APL Materials (Aug 2024)

Advances in InGaN-based RGB micro-light-emitting diodes for AR applications: Status and perspective

  • Panpan Li,
  • Jacob Ewing,
  • Matthew S. Wong,
  • Yifan Yao,
  • Hongjian Li,
  • Srinivas Gandrothula,
  • Jordan M. Smith,
  • Mike Iza,
  • Shuji Nakamura,
  • Steven P. DenBaars

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0222618
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 8
pp. 080901 – 080901-12

Abstract

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Micro-light-emitting diodes (µLEDs) are gathering significant interest as a technology for emerging micro-displays. However, µLEDs encounter numerous obstacles, including size-dependent efficiency loss, poor efficiency of red µLEDs, and challenges associated with the mass transfer and integration of full-color µLEDs. These issues become more acute in ultra-small µLEDs (<5 µm), which were required by the augmented reality (AR) displays. Here, we discuss the principal challenges faced by µLEDs and explore the possible solutions. We highlight recent advances in InGaN-based RGB µLEDs tailored for AR displays. In particular, we discuss the advancements in ultra-small InGaN µLEDs scaled down to 1 µm, the developments in InGaN red µLEDs, and the implementation of tunnel junction-based cascaded InGaN µLEDs for monolithic integration.