Silver Nanowire Transparent Conductive Electrodes for High-Efficiency III-Nitride Light-Emitting Diodes.
Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been successfully demonstrated to function as next-generation transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) in organic semiconductor devices owing to their figures of merit, including high optical transmittance, low sheet resistance, flexibility, and low-cost processing. In this article, high-quality, solution-processed AgNWs with an excellent optical transmittance of 96.5% at 450 nm and a low sheet resistance of 11.7 Ω/sq were demonstrated as TCEs in inorganic III-nitride LEDs. The transmission line model applied to the AgNW contact to p-GaN showed that near ohmic contact with a specific contact resistance of ~10(-3) Ωcm(2) was obtained. The contact resistance had a strong bias-voltage (or current-density) dependence: namely, field-enhanced ohmic contact. LEDs fabricated with AgNW electrodes exhibited a 56% reduction in series resistance, 56.5% brighter output power, a 67.5% reduction in efficiency droop, and a approximately 30% longer current spreading length compared to LEDs fabricated with reference TCEs. In addition to the cost reduction, the observed improvements in device performance suggest that the AgNWs are promising for application as next-generation TCEs, to realise brighter, larger-area, cost-competitive inorganic III-nitride light emitters.
School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering, Semiconductor Physics Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea.
Munsik
M
Oh
School of Flexible and Printable Electronics, Polymer Materials Fusion Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea.
Won-Yong
WY
Jin
Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Republic of Korea.
Hyeon Jun
HJ
Jeong
Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Republic of Korea.
Mun Seok
MS
Jeong
School of Flexible and Printable Electronics, Polymer Materials Fusion Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea.
Jae-Wook
JW
Kang
School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering, Semiconductor Physics Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea.
Hyunsoo
H
Kim