Surface-plasmon-enhanced light-emitting diodes

A surface-plasmon-enhanced InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well blue LED with an embedded Ag nanoparticle layer inserted between the n-GaN layer and the MQW layer is presented. Time-resolved photoluminescence experiments revealed that the spontaneous emission rate was increased significantly by energy transfer between the quantum well light emitter and the surface plasmons from the Ag nanoparticles. A 32.2% increase in optical output power of the LED is observed.