Improved crystal quality and performance of GaN-based light-emitting diodes by decreasing the slanted angle of patterned sapphire

Periodic triangle pyramidal array patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs) with various slanted angles were fabricated by wet etching. It was found beside normal wurtzite GaN, zinc blende GaN was found on the sidewall surfaces of PSS. The crystal quality and performance of PSS-LEDs improved with decrease in slanted angle from 57.4° to 31.6°. This is because most of the growth of GaN was initiated from c-planes. As the growth time increased, GaN epilayers on the bottom c-plane covered these pyramids by lateral growth causing the threading dislocation to bend toward the pyramids.