speed visible light communication. IEEE Electron Device Letters
underlying GaN layers with reduced in-plane residual stress. Applied 43, 910-913 (2022).
Physics Letters 116, 162101 (2022). 74. Yamamoto, S. et al. High-efficiency single-quantum-well green and
53. Iida, D. et al. Demonstration of low forward voltage InGaN-based red yellow-green light-emitting diodes on semipolar (2021) GaN
LEDs. Applied Physics Express 13, 031001 (2020). substrates. Applied Physics Express 3, 122102 (2010).
54. Jiang, F. Y. et al. Efficient InGaN-based yellow-light-emitting diodes. 75. Yonkee, B. P. et al. Silver free III-nitride flip chip light-emitting-diode
Photonics Research 7, 144-148 (2019). with wall plug efficiency over 70% utilizing a GaN tunnel junction.
55. Kimura, S. et al. Performance enhancement of blue light-emitting Applied Physics Letters 109, 191104 (2016).
diodes with InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells grown on Si substrates 76. Yu, L. M. et al. Ultra-small size (1–20 μm) blue and green micro-LEDs
by inserting thin AlGaN interlayers. Journal of Applied Physics 120, fabricated by laser direct writing lithography. Applied Physics Letters
113104 (2016). 121, 042106 (2022).
56. Kirilenko, P. et al. InGaN-based green micro-LED efficiency 77. Yu, L. M. et al. Metal organic vapor phase epitaxy of high-indium-
enhancement by hydrogen passivation of the p-GaN sidewall. composition InGaN quantum dots towards red micro-LEDs. Optical
Applied Physics Express 15, 084003 (2022). Materials Express 12, 3225-3237 (2022).
57. Ley, R. T. et al. Revealing the importance of light extraction efficiency 78. Yuan, Z. X. et al. Investigation of modulation bandwidth of InGaN
in InGaN/GaN microLEDs via chemical treatment and dielectric green micro-LEDs by varying quantum barrier thickness. IEEE
passivation. Applied Physics Letters 116, 251104 (2020). Transactions on Electron Devices 69, 4298-4305 (2022).
58. Li, P. P. et al. Size-independent peak external quantum efficiency (> 79. Zhang, J. L. et al. High brightness InGaN-based yellow light-emitting
2%) of InGaN red micro-light-emitting diodes with an emission diodes with strain modulation layers grown on Si substrate. Applied
wavelength over 600 nm. Applied Physics Letters 119, 081102 (2021). Physics A 114, 1049-1053 (2014).
59. Li, P. P. et al. Very high external quantum efficiency and wall-plug 80. Zhang, S. N. et al. Efficient emission of InGaN-based light-emitting
efficiency 527 nm InGaN green LEDs by MOCVD. Optics Express 26, diodes: toward orange and red. Photonics Research 8, 1671-1675
33108-33115 (2018). (2020).
60. Liu, X. H. et al. Effects of p-AlGaN EBL thickness on the performance 81. Zhu, S. J. et al. Low-power high-bandwidth non-polar InGaN micro-
of InGaN green LEDs with large V-pits. Semiconductor Science and LEDs at low current densities for energy-efficient visible light
Technology 31, 025012 (2016). communication. IEEE Photonics Journal 14, 7351805 (2022).
61. Lv, Q. J. et al. Realization of highly efficient InGaN green LEDs with 82. Zhuang, Z. et al. Improved performance of InGaN-based red light-
sandwich-like multiple quantum well structure: role of enhanced emitting diodes by micro-hole arrays. Optics Express 29, 29780-
interwell carrier transport. ACS Photonics 6, 130-138 (2019). 29788 (2021).
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 21 of 24

83. Zhuang, Z., Iida, D. & Ohkawa, K. Investigation of InGaN-based Applied Physics 87, 3497-3504 (2000).
red/green micro-light-emitting diodes. Optics Letters 46, 1912-1915 104. Bulashevich, K. A. & Karpov, S. Y. Impact of surface recombination on
(2021). efficiency of III-nitride light-emitting diodes. Physica Status Solidi
84. Zhuang, Z. et al. 630-nm red InGaN micro-light-emitting diodes (< 20 (RRL)–Rapid Research Letters 10, 480-484 (2016).
