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Electrically driven mid-submicrometre pixelation of InGaN micro-light-emitting diode displays for augmented-reality glasses

Nature Photonics volume 15, pages 449–455 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstracte

InGaN-based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), with their high efficiency and brightness, are entering the display industry. However, a significant gap remains between the expectation of highly efficient light sources and their experimental realization into tiny pixels for ultrahigh-density displays for augmented reality. Herein, we report using tailored ion implantation (TIIP) to fabricate highly efficient, electrically-driven pixelated InGaN micro-LEDs (μLEDs) at the mid-submicrometre scale (line/space of 0.5/0.5 μm), corresponding to 8,500 pixels per inch (ppi) (RGB). Creating a laterally confined non-radiative region around each pixel with a controlled amount of mobile vacancies, TIIP pixelation produces relatively invariant luminance, and high pixel distinctiveness, at submicrometre-sized pixels. Moreover, with the incomparable integration capability of TIIP pixelation due to its planar geometry, we demonstrate 2,000 ppi μLED displays with monolithically integrated thin-film transistor pixel circuits, and 5,000 ppi compatible core technologies. We expect that the demonstrated method will pave the way toward high-performance μLED displays for seamless augmented-reality glasses.

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Fig. 1: Schematic illustrations of submicrometre pixelation of InGaN LEDs by mesa etching and IIP.
Fig. 2: Characterization of defects induced by IIP.
Fig. 3: Experimental verification of TIIP.
Fig. 4: Monolithic integration of TIIP-pixelated LEDs with TFTs and QDs.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Lee, K. Kim and S. Heo for the 2D SIMS, XRD and DLTS analyses for characterizing ion-implanted samples, respectively, and useful discussions. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (no. 2017R1A2B3011629 and no. 2020R1A5A6017701).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Jinjoo Park, Jun Hee Choi.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon, Republic of Korea

    Jinjoo Park, Jun Hee Choi, Kiho Kong, Joo Hun Han, Jung Hun Park, Nakhyun Kim, Eunsung Lee, Dongho Kim, Joosung Kim, Deukseok Chung, Shinae Jun, Jaikwang Shin & Sungwoo Hwang

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Miyoung Kim & Euijoon Yoon

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Contributions

J.P. performed the main IIP experiment and characterization. J.H.C. designed the experiment and wrote the manuscript. K.K. designed the pixel-driving circuitry. J.H.H., J.H.P., N.K., E.L., D.K., J.K., D.C. and S.J. fabricated and characterized the EL devices. M.K. guided the theoretical investigations and edited the manuscript. E.Y. guided the experimental investigations. J.S. and S.H. designed the project. All authors provided feedback.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Hee Choi.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Photonics thanks Ulrich Schwarz and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary Figs. 1–13, discussion and Tables 1 and 2.

Supplementary Video 1

Moving image 1 of 300 ppi prototype.

Supplementary Video 2

Moving image 2 of 300 ppi prototype.

Supplementary Video 3

Moving image 3 of 2,000 ppi prototype.

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Park, J., Choi, J.H., Kong, K. et al. Electrically driven mid-submicrometre pixelation of InGaN micro-light-emitting diode displays for augmented-reality glasses. Nat. Photonics 15, 449–455 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-021-00783-1

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