Plasmonic light emitting diode
A light emitting diode includes a square quantum well structure, the quantum well structure including III-V materials. A dielectric layer is formed on the quantum well structure. A plasmonic metal is formed on the dielectric layer and is configured to excite surface plasmons in a waveguide mode that is independent of light wavelength generated by the quantum well structure to generate light.
1. A light emitting de, comprising:
a quantum well structure sandwiched by a top contact and a bottom contact; and
a plasmonic metal formed on a dielectric layer between the bottom contact of the quantum well structure and a substrate, and configured to excite surface plasmons in a waveguide mode to generate light.
2. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 1 , wherein the quantum well structure includes a square with a side dimension of less than about 10 microns.
3. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 1 , wherein the quantum well structure includes alternating layers of III-V materials.
4. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 3 , wherein the alternating layers include GaAs and AlGaAs materials.
5. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plasmonic metal reduces light loss from the diode through reflection.
6. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plasmonic metal enhances emission intensity by a factor of about 2 over a same device without the plasmonic metal.
7. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plasmonic metal is selected from the group consisting of Au, Cu, Ag and Al.
8. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer includes aluminum oxide.
9. A light emitting diode, comprising:
a glass substrate;
a quantum well structure mounted on the glass substrate to generate light using optical pumping; and
a plasmonic metal formed on a dielectric layer between the quantum well structure and the glass substrate, and configured to excite surface plasmons in a waveguide mode.
10. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 9 , wherein the quantum well structure includes a square with a side dimension of less than about 10 microns.
11. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 9 , wherein the quantum well structure includes alternating layers of GaAs and AlGaAs materials.
12. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 9 , wherein the plasmonic metal reduces light loss from the diode through reflection.
13. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 9 , wherein the plasmonic metal enhances emission intensity by a factor of about 2 over a same device without the plasmonic metal.
14. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 9 , wherein the plasmonic metal is selected from the group consisting of Au, Cu, Ag and Al.
15. The light emitting diode as recited in claim 9 , wherein the dielectric layer includes aluminum oxide.
16. A method for fabricating a light emitting diode, comprising:
forming a quantum well structure on a substrate and sandwiched between a top contact and a bottom contact; and
depositing a plasmonic metal on a dielectric layer in between the bottom contact of the quantum well structure and the substrate, the plasmonic metal being configured to excite surface plasmons in a waveguide mode, the quantum well structure including contacts.
17. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the quantum well structure includes a side dimension of less than about 10 microns.
18. The method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising reducing light loss from the light emitting diode using the plasmonic metal to reflect light.
19. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the plasmonic metal enhances emission intensity by a factor of about 2 over a same device without the plasmonic metal.
20. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the plasmonic metal is selected from the group consisting of Au, Cu, Ag and Al.