μm× 20 μm) exceeding 1 mW/mm2 for full-color micro-displays. 105. Gong, Z. et al. Efficient flip-chip InGaN micro-pixellated light-emitting
Photonics Research 9, 1796-1802 (2021). diode arrays: promising candidates for micro-displays and colour
85. Chang, Y. A. et al. Design and fabrication of temperature-insensitive conversion. Journal of Physics D:Applied Physics 41, 094002 (2008).
InGaP-InGaAlP resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes. IEEE Photonics 106. McKittrick, J. & Shea-Rohwer, L. E. Review: down conversion materials
Technology Letters 18, 1690-1692 (2006). for solid-state lighting. Journal of the American Ceramic Society 97,
86. Iida, D. et al. Demonstration of InGaN-based orange LEDs with hybrid 1327-1352 (2014).
multiple-quantum-wells structure. Applied Physics Express 9, 111003 107. Osinski, J. & Palomaki, P. 4-5: Quantum dot design criteria for color
(2016). conversion in MicroLED displays. SID Symposium Digest of Technical
87. Krames, M. R. et al. High-power truncated-inverted-pyramid Papers 50, 34-37 (2019).
(AlxGa1−x)0.5In0.5P/GaP light-emitting diodes exhibiting > 50% 108. Gou, F. W. et al. High performance color-converted micro-LED
external quantum efficiency. Applied Physics Letters 75, 2365-2367 displays. Journal of the Society for Information Display 27, 199-206
(1999). (2019).
88. Lee, C. Y. , Su, J. Y. & Kuo, C. M. 630-nm n-type modulation-doped 109. Tian, P. F. et al. Size-dependent efficiency and efficiency droop of
AlGaInP-AlInP multiquantum-well light-emitting diode. IEEE blue InGaN micro-light emitting diodes. Applied Physics Letters 101,
Photonics Technology Letters 18, 25-27 (2006). 231110 (2012).
89. Mukai, T., Narimatsu, H. & Nakamura, S. Amber InGaN-based light- 110. Cao, X. A. et al. Electrical effects of plasma damage in p-GaN. Applied
emitting diodes operable at high ambient temperatures. Japanese Physics Letters 75, 2569-2571 (1999).
Journal of Applied Physics 37, L479 (1998). 111. Cao, X. A. et al. Surface conversion effects in plasma-damaged p-GaN.
90. Oh, J. T. et al. Light output performance of red AlGaInP-based light MRS Online Proceedings Library 595, 108 (1999).
emitting diodes with different chip geometries and structures. Optics 112. Ladroue, J. et al. Deep GaN etching by inductively coupled plasma
Express 26, 11194-11200 (2018). and induced surface defects. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology
91. Rooman, C. et al. Wafer-bonded thin-film surface-roughened light- A 28, 1226-1233 (2010).
emitting diodes. Proceedings of SPIE 4996, Light-Emitting Diodes: 113. Shul, R. J. et al. High-density plasma-induced etch damage of GaN.
Research, Manufacturing, and Applications VII. San Jose, CA, USA: MRS Online Proceedings Library 573, 271-280 (1999).
SPIE, 2003, 40-45. 114. Shul, R. J. et al. Inductively coupled plasma-induced etch damage of
92. Streubel, K. et al. High brightness visible (660 nm) resonant-cavity GaN p-n junctions. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 18,
light-emitting diode. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters 10, 1685- 1139-1143 (2000).
