Nano-plasmon enhancement effect on MWIR light emitting diode performance

We observed a significant increase in electro luminescence from GaSb based mid-wave infrared (MWIR) LED device through coupling with localized surface plasmon of a single layer Au nano-particles. We fabricated an interband cascade (IC) LED device with nine cascade active/injection layers with InAs/Ga1−x InxSb/InAs quantum well (QW) active region. Thin Au plasmon layer of 20 nm thickness is deposited on top anode electrode by e-beam technique, which resulted in 100% increase in light output for 50 μm square mesa device. We also observed a reduction in the device turn on voltage and increase in the apparent black body emission temperature due to nano-structure surface plasmon layer.

► We observed 100% increases in MWIR LED power by nano-plasmon layer.
► We use gold metal layer of 20 nm thickness.
► Interband cascade LED device emit light in 3–5 μm range.
► Device voltage drop decreases with nano-plasmon layer.