Thickness-Dependent Performance of a Free-Standing Membrane LED

We propose a free-standing membrane light-emitting diode (LED) on a GaN-on-silicon platform. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation is used to investigate thickness-dependent performance of a free-standing membrane LED. The simulation results show that the light extraction efficiency is increased, and a directed emission pattern is obtained in free-standing membrane LEDs, which are experimentally implemented by removing the silicon substrate and back wafer thinning of the epitaxial layer. The light extraction efficiency and current-voltage (I–V) performance of membrane LEDs is increased in comparison with LEDs with silicon substrate.