Correction: A high quality liquid-type quantum dot white light-emitting diode.

Correction for 'A high quality liquid-type quantum dot white light-emitting diode' by Chin-Wei Sher et al., Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 1117-1122.

Optimized Spiral Metal-Gallium-Nitride Nanowire Cavity for Ultra-High Circular Dichroism Ultraviolet Lasing at Room Temperature.

Circularly polarized laser sources with small footprints and high efficiencies can possess advanced functionalities in optical communication and biophotonic integrated systems. However, the conventional lasers with additional circular-polarization converters are bulky and hardly compatible with nanophotonic circuits, and most active chiral plasmonic nanostructures nowadays exhibit broadband emission and low circular dichroism. In this work, with spirals of gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires (NWRs) covered by a metal layer, we demonstrated an ultrasmall semiconductor laser capable of emitting circularly-polarized photons. The left- and right-hand spiral metal nanowire cavities with varied periods were designed at ultraviolet wavelengths to achieve the high quality factor circular dichroism metastructures. The dissymmetry factors characterizing the degrees of circular polarizations of the left- and right-hand chiral lasers were 1.4 and -1.6 (±2 if perfectly circular polarized), respectively. The results show that the chiral cavities with only 5 spiral periods can achieve lasing signals with the high degrees of circular polarizations.

Pulsed-laser micropatterned quantum-dot array for white light source.

In this study, a novel photoluminescent quantum dots device with laser-processed microscale patterns has been demonstrated to be used as a white light emitting source. The pulsed laser ablation technique was employed to directly fabricate microscale square holes with nano-ripple structures onto the sapphire substrate of a flip-chip blue light-emitting diode, confining sprayed quantum dots into well-defined areas and eliminating the coffee ring effect. The electroluminescence characterizations showed that the white light emission from the developed photoluminescent quantum-dot light-emitting diode exhibits stable emission at different driving currents. With a flexibility of controlling the quantum dots proportions in the patterned square holes, our developed white-light emitting source not only can be employed in the display applications with color triangle enlarged by 47% compared with the NTSC standard, but also provide the great potential in future lighting industry with the correlated color temperature continuously changed in a wide range.

Improvement of light quality by ZrO(2) film of chip on glass structure white LED.

A novel combination of blue LED chips, transparent glass substrates and phosphors with PDMS thin film is demonstrated. The flip-chip bonding technology is applied to facilitate this design. The ZrO(2) nanoparticles are also doped into the PDMS film to increase light scattering. The resultant luminous efficiency shows an 11% enhancement when compared to the regular COG device. The variation of correlated color temperature of such devices is also reduced to 132K. In addition to these changes, the surface temperature is reduced from 121°C to 104°C due to good thermal dissipation brought by ZrO(2) nanoparticles.

A high quality liquid-type quantum dot white light-emitting diode.

This study demonstrates a novel package design to store colloidal quantum dots in liquid format and integrate them with a standard LED. The high efficiency and high quality color performance at a neutral white correlated color temperature is demonstrated. The experimental results indicate that the liquid-type quantum dot white light-emitting diode (LQD WLED) is highly efficient and reliable. The luminous efficiency and color rendering index (CRI) of the LQD WLED can reach 271 lm Wop(-1) and 95, respectively. Moreover, a glass box is employed to prevent humidity and oxygen erosion. With this encapsulation design, our quantum dot box can survive over 1000 hours of storage time.

Resonant-enhanced full-color emission of quantum-dot-based micro LED display technology.

Colloidal quantum dots which can emit red, green, and blue colors are incorporated with a micro-LED array to demonstrate a feasible choice for future display technology. The pitch of the micro-LED array is 40 µm, which is sufficient for high-resolution screen applications. The method that was used to spray the quantum dots in such tight space is called Aerosol Jet technology which uses atomizer and gas flow control to obtain uniform and controlled narrow spots. The ultra-violet LEDs are used in the array to excite the red, green and blue quantum dots on the top surface. To increase the utilization of the UV photons, a layer of distributed Bragg reflector was laid down on the device to reflect most of the leaked UV photons back to the quantum dot layers. With this mechanism, the enhanced luminous flux is 194% (blue), 173% (green) and 183% (red) more than that of the samples without the reflector. The luminous efficacy of radiation (LER) was measured under various currents and a value of 165 lm/Watt was recorded.

Large-area, uniform white light LED source on a flexible substrate.