1687 (1998). 115. Hahn, Y. B. et al. High-density plasma-induced etch damage of
93. Wang, X. L., Kumagai, N. & Hao, G. D. High-efficiency, high-power InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes. Journal of
AlGaInP thin-film LEDs with micron-sized truncated cones as light- Applied Physics 92, 1189-1194 (2002).
extraction structures. Physica Status Solidi (A) 215, 1700562 (2018). 116. Hong, H. F. et al. Reactive ion etching of GaN/InGaN using BCl3
94. Windisch, R. et al. 100-lm/W InGaAlP thin-film light-emitting diodes plasma. Materials Chemistry and Physics 77, 411-415 (2003).
with buried microreflectors. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters 19, 117. Lee, J. M. et al. Dry-etch damage and its recovery in InGaN/GaN multi-
774-776 (2007). quantum-well light-emitting diodes. Semiconductor Science and
95. Yen, C. H. et al. On an AlGaInP-based light-emitting diode with an ITO Technology 18, 530-534 (2003).
direct ohmic contact structure. IEEE Electron Device Letters 30, 359- 118. Geum, D. M. et al. Strategy toward the fabrication of ultrahigh-
361 (2009). resolution micro-LED displays by bonding-interface-engineered
96. Chen, S. W. H. et al. Full-color monolithic hybrid quantum dot vertical stacking and surface passivation. Nanoscale 11, 23139-23148
nanoring micro light-emitting diodes with improved efficiency using (2019).
atomic layer deposition and nonradiative resonant energy transfer. 119. Wong, M. S. et al. Size-independent peak efficiency of III-nitride
Photonics Research 7, 416-422 (2019). micro-light-emitting-diodes using chemical treatment and sidewall
97. Mukai, T., Yamada, M. & Nakamura, S. Characteristics of InGaN-based passivation. Applied Physics Express 12, 097004 (2019).
UV/blue/green/amber/red light-emitting diodes. Japanese Journal of 120. Yang, Y. & Cao, X. A. Removing plasma-induced sidewall damage in
Applied Physics 38, 3976 (1999). GaN-based light-emitting diodes by annealing and wet chemical
98. Pandey, A. et al. An ultrahigh efficiency excitonic micro-LED. Nano treatments. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology
Letters 23, 1680-1687 (2023). B:Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing,
99. Liu, X. H. et al. N-polar InGaN nanowires: breaking the efficiency Measurement, and Phenomena 27, 2337-2341 (2009).
bottleneck of nano and micro LEDs. Photonics Research 10, 587-593 121. Hartensveld, M. et al. Effect of KOH passivation for top-down
(2022). fabricated InGaN nanowire light emitting diodes. Journal of Applied
100. Liu, X. H. et al. High efficiency InGaN nanowire tunnel junction green Physics 126, 183102 (2019).
micro-LEDs. Applied Physics Letters 119, 141110 (2021). 122. Vurgaftman, I. & Meyer, J. R. Band parameters for nitrogen-containing
101. Pandey, A. et al. A red-emitting micrometer scale LED with external semiconductors. Journal of Applied Physics 94, 3675-3696 (2003).
quantum efficiency >8%. Applied Physics Letters 122, 151103 (2023). 123. Phillips, J. M. et al. Research challenges to ultra-efficient inorganic
102. Wong, M. S. et al. Improved performance of AlGaInP red micro-light- solid-state lighting. Laser & Photonics Reviews 1, 307-333 (2007).
emitting diodes with sidewall treatments. Optics Express 28, 5787- 124. Cho, H. K. et al. Microstructural characterization of InGaN/GaN
5793 (2020). multiple quantum wells with high indium composition. Journal of
103. Boroditsky, M. et al. Surface recombination measurements on III–V Crystal Growth 231, 466-473 (2001).
candidate materials for nanostructure light-emitting diodes. Journal of 125. Robin, Y. et al. What is red? On the chromaticity of orange-red
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 22 of 24

InGaN/GaN based LEDs. Journal of Applied Physics 124, 183102 nanowire white light-emitting diodes by distributed p-AlGaN
(2018). electron blocking layers. Scientific Reports 5, 7744 (2015).
126. Iida, D. et al. Investigation of amber light-emitting diodes based on 147. Kikuchi, A. et al. Growth and characterization of InGaN/GaN
InGaN/AlN/AlGaN quantum wells. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics nanocolumn LED. Proceedings of SPIE 6129, Quantum Dots, Particles,
55, 05FJ06 (2016). and Nanoclusters III. San Jose, CA, USA: SPIE, 2006, 612905.
