High brightness AlGaInP thin-film resonant cavity LEDs with an emission wavelength around 650 nm are presented. The combination of a thin-film waveguide structure and a resonant cavity with an omnidirectional reflector (ODR) leads to significantly higher efficiencies compared to standard resonant cavity LED (RCLED) structures. Preliminary devices based on this configuration show external quantum efficiencies of 23% and 18% with and without encapsulation, respectively, despite a non-ideal detuning. These devices exhibit a narrow far-field pattern and are therefore adapted for applications requiring high brightness emitters such as for example plastic optical fiber communications. By opting for a negative detuning, i.e. a cavity resonance that is red-shifted compared to the intrinsic emission spectrum, even higher efficiencies should be achievable.

Date Published: 20 December 2004
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 5594, Physics and Applications of Optoelectronic Devices, (20 December 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.579495

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5594:
Physics and Applications of Optoelectronic Devices
Joachim Piprek, Editor(s)