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Modifying the emission of light from a semiconductor nanowire array

Anttu, Nicklas LU (2016) In Journal of Applied Physics 120(4).
Abstract

Semiconductor nanowire arrays have been identified as a promising platform for future light emitting diodes (LEDs), for example, due to the materials science freedom of combining lattice-mismatched materials in them. Furthermore, the emission of light from nanowires can be tailored by designing their geometry. Such tailoring could optimize the emission of light to the top side as well as enhance the emission rate through the Purcell effect. However, the possibility for enhanced light extraction from III-V nanowire arrays over a conventional bulk-like LED has not been investigated systematically. Here, we use electromagnetic modeling to study the emission of light from nanowire arrays. We vary both the diameter of the nanowires and the... (More)

Semiconductor nanowire arrays have been identified as a promising platform for future light emitting diodes (LEDs), for example, due to the materials science freedom of combining lattice-mismatched materials in them. Furthermore, the emission of light from nanowires can be tailored by designing their geometry. Such tailoring could optimize the emission of light to the top side as well as enhance the emission rate through the Purcell effect. However, the possibility for enhanced light extraction from III-V nanowire arrays over a conventional bulk-like LED has not been investigated systematically. Here, we use electromagnetic modeling to study the emission of light from nanowire arrays. We vary both the diameter of the nanowires and the array period to show the benefit of moving from a bulk-like LED to a nanowire array LED. We study the fraction of light emitted to the top air side and to the substrate at wavelength λ. We find several diameter-dependent resonant peaks for which the emission to the top side is maximized. For the strongest such peak, by increasing the array period, the fraction of emitted light that is extracted at the top air side can be enhanced by a factor of 30 compared to that in a planar bulk LED. By modeling a single nanowire, we confirm that it is beneficial to place the nanowires further apart to enhance the emission to the top side. Furthermore, we predict that for a nanowire diameter D > λ/2, a majority of the emitted power ends up in the substrate. Our results offer direction for the design and optimization of nanowire-array based light emitting diodes.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Applied Physics
volume
120
issue
4
article number
043108
publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
external identifiers
  • scopus:84979998513
  • wos:000382405400008
ISSN
0021-8979
DOI
10.1063/1.4960017
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
67d19bb4-90de-4f0b-9d91-b07bead1dbb4
date added to LUP
2016-12-19 13:54:49
date last changed
2024-02-03 07:03:39
@article{67d19bb4-90de-4f0b-9d91-b07bead1dbb4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Semiconductor nanowire arrays have been identified as a promising platform for future light emitting diodes (LEDs), for example, due to the materials science freedom of combining lattice-mismatched materials in them. Furthermore, the emission of light from nanowires can be tailored by designing their geometry. Such tailoring could optimize the emission of light to the top side as well as enhance the emission rate through the Purcell effect. However, the possibility for enhanced light extraction from III-V nanowire arrays over a conventional bulk-like LED has not been investigated systematically. Here, we use electromagnetic modeling to study the emission of light from nanowire arrays. We vary both the diameter of the nanowires and the array period to show the benefit of moving from a bulk-like LED to a nanowire array LED. We study the fraction of light emitted to the top air side and to the substrate at wavelength λ. We find several diameter-dependent resonant peaks for which the emission to the top side is maximized. For the strongest such peak, by increasing the array period, the fraction of emitted light that is extracted at the top air side can be enhanced by a factor of 30 compared to that in a planar bulk LED. By modeling a single nanowire, we confirm that it is beneficial to place the nanowires further apart to enhance the emission to the top side. Furthermore, we predict that for a nanowire diameter D &gt; λ/2, a majority of the emitted power ends up in the substrate. Our results offer direction for the design and optimization of nanowire-array based light emitting diodes.</p>}},
  author       = {{Anttu, Nicklas}},
  issn         = {{0021-8979}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
  series       = {{Journal of Applied Physics}},
  title        = {{Modifying the emission of light from a semiconductor nanowire array}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4960017}},
  doi          = {{10.1063/1.4960017}},
  volume       = {{120}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}