This study demonstrates the flexible white LED structure with high lumen efficiency and uniform optical performance for neutral white and warm white CCT. Flip-chip LEDs were attached on a polyimide substrate with copper strips as electrical and thermal conduction paths. Yellow phosphors are mixed with polydimenthysiloxane (PDMS) to provide mechanical support and flexibility. The light efficiency of this device can reach 120 lm/W and 85% of light output uniformity of the emission area can be achieved. Moreover, the optical simulation is employed to evaluate various designs of this flexible film in order to obtain uniform output. Both the pitch between the individual devices and the thickness of the phosphor film are calculated for optimization purpose. This flexible white LED with high lumen efficiency and good reliability is suitable for the large area fixture in the general lighting applications.

Efficient hybrid white light-emitting diodes by organic-inorganic materials at different CCT from 3000K to 9000K.

The hybrid white light-emitting didoes (LED) with polyfluoren (PFO) polymer and quantum dot (QD) was investigated using dispensing method at the different correlated color temperature (CCT) for cool and warm color temperature. This result indicates that the hybrid white LED device has the higher luminous efficiency than the convention one, which could be attributed to the increased utilization rate of the UV light. Furthermore, the CIE 1931 coordinate of high quality white hybrid LED with different CCT range from 3000K to 9000K is demonstrated. Consequently, the angular-dependent CCT and the thermal issue of the hybrid white LED device were also analyzed in this study.

Improvement of light quality by DBR structure in white LED.

This study demonstrates the application of DBR structure into the remote phosphor structure to improve the angular correlated color temperature (CCT) deviation in white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). In the experiment, the LED device with DBR structure yielded a higher luminous efficiency than a conventional structure. The CCT deviation can be improved from 1758K to 280K in a range of -70 to 70 degree and the luminous flux increases more than 10% due to the enhancement of the light extraction of the blue light. Moreover, the reflectance of the different DBR structures is analyzed with different angles to reveal the reasons of such improvements. As the result, this LED device with DBR structure shows the great potential to use as the next generation lighting source.

Fabrication and characterization of back-side illuminated InGaN/GaN solar cells with periodic via-holes etching and Bragg mirror processes.

In this study, the design and fabrication schemes of back-side illuminated InGaN/GaN solar cells with periodic via-holes etching and Bragg mirror processes are presented. Compared to typical front-side illuminated solar cells, the improvements of open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) from 1.88 to 1.94 V and short-circuit current density (J(sc)) from 0.84 to 1.02 mA/cm(2) are observed. Most significantly, the back-side illuminated InGaN/GaN solar cells exhibit an extremely high fill factor up to 85.5%, leading to a conversion efficiency of 1.69% from 0.66% of typical front-side illuminated solar cells under air mass 1.5 global illuminations. Moreover, the effects of bottom Bragg mirrors on the photovoltaic characteristics of back-side illuminated solar cells are studied by an advanced simulation program. The results show that the J(sc) could further be improved with a factor of 10% from the original back-side illuminated solar cell by the structure optimization of bottom Bragg mirrors.

A highly efficient hybrid GaAs solar cell based on colloidal-quantum-dot-sensitization.

This paper presents a hybrid design, featuring a traditional GaAs-based solar cell combined with various colloidal quantum dots. This hybrid design effectively boosts photon harvesting at long wavelengths while enhancing the collection of photogenerated carriers in the ultraviolet region. The merits of using highly efficient semiconductor solar cells and colloidal quantum dots were seamlessly combined to increase overall power conversion efficiency. Several photovoltaic parameters, including short-circuit current density, open circuit voltage, and external quantum efficiency, were measured and analyzed to investigate the performance of this hybrid device. Offering antireflective features at long wavelengths and luminescent downshifting for high-energy photons, the quantum dots effectively enhanced overall power conversion efficiency by as high as 24.65% compared with traditional GaAs-based devices. The evolution of weighted reflectance as a function of the dilution factor of QDs was investigated. Further analysis of the quantum efficiency response showed that the luminescent downshifting effect can be as much as 6.6% of the entire enhancement of photogenerated current.

Highly efficient multiple-layer CdS quantum dot sensitized III-V solar cells.

In this review, the concept of utilization of solar spectrum in order to increase the solar cell efficiency is discussed. Among the three mechanisms, down-shifting effect is investigated in detail. Organic dye, rare-earth minerals and quantum dots are three most popular down-shift materials. While the enhancement of solar cell efficiency was not clearly observed in the past, the advances in quantum dot fabrication have brought strong response out of the hybrid platform of a quantum dot solar cell. A multiple layer structure, including PDMS as the isolation layer, is proposed and demonstrated. With the help of pulse spray system, precise control can be achieved and the optimized concentration can be found.

White light emitting diodes with enhanced CCT uniformity and luminous flux using ZrO2 nanoparticles.

