Paving the Way for High-Performance UVB-LEDs Through Substrate-Dominated Strain-Modulation

AlGaN-based ultraviolet-B light-emitting diodes (UVB-LEDs) exhibit great potential in phototherapy, vitamin D3 synthesis promotion, plant growth regulation, and so on. However, subjected to the excess compressive strain induced by the large lattice mismatch between multiple quantum wells (MQWs) and AlN, UVB-LEDs that simultaneously satisfy the requirements of high light output power (LOP), low working voltage, and excellent stability are rarely reported. Here, a substrate-dominated strain-modulation strategy is proposed. By precisely manipulating the strain in AlN grown on nano-patterned sapphire substrate (NPSS) to a slightly tensile one, the compressive strain in the following Al0.55Ga0.45N underlayer and Al0.28Ga0.72N/Al0.45Ga0.55N MQWs is successfully suppressed. As a result, an outstanding UVB-LED with a peak wavelength at 303.6 nm is achieved. The 20 x 20 mil(2) UVB-LED chip shows a wall-plug efficiency (WPE) of 3.27% under a forward current of 20 mA and a high LOP of 57.2 mW with an extremely low voltage of 5.87 V under a forward current of 800 mA. It is more exciting that the LOP degradation is as low as 17% after 1000 h operation under a forward current density of 75 A cm(-2), showing excellent stability. The here-developed UVB-LED, with a high LOP and excellent reliability, will definitely promote the applications of AlGaN-based UVB-LEDs.