Improved output power of GaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with sputtered AlN nucleation layer

•We investigate the UV-LEDs on PSS at 380 nm were grown by the AP-MOCVD.•The sputtered AlN nucleation layer was utilized on the PSS to enhance the quality of the epitaxial layer.•The UV-LEDs with sputtered AlN nucleation layer is higher light output power compared with GaN nucleation layer.

In this work, the ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) at 380 nm were grown on patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) by atmospheric pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (AP-MOCVD). A sputtered AlN nucleation layer was utilized on the PSS to enhance the quality of the epitaxial layer. By using high-resolution X-ray diffraction, the full-width at half-maximum of the rocking curve shows that the UV-LEDs with sputtered AlN nucleation layer had better crystalline quality when compared to conventional GaN nucleation samples. From the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, it can be observed that the tip and sidewall portion of the pattern was smooth using the sputtered AlN nucleation layer. The threading dislocation densities (TDDs) are reduced from 6×107 cm−2 to 2.5×107 cm−2 at the interface between the u-GaN layers for conventional and AlN PSS devices, respectively. As a result, a much higher light output power was achieved. The light output power at an injection current of 20 mA was enhanced by 30%. Further photoluminescence (PL) measurement and numerical simulation confirm that this increase of output power can be attributed to the improvement of material quality and light extraction.