Wavelength-stable rare earth-free green light-emitting diodes for energy efficiency

Solid state lighting seeks to replace both, incandescent and fluorescent lighting by energy efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Just like compact fluorescent tubes, current white LEDs employ costly rare earth-based phosphors, a drawback we propose to overcome with direct emitting LEDs of all colors. We show the benefits of homoepitaxial LEDs on bulk GaN substrate for wavelength-stable green spectrum LEDs. By use of non-polar growth orientation we avoid big color shifts with drive current and demonstrate polarized light emitters that prove ideal for pairing with liquid crystal display modulators in back light units of television monitors. We further offer a comparison of the prospects of non-polar a-and m-plane growth over conventional c-plane growth. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America