Fabrication of photonic crystal structures on light

emitting diodes by nanoimprint lithography

Authors: Sang Hoon Kim, Ki-Dong Lee, Ja-Yeon Kim, Min-Ki

Kwon and Seong-Ju Park

Presented by Darsen Lu (3/19/2007)

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007)
 Outline
 Introduction
 Some background Information

 Mold Fabrication
 How to fabricate the mold for nanoimprint lithography

 PCLED Device Fabrication

 The fabrication of a photonic crystal light emitting diode (PC
LED) using nanoimprint

 Results
 LED Performance Enhancement due to Photonic Crystal Stru
cture

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 2

 Introduction

Some background Information

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007)

 Light Emitting Diode (LED)
 LED
 Definition: a semiconductor device that emits incoherent narrow-spe
ctrum light when electrically biased in the forward direction

 LED v.s. Incandescent (Edison’s lightbulb) and Flourescent Bulbs

 Much longer life span (105 - 106 hrs v.s. 103 / 104 hrs)
 Suitable for applications that are subject to frequent on-off cycling
 Efficiency: better than incandescent but currently worse than floures
cent bulbs

Source: US Department of Energy Courtesy of Wikipedia

http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/faqs.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED
EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 4
 LED Efficiency
 Internal Quantum Efficiency (ηint)
 Definition: ratio of the number of electrons flowi
ng in the external circuit to the number of photo
ns produced within the device
 Has been improved up to 80%

 External Quantum Efficiency

 Definition: The percentage of photons that can b
e extracted to the ambient.
 Typically 1% ~ 10%
 Limiting factor of LED efficiency
 Improvement techniques: dome-shaped packag
e, textured surface, photonic crystal, …

Source: Lecture Note of “Optoelectronic Devices” (by Sheng-fu

Horng, Dept. of Electrical Engrg, NTHU, Hsinchu, Taiwan)

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 Photonic Crystal

 Photonic Crystal
 Definition: Periodic optical nanostructures that are designed
to affect the propagation of EM waves.
 The periodic structure creates a “photonic bandgap.” No lig
ht with frequency within the gap can propagate.

Source: SPIE Photonics West by Steven G. Johnson http://ab-initio.mit.edu/photons/tutorial/;

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 6

 Photonic Crystal for enhancing the
external quantum efficiency of an LED

 Part of the extrinsic loss in LED

 LED: a thin slab serves as a waveguide
 At some frequencies, spontaneously emitted light ca
n be coupled in to the waveguide
 Efficiency Loss

 Photonic Crystal + LED

 The “optical bandgap” prevents spontaneously emitt
ed light from coupling into the waveguide, therefore
enhancing the efficiency of the device.

 PC Structure Design
 Simulators are available: Ex: R-soft

Source: Shanhui Fan, Pierre R. Villeneuve, and J. D. Joannopoulos, “High Extraction Efficiency of
Spontaneous Emission from Slabs of PhotonicCrystals”

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 7

 Mold Fabrication

How to fabricate the mold for nanoimprint

lithography

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007)

 Mold Fabrication Process (1)

1. Start with a silicon wafer.

PR Grow/Deposit layers: SiO2, Cr, Photor
esist (PR)
Cr

SiO2
2. Pattern the PR twice using a Laser
Interference Lithography (LIL)

3. Develop the PR.

Use a thermal treatment method to
alter the pillar shape and increase its
diameter

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 9

 Mold Fabrication Process (2)

PR
4. Use RIE to etch the Cr.
Cr Then use the Cr as a mask and etch
SiO2 with RIE
SiO2
(This allows a thin PR layer)

5. Remove the Cr mask

Coat Anti-sticking layer by vacuum
evaporation

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 10

 Thermal Treatment Method

 Procedure:
 Heat the wafer with PR at 120C for 5 minutes
 Purpose:
 Increase the pillar diameter (110nm to 150nm)
 Control the shape of the photoresist pattern (circular)

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 11

 Thermal Treatment Method (2)

 120°C is found to be the optimum temperature

 Temperature too low  no significant tampering effects
 Temperature too high  PR becomes too thin and
lithography quality becomes poor

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 12

PCLED Device Fabrication

The fabrication of a photonic crystal layer

using nanoimprint

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007)

 LED Device Fabrication
1. Prepare an LED substrate 3. Remove the residual area using
sample. Deposit Cr and PR. O2 plasma

2. Nanoimprint Process (50bar, 145 4. Etch the Cr and p-GaN region

C)

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 Results

LED Performance Enhancement due to

Photonic Crystal Structure

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007)

 Device Performance Enhancement
 LED intensity as a function of etch depth (With PC)

With Photonic
Crystal Structure:
9x Enhancement

 LED intensity as a function of etch depth (Without PC)

Control Group:
4x Enhancement
(Due to “penetrating”)

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 SEM Pictures
 (a) FESEM Image of the LED sample after removal of the residu
al layer and Cr Patterning
 (b) Final PC strctures on a p-GaN layer
 The diameter of the hole increases after each patterning

FESEM: Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

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 Summary
 The energy efficiency of an LED can be improved by enhancing
the external quantum efficiency.

 Photonic Crystal is one of the possible mechanisms to enhance t

he external quantum efficiency

 A mold is fabricated using laser interference lithography (LIL) a

nd thermal treatment method

 A Photonic Crystal LED is fabricated using nanoimprint lithograp

hy

 The light intensity of the LED is significantly improved due to th

e photonic crystal structure

EE235 Class Presentation on Nanoimprint Lithography (Spring 2007) UC Berkeley - 18

 The End

 Thank you

 Questions?

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