Designing and Fabricating GaN-Based Microcantilever with Micro-LED Element

This study successfully fabricated a GaN-based microcantilever with a micro-light emitting diode (LED) element based on micromachining technologies of the GaN-on-Si epi-wafer. This novel approach used a batch microfabrication process involving metal layer patterning and bulk micromachining to integrate a micro-LED into a microcantilever, obtaining a self-emissive light source on a monolithically constructed, deformable micromachined structure. The results demonstrated that the micro-LED of 50×50 μm
²
size can light up when a specific forward bias of 3 V is applied to the P-GaN and N-GaN pads. The measured stiffness for the GaN microcantilever, with a dimension of 300×100×4 μm
³
, was 54 N/m. This approach allows simplification and size-reduction of many micro-opto-electromechanical systems, thereby improving their working performance and creating applications for multiple fabrication platforms.