III-Nitride Nanowires as Building Blocks for Advanced Light Emitting Diodes

Abstract

This article presents a discussion on the role of nanowire (NW) structures, prepared by reactive ion etching (RIE), in planar III-nitride light emitting diodes (LEDs) for increasing the functionality, improving the crystalline quality, enhancing the quantum efficiency of radiative recombination, and improving the light extraction efficiency. The methods of NW fabrication by RIE, of suppressing the adverse effects of RIE-related damage, and of incorporating air voids into the NWs are also discussed. Furthermore, metal nanoparticles producing localized surface plasmons and semiconductor quantum dots downconverting the wavelength of light emitted by LEDs are explored.