To enhance the uniformity of correlated color temperature (CCT) and luminous flux, we integrated ZrO2 nanoparticles into white light-emitting diodes. This novel packaging scheme led to a more than 12% increase in luminous flux as compared to that in conventional dispensing structures. This was attributed to the scattering effect of ZrO2 nanoparticles, which enhanced the utilization of blue light. Moreover, the CCT deviation was reduced from 522 to 7 K in a range of -70 to +70°, and essentially eliminated the yellow ring phenomenon. The haze measurement indicated strong scattering across the visible spectrum in the presence of ZrO2 in the silicone layer, and this finding also substantiates our claim. In addition, the chromaticity coordinate shift was steady in the ZrO2 dispensing package structure as the drive current increased, which is crucial for indoor lighting. Combined with its low cost, easy fabrication, and superior optical characteristics, ZrO2 nanoparticles can be an effective performance enhancer for the future generation of white light-emitting devices.

Improvement of emission uniformity by using micro-cone patterned PDMS film.

Micro-patterned PDMS film was fabricated and combined with LED chip on board (COB) package to improve the emission uniformity of LED chip. The micro scale patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) was used as a mold to fabricate micro-cone patterned PDMS (MC-PDMS) film. A strong scattering effect from this MC-PDMS film can be verified by the high haze ratio and the Bi-directional Transmission effect. The angle dependent color temperature measurement system was used to measure the ΔCCT of COB with and without MC-PDMS. The measurement results indicate that the ΔCCT was reduced from 1025K to 428K. This improvement can effectively eliminate the yellow ring effect of LED chip. This technology can be thus considered as a cost-effective way for the next generation of light source packages.

Hole injection and electron overflow improvement in InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes by a tapered AlGaN electron blocking layer.

A tapered AlGaN electron blocking layer with step-graded aluminum composition is analyzed in nitride-based blue light-emitting diode (LED) numerically and experimentally. The energy band diagrams, electrostatic fields, carrier concentration, electron current density profiles, and hole transmitting probability are investigated. The simulation results demonstrated that such tapered structure can effectively enhance the hole injection efficiency as well as the electron confinement. Consequently, the LED with a tapered EBL grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition exhibits reduced efficiency droop behavior of 29% as compared with 44% for original LED, which reflects the improvement in hole injection and electron overflow in our design.

Enhanced performance of nitride-based ultraviolet vertical-injection light-emitting diodes by non-insulation current blocking layer and textured surface.

For the purpose of light extraction and efficiency enhancement, the nitride-based ultraviolet vertical-injection light-emitting diodes (UV-VLEDs) with non-insulation current blocking layer (n-CBL) and optimized textured surface were fabricated. The optical and electrical characteristics were investigated in this n-CBL UV-VLED. Furthermore, the efficiency of optimized structure was improved by 5 ~ 6 times compared to our reference.

High thermal stability of correlated color temperature using current compensation in hybrid warm white high-voltage LEDs.

This study experimentally and numerically examines the correlated color temperature (CCT) stability issue for hybrid warm white high-voltage light-emitting diodes (HV-LEDs) by using a current compensation method. This method could efficiently maintain the CCT stability factor at approximately 1.0 and yield greater color uniformity with Δu'v' values ranging from 0.017 to 0.003 in CIE 1976 chromaticity coordinates. The simulation results show that the red chip intensity drop is the primary cause of CCT instability in the hybrid warm white system when the temperature increases. Therefore, Furthermore, results indicate that the relative lumen drop improves from 21% to 15% by using a current compensation method.

Optimization of the single-phased white phosphor of Li2SrSiO4: Eu2+, Ce3+ for light-emitting diodes by using the combinatorial approach assisted with the Taguchi method.

The best performance of the phosphor Li(2)SrSiO(4): Eu(2+), Ce(3+) in terms of luminescence efficiency (LE), color rendering index (CRI) and color temperature (Tc) for light-emitting diode application was optimized with combinatorial approach. The combinatorial libraries were synthesized with solution-based method and the scale-up samples were synthesized with conventional solid-reaction method. Crystal structure was investigated by using the X-ray diffraction spectrometer. The emission spectra of each sample in combinatorial libraries were measured in situ by using a fiber optic spectrometer. Fluorescence spectrometers were used to record excitation and emission spectra of bulk samples. White light generation was tuned up by tailoring Eu(2+) and Ce(3+) concentrations in the single-phased host of Li(2)SrSiO(4) under near-ultraviolet excitation, but it exhibited low efficiency of luminescence and poor color rendering index. The effects of each level of the Eu(2+) and Ce(3+) concentrations on LE, CRI, and Tc were evaluated with the Taguchi method. The optimum levels of the interaction pairs between Eu(2+) and Ce(3+) concentration on LE, CRI, and Tc were [2, 1] (0.006 M, 0.003 M), [1, 2] (0.003 M, 0.006 M), and [3, 1] (0.009 M, 0.00 3M), respectively. The thermal stability of luminescence, the external quantum efficiