Recovery of dry etch‐induced damage of nano‐patterned GaN‐based light‐emitting diodes by rapid‐thermal‐annealing

The effect of rapid‐thermal‐annealing on the performance of near‐UV GaN‐based light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) fabricated with nano‐patterned p‐type electrodes has been investigated. One‐dimensional (1‐D) nano‐patterns were formed on Cu‐doped indium oxide (CIO)/indium tin oxide (ITO) p‐electrode by sur‐ face relief grating and dry etching techniques. After the nano‐patterning, some of the samples are rapid‐thermal‐annealed at 530 and 630 °C in either air or nitrogen ambient. LEDs made with samples annealed 530 °C show much better electrical characteristics as compared to unannealed samples. In particular, LEDs with samples annealed 530 °C in air show higher output power (at 20 mA) and much reduced leakage current as compared to LEDs with unannealed samples. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)