Greatly enhanced performance of InGaN/GaN nanorod light emitting diodes

For the first time we demonstrate InGaN/GaN-based nanorod light emitting diodes (LEDs) with both very good current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and significantly enhanced emission. Our LED nanorods are fabricated based on InGaN/GaN LED epiwafers commercially available using self-organised Ni nano-mask and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching. In comparison with the conventional LED fabricated on the same wafer, our nanorod LEDs exhibit a great emission enhancement with a factor of 1.8. An extra novel step for device fabrication has been implemented, leading to significantly improved I-V characteristics with a forward-bias voltage of 3.26 V at an injection current of 20 mA, while the forward-bias voltage reported so far is typically 5-7 V for current nanorod LEDs. It is worth highlighting that our III-nitride nanorod LEDs can be truly employed for practical applications. (C) 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim