Microtube Light-Emitting Diode Arrays with Metal Cores

We report the fabrication and characteristics of vertical microtube light-emitting diode (LED) arrays with a metal core inside the devices. To make the LEDs, gallium nitride (GaN)/indium gallium nitride (InxGa1-xN)/zinc oxide (ZnO) coaxial microtube LED arrays were grown on an n-GaN/c-aluminum oxide (Al2O3) substrate. The micro tube LED arrays were then lifted-off the substrate by wet chemical etching of the sacrificial ZnO microtubes and the silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer. The chemically lifted-off LED layer was then transferred upside-down on other supporting substrates. To create the metal cores, titanium/gold and indium tin oxide were deposited on the inner shells of the microtubes, forming n-type electrodes inside the metal-cored LEDs. The characteristics of the resulting devices were determined by measuring electroluminescence and current voltage characteristic curves. To gain insights into the current spreading characteristics of the devices and understand how to make them more efficient, we modeled them computationally.