Deep UV light has potential and previously been used for deactivating various microorganisms and has shown its germicidal effects. III-Nitride quantum-well based deep UV-LEDs can be used effectively in deactivating pathogens. Several researchers have reported that the deep UV-LEDs are useful in deactivating viruses. However, the data published in the literature seem to be insufficient and inconsistent, thus, necessitating further studies for the use of deep UV-LED to combat COVID virus. This article, therefore, reviews the LED-structure and materials for producing UV-wavelengths for applications in deactivating Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). This incorporates the design and simulation-based Nano- Engineered III-Nitride quantum well deep-UV LEDs that will deliver the required wavelength. The design is based on AlGaN/AlN Multiple Quantum wells (MQWs) for deep-UV LEDs capable of producing the wavelength 250 nm < λ ˂ 300 nm. Material combinations and the device-structures aim to achieve the desired wavelengths, spectral and optical power attributes required to deactivate coronavirus. It utilizes nano-bandgap engineering techniques comprising various Al/Ga compositions and AlN epi-layers, and superlattice structures. Using the appropriate number of quantum wells in the device design will achieve the desired wavelengths and power levels.
In this paper we present the electro-optical model, using Aimspice in conjunction with a resistor network, for evaluating the LED designs for optimum uniform current spreading and efficient light extraction. Since high brightness is a critical factor for solid-state lighting, the ability for LED designs to be scalable is important, and we use the pinwheel design, which is aimed at increasing the p-contact area to aid in uniform current spreading, to demonstrate our model. The pinwheel LED design does not scale up because the percentage current uniformity decreases with device size and bias current. To validate the model the current voltage characteristics curves for the two LED sizes (X and 3X) are matched and the recombination saturation current densities values extracted as 7.8 x 10-8 A/cm2 and 8.6 x 10-9 A/cm2, respectively. The tunneling saturation current densities for smallest LED, X, is two orders of magnitude lower than the larger device (3X). Although the larger the LED the higher the photon generation, only a small fraction of these photons can escape the device. The largest photon density is generated under the p-metal contact, with decreasing generation towards the edge of the mesa. Since the metal is opaque to the photons, there is that tendency for most of the photons in this region to bounce back and forth in the device and finally get absorbed. For the 3X pinwheel LED at 20 mA forward current, the complimentary experimental and calculated results show that only 2.2% of the generated photons can escape the active region and make it to the outside world.
The microstructural, electrical and optical properties of GaN/InGaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) with various material quality grown on sapphire have been studied. Burger's vector analyses showed that edge and mixed dislocations were the most common dislocations in these samples. In defective devices, a large number of surface pits and V-defects were present, which were found to be largely associated with mixed or screw dislocations. Tunneling behavior dominated throughout all injection regimes in these devices. The I-V characteristics at the moderate forward biases can be described by I = I0 exp (eV/E), where the energy parameter E has a temperature-independent value in the range of 70 -110 meV. Deep level states-associated emission has been observed, which is direct evidence of carrier tunneling to these states. Light output was found to be approximately current-squared dependent even at high currents, indicating nonradiative recombination through deep-lying states in the space-charge region. In contrast, dislocation bending was observed in a high quality device, which substantially reduced the density of the mixed and screw dislocations reaching the active layer. The defect-assisted tunneling was substantially suppressed in this LED device. Both forward and reverse I-V characteristics showed high temperature sensitivity, and current transport was diffusion-recombination limited. Light output of the LED became linear with the forward current at a current density as low as 1.4x10-2 A/cm2, where the nonradiative recombination centers in the InGaN active region were essentially saturated. This low saturation level suggests optical inactivity of the edge dislocations in this LED.
Uniform current spreading is desirable for both light emitting diodes (LEDs) performance and reliability. It enhances optical efficiency because the joule losses due to current crowding in some parts of the die would be eliminated. The LED design for optimal light extraction and uniform current spreading is therefore a necessity. In this paper we report on preliminary current spreading results obtained from circuit simulation, using Pspice and Aimspice, for LED designs with and without an n-metal ring as well as the epi-up and flip chip LEDs. For the epi-up, both the lateral and vertical resistances of the transparent metals were taken into account. Whereas in the flip chip, the lateral resistance was negligibly small thus only the vertical component contributed to the total p-lump resistance. The n-lateral resistance in the active mesa was critical to uniform current spreading. It was found that the lower the n-lateral resistance, the more uniform the current spreads and flows through the active region. In both the epi-up and flip-chip structures, the contact resistance of the p-metal (including the thin Ni/Au transparent metal) dominated the total p-lump resistance. The larger this value, with fixed n-layer lateral resistance, the more uniform the current spreads in the device. However, high p-contact resistance is not desirable as it reduces the overall efficiency of the device due to excessive heating and increased leakage current. Therefore, for uniform current spreading, the n-lateral resistance should be made small while maintaining an optimum p-lump resistance to achieve a high efficiency.
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