127. Damilano, B. & Gil, B. Yellow–red emission from (Ga, In)N 148. Nguyen, H. P. T. et al. p-Type modulation doped InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-
heterostructures. Journal of Physics D:Applied Physics 48, 403001 wire white-light-emitting diodes monolithically grown on Si(111).
(2015). Nano Letters 11, 1919-1924 (2011).
128. Chung, J. Y. et al. Light-emitting V-pits: an alternative approach 149. Nguyen, H. P. T. et al. Controlling electron overflow in phosphor-free
toward luminescent indium-rich InGaN quantum dots. ACS Photonics InGaN/GaN nanowire white light-emitting diodes. Nano Letters 12,
8, 2853-2860 (2021). 1317-1323 (2012).
129. Zhou, S. J. et al. The effect of nanometre-scale V-pits on electronic 150. Li, Q. M. et al. Optical performance of top-down fabricated
and optical properties and efficiency droop of GaN-based green InGaN/GaN nanorod light emitting diode arrays. Optics Express 19,
light-emitting diodes. Scientific Reports 8, 11053 (2018). 25528-25534 (2011).
130. Inatomi, Y. et al. Theoretical study of the composition pulling effect in 151. Zhao, S. R. et al. III-Nitride nanowire optoelectronics. Progress in
InGaN metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy growth. Japanese Journal of Quantum Electronics 44, 14-68 (2015).
Applied Physics 56, 078003 (2017). 152. Chang, Y. L. et al. High efficiency green, yellow, and amber emission
131. Johnson, M. C. et al. Effect of gallium nitride template layer strain on from InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-wire heterostructures on Si(111). Applied
the growth of InxGa1-xN∕GaN multiple quantum well light emitting Physics Letters 96, 013106 (2010).
diodes. Journal of Applied Physics 96, 1381-1386 (2004). 153. Kikuchi, A. et al. InGaN/GaN multiple quantum disk nanocolumn
132. Alam, S. et al. Emission wavelength red-shift by using “semi-bulk” light-emitting diodes grown on (111) Si substrate. Japanese Journal
InGaN buffer layer in InGaN/InGaN multiple-quantum-well. of Applied Physics 43, L1524 (2004).
Superlattices and Microstructures 112, 279-286 (2017). 154. Barrigón, E. et al. Synthesis and applications of III–V nanowires.
133. Ewing, J. et al. Influence of superlattice structure on V-defect Chemical Reviews 119, 9170-9220 (2019).
distribution, external quantum efficiency and electroluminescence 155. Samuelson, L. et al. Semiconductor nanowires for 0D and 1D physics
for red InGaN based μLEDs on silicon. Crystals 12, 1216 (2022). and applications. Physica E:Low-dimensional Systems and
134. Keller, S. et al. Patterned III-nitrides on porous GaN: extending elastic Nanostructures 25, 313-318 (2004).
relaxation from the nano- to the micrometer scale. Physica Status 156. Mårtensson, T. et al. Epitaxial III-V nanowires on silicon. Nano Letters
Solidi (RRL)–Rapid Research Letters 15, 2100234 (2021). 4, 1987-1990 (2004).
135. Chan, P. et al. Demonstration of relaxed InGaN-based red LEDs grown 157. Gačević, Ž. A., Gómez Sánchez, D. & Calleja, E. Formation mechanisms
with high active region temperature. Applied Physics Express 14, of GaN nanowires grown by selective area growth homoepitaxy.
101002 (2021). Nano Letters 15, 1117-1121 (2015).
136. Chan, P., DenBaars, S. P. & Nakamura, S. Growth of highly relaxed 158. Goodman, K. D. et al. Green luminescence of InGaN nanowires grown
InGaN pseudo-substrates over full 2-in. wafers. Applied Physics Letters on silicon substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Journal of Applied
119, 131106 (2021). Physics 109, 084336 (2011).
137. Wong, M. S. et al. Low forward voltage III-nitride red micro-light- 159. Albert, S. et al. Selective area growth and characterization of InGaN
emitting diodes on a strain relaxed template with an InGaN nano-disks implemented in GaN nanocolumns with different top
decomposition layer. Crystals 12, 721 (2022). morphologies. Applied Physics Letters 100, 231906 (2012).
