Improved Optical and Electrical Characteristics of GaN-Based Micro-LEDs by Optimized Sidewall Passivation

GaN-based Micro-LED has been widely regarded as the most promising candidate for next generation of revolutionary display technology due to its advantages of high efficiency, high brightness and high stability. However, the typical micro-fabrication process would leave a great number of damages on the sidewalls of LED pixels, especially for Micro-LEDs, thus reducing the light emitting efficiency. In this paper, sidewall passivation methods were optimized by using acid-base wet etching and SiO2 layer passivation. The optical and electrical characteristics of optimized Micro-LEDs were measured and analyzed. The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of Micro-LED was increased to 85.4%, and the reverse leakage current was reduced down to 10−13 A at −5 V. Optimized sidewall passivation can significantly reduce the non-radiative recombination centers, improving the device performance and supporting the development of high-resolution Micro-LED display.