138. Xiong, J. H. et al. Augmented reality and virtual reality displays: 160. Ristić, J. et al. Characterization of GaN quantum discs embedded in
emerging technologies and future perspectives. Light:Science & AlxGa1-xN nanocolumns grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Physical
Applications 10, 216 (2021). Review B 68, 125305 (2003).
139. Huang, Y. G. et al. Prospects and challenges of mini-LED and micro- 161. Bengoechea-Encabo, A. et al. Understanding the selective area
LED displays. Journal of the Society for Information Display 27, 387- growth of GaN nanocolumns by MBE using Ti nanomasks. Journal of
401 (2019). Crystal Growth 325, 89-92 (2011).
140. Bao, S. Y. et al. A review of silicon-based wafer bonding processes, an 162. Chang, Y. L. et al. Molecular beam epitaxial growth and
approach to realize the monolithic integration of Si-CMOS and III–V-on- characterization of non-tapered InN nanowires on Si(111).
Si wafers. Journal of Semiconductors 42, 023106 (2021). Nanotechnology 20, 345203 (2009).
141. Hwangbo, S. et al. Wafer-scale monolithic integration of full-colour 163. Tourbot, G. et al. Structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN
micro-LED display using MoS2 transistor. Nature Nanotechnology 17, nanowire heterostructures grown by PA-MBE. Nanotechnology 22,
500-506 (2022). 075601 (2011).
142. Guo, W. et al. Catalyst-free InGaN/GaN nanowire light emitting 164. Kuykendall, T. et al. Complete composition tunability of InGaN
diodes grown on (001) silicon by molecular beam epitaxy. Nano nanowires using a combinatorial approach. Nature Materials 6, 951-
Letters 10, 3355-3359 (2010). 956 (2007).
143. Hersee, S. D. et al. Threading defect elimination in GaN nanowires. 165. Nguyen, H. P. T. et al. Full-color InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-wire light
Journal of Materials Research 26, 2293-2298 (2011). emitting diodes on silicon. Nanotechnology 22, 445202 (2011).
144. Zhao, C. et al. Droop-free, reliable, and high-power InGaN/GaN 166. Zhao, C. et al. Quantified hole concentration in AlGaN nanowires for
nanowire light-emitting diodes for monolithic metal-optoelectronics. high-performance ultraviolet emitters. Nanoscale 10, 15980-15988
Nano Letters 16, 4616-4623 (2016). (2018).
145. Sarwar, A. G. et al. Semiconductor nanowire light-emitting diodes 167. Mi, Z. et al. Molecular beam epitaxial growth and characterization of
grown on metal: a direction toward large-scale fabrication of Al(Ga)N nanowire deep ultraviolet light emitting diodes and lasers.
nanowire devices. Small 11, 5402-5408 (2015). Journal of Physics D:Applied Physics 49, 364006 (2016).
146. Nguyen, H. P. T. et al. Engineering the carrier dynamics of InGaN 168. Zhao, S. et al. p-Type InN nanowires. Nano Letters 13, 5509-5513
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 23 of 24

(2013). 188. Wu, Y. P. et al. InGaN micro-light-emitting diodes monolithically

169. Zhao, S. et al. Aluminum nitride nanowire light emitting diodes: grown on Si: achieving ultra-stable operation through polarization
Breaking the fundamental bottleneck of deep ultraviolet light and strain engineering. Light:Science & Applications 11, 294 (2022).
sources. Scientific Reports 5, 8332 (2015). 189. Zhao, S. et al. Growth of large-scale vertically aligned GaN nanowires
170. Kishino, K. et al. Selective-area growth of GaN nanocolumns on and their heterostructures with high uniformity on SiOx by catalyst-
titanium-mask-patterned silicon (111) substrates by RF-plasma- free molecular beam epitaxy. Nanoscale 5, 5283-5287 (2013).
assisted molecular-beam epitaxy. Electronics Letters 44, 819-821 190. Philip, M. R. et al. High efficiency green/yellow and red InGaN/AlGaN
(2008). nanowire light-emitting diodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy.
171. Yuan, X. M. et al. Selective area epitaxy of III–V nanostructure arrays and Journal of Science:Advanced Materials and Devices 2, 150-155 (2017).
networks: Growth, applications, and future directions. Applied Physics 191. Wang, R. J. et al. Color-tunable, phosphor-free InGaN nanowire light-
Reviews 8, 021302 (2021). emitting diode arrays monolithically integrated on silicon. Optics
172. Kapolnek, D. et al. Spatial control of InGaN luminescence by MOCVD Express 22, A1768-A1775 (2014).
selective epitaxy. Journal of Crystal Growth 189-190, 83-86 (1998). 192. Akyol, F. et al. Suppression of electron overflow and efficiency droop
173. Shioda, T. et al. Selective area metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy of in N-polar GaN green light emitting diodes. Applied Physics Letters
InN, GaN and InGaN covering whole composition range. Journal of 100, 111118 (2012).
Crystal Growth 311, 2809-2812 (2009). 193. Kuo, Y. K. et al. Effect of polarization state on optical properties of
174. Chen, P. et al. InGaN nanorings and nanodots by selective area blue-violet InGaN light-emitting diodes. Applied Physics A 98, 509-
epitaxy. Applied Physics Letters 87, 143111 (2005). 515 (2010).
175. Sekiguchi, H., Kishino, K. & Kikuchi, A. Ti-mask selective-area growth of 194. Yen, S. H. & Kuo, Y. K. Polarization-dependent optical characteristics
GaN by RF-plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy for fabricating of violet InGaN laser diodes. Journal of Applied Physics 103, 103115
regularly arranged InGaN/GaN nanocolumns. Applied Physics Express (2008).
1, 124002 (2008). 195. Blumberg, C. et al. A systematic study of Ga- and N-polar GaN
176. Nami, M. et al. Tailoring the morphology and luminescence of nanowire–shell growth by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy.
GaN/InGaN core–shell nanowires using bottom-up selective-area CrystEngComm 22, 5522-5532 (2020).
epitaxy. Nanotechnology 28, 025202 (2017). 196. Keller, S. et al. Growth and characterization of N-polar InGaN∕GaN
177. Sekiguchi, H., Kishino, K. & Kikuchi, A. Emission color control from multiquantum wells. Applied Physics Letters 90, 191908 (2007).
blue to red with nanocolumn diameter of InGaN/GaN nanocolumn 197. Nath, D. N. et al. Molecular beam epitaxy of N-polar InGaN. Applied
arrays grown on same substrate. Applied Physics Letters 96, 231104 Physics Letters 97, 071903 (2010).
(2010). 198. Kehagias, T. et al. Nanostructure and strain in InGaN/GaN
178. Yanagihara, A., Ishizawa, S. & Kishino, K. Directional radiation beam superlattices grown in GaN nanowires. Nanotechnology 24, 435702
from yellow-emitting InGaN-based nanocolumn LEDs with ordered (2013).
bottom-up nanocolumn array. Applied Physics Express 7, 112102 199. Tourbot, G. et al. Growth mechanism and properties of InGaN
(2014). insertions in GaN nanowires. Nanotechnology 23, 135703 (2012).
179. Yoshizawa, M. et al. Growth of self-organized GaN nanostructures on 200. Park, B. et al. High-resolution mapping of strain partitioning and
Al2O3(0001) by RF-radical source molecular beam epitaxy. Japanese relaxation in InGaN/GaN nanowire heterostructures. Advanced
Journal of Applied Physics 36, L459 (1997). Science 9, 2200323 (2022).
180. Kishino, K. & Ishizawa, S. Selective-area growth of GaN nanocolumns 201. Funato, M. & Kawakami, Y. Excitonic properties of polar, semipolar,
on Si(111) substrates for application to nanocolumn emitters with and nonpolar InGaN∕GaN strained quantum wells with potential
systematic analysis of dislocation filtering effect of nanocolumns. fluctuations. Journal of Applied Physics 103, 093501 (2008).
Nanotechnology 26, 225602 (2015). 202. David, A., Young, N. G. & Craven, M. D. Many-body effects in strongly
181. Kishino, K., Sekiguchi, H. & Kikuchi, A. Improved Ti-mask selective-area disordered III-nitride quantum wells: interplay between carrier
growth (SAG) by rf-plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy localization and Coulomb interaction. Physical Review Applied 12,
demonstrating extremely uniform GaN nanocolumn arrays. Journal 044059 (2019).
of Crystal Growth 311, 2063-2068 (2009). 203. David, A. et al. Review-the physics of recombinations in III-nitride
182. Bi, Z. X. et al. Realization of ultrahigh quality InGaN platelets to be emitters. ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology 9, 016021
used as relaxed templates for red micro-LEDs. ACS Applied Materials & (2020).
Interfaces 12, 17845-17851 (2020). 204. Hangleiter, A. et al. Efficient formation of excitons in a dense
183. Bi, Z. X. et al. InGaN platelets: synthesis and applications toward electron-hole plasma at room temperature. Physical Review B 92,
green and red light-emitting diodes. Nano Letters 19, 2832-2839 241305 (2015).
(2019). 205. Kaufmann, N. A. K. et al. Thermal annealing of molecular beam
184. Cai, Y. F. et al. Direct epitaxial approach to achieve a monolithic on- epitaxy-grown InGaN/GaN single quantum well. Semiconductor
chip integration of a HEMT and a single micro-LED with a high- Science and Technology 27, 105023 (2012).
modulation bandwidth. ACS Applied Electronic Materials 3, 445-450 206. Hou, Y. F. et al. Improvement of interface morphology and
(2021). luminescence properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells by
185. Kishino, K. et al. Two-dimensional multicolor (RGBY) integrated thermal annealing treatment. Results in Physics 31, 105057 (2021).
nanocolumn micro-LEDs as a fundamental technology of micro-LED 207. Lundin, W. V. et al. Single quantum well deep-green LEDs with buried
display. Applied Physics Express 13, 014003 (2020). InGaN/GaN short-period superlattice. Journal of Crystal Growth 315,
186. Ra, Y. H. et al. Scalable nanowire photonic crystals: Molding the light 267-271 (2011).
emission of InGaN. Advanced Functional Materials 27, 1702364 208. Bykhovski, A. D., Gelmont, B. L. & Shur, M. S. Elastic strain relaxation
(2017). and piezoeffect in GaN-AlN, GaN-AlGaN and GaN-InGaN
187. Wright, J. B. et al. Multi-colour nanowire photonic crystal laser pixels. superlattices. Journal of Applied Physics 81, 6332-6338 (1997).
Scientific Reports 3, 2982 (2013). 209. Leem, S. J. et al. The effect of the low-mole InGaN structure and
Pandey et al. Light: Advanced Manufacturing (2023)4:31 Page 24 of 24

InGaN/GaN strained layer superlattices on optical performance of nanocolumn LEDs. Electronics Letters 51, 852-854 (2015).
multiple quantum well active layers. Journal of Crystal Growth 311, 226. Wang, R. J. et al. Tunable, full-color nanowire light emitting diode
103-106 (2008). arrays monolithically integrated on Si and sapphire. Proceedings of
210. Liu, X. H. et al. Micrometer scale InGaN green light emitting diodes SPIE 9748, Gallium Nitride Materials and Devices XI. San Francisco, CA,
with ultra-stable operation. Applied Physics Letters 117, 011104 USA: SPIE, 2016, 97481S.
(2020). 227. Pezeshki, B. et al. High speed light microLEDs for visible wavelength
211. Merlin, R. & Young, S. M. Photonic crystals as topological high-Q communication. Proceedings of SPIE 11706, Light-Emitting Devices,
resonators. Optics Express 22, 18579-18587 (2014). Materials, and Applications XXV. SPIE, 2021, 117060N. (After
212. Ra, Y. H. et al. An electrically pumped surface-emitting reviewing all online materials, we were unable to find the
semiconductor green laser. Science Advances 6, eaav7523 (2020). information on the publication location of this article. Please contact
213. Lu, M. et al. Plastic distributed feedback laser biosensor. Applied the author to confirm)
Physics Letters 93, 111113 (2008). 228. Bamiedakis, N. et al. Micro-LED-based guided-wave optical links for
214. Kumagai, O., Ikeda, M. & Yamamoto, M. Application of laser diodes to visible light communications. 2015 17th International Conference on
optical disk systems: the history of laser diode development and Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON). Budapest, Hungary: IEEE,
mass production in three generations of optical disk systems. 2015, 1-4.
Proceedings of the IEEE 101, 2243-2254 (2013). 229. Ding, H. et al. Optoelectronic sensing of biophysical and biochemical
215. Waldrip, K. E. et al. Stress engineering during metalorganic chemical signals based on photon recycling of a micro-LED. Nano Research
vapor deposition of AlGaN/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors. Applied
14, 3208-3213 (2021).
Physics Letters 78, 3205-3207 (2001).
230. Xu, H. et al. Application of blue–green and ultraviolet micro-LEDs to
216. Nakada, N. et al. Suppression of crack generation in GaN/AlGaN
biological imaging and detection. Journal of Physics D:Applied Physics
distributed Bragg reflector on sapphire by the insertion of
41, 094013 (2008).
GaN/AlGaN superlattice grown by metal-organic chemical vapor
231. Sadaf, S. M. et al. Alternating-current InGaN/GaN tunnel junction
deposition. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 42, L144 (2003).
nanowire white-light emitting diodes. Nano Letters 15, 6696-6701
217. Liu, B. et al. Composition pulling effect and strain relief mechanism in
(2015).
AlGaN/AlN distributed Bragg reflectors. Applied Physics Letters 98,
232. Sadaf, S. M. et al. Monolithically integrated metal/semiconductor
261916 (2011).
tunnel junction nanowire light-emitting diodes. Nano Letters 16,
218. Cosendey, G. et al. Blue monolithic AlInN-based vertical cavity surface
1076-1080 (2016).
emitting laser diode on free-standing GaN substrate. Applied Physics
233. Sanders, N. et al. Electronic and optical properties of two-
Letters 101, 151113 (2012).
219. Mei, Y. et al. Quantum dot vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers dimensional GaN from first-principles. Nano Letters 17, 7345-7349
covering the ‘green gap’. Light:Science & Applications 6, e16199 (2017).
(2017). 234. Wu, Y. et al. Perspectives and recent advances of two-dimensional III-
220. Matsubara, H. et al. GaN photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser at nitrides: Material synthesis and emerging device applications. Applied
blue-violet wavelengths. Science 319, 445-447 (2008). Physics Letters 122, (2023).
221. Yeh, P. S. et al. GaN-based vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers with 235. Zhang, L. et al. How much better are InGaN/GaN nanodisks than
sub-milliamp threshold and small divergence angle. Applied Physics quantum wells—Oscillator strength enhancement and changes in
Letters 109, 241103 (2016). optical properties. Applied Physics Letters 104, 051116 (2014).
222. Hamaguchi, T. et al. Milliwatt-class GaN-based blue vertical-cavity 236. Ahmed, N. I. et al. GaN-based deep-nano structures: break the
surface-emitting lasers fabricated by epitaxial lateral overgrowth. efficiency bottleneck of conventional nanoscale optoelectronics.
Physica Status Solidi (A) 213, 1170-1176 (2016). Advanced Optical Materials 10, e2102263 (2022).
223. Wu, Y. P. et al. InGaN micro-light-emitting diodes monolithically 237. Zhang, L. & Shi, J. J. Influence of surface optical phonons on exciton
grown on Si: achieving ultra-stable operation through polarization binding energies of a quasi-one-dimensional wurtzite GaN-based
and strain engineering. Light: Science & Applications 11, 294 (2022). nanowire: quantum size effect. Journal of Applied Physics 113,
224. Ra, Y. H. et al. Full-color single nanowire pixels for projection displays. 093710 (2013).
Nano Letters 16, 4608-4615 (2016). 238. Laleyan, D. A. et al. Epitaxial hexagonal boron nitride with high
225. Kishino, K. et al. Monolithic integration of four-colour InGaN-based quantum efficiency. APL Materials 11, 051103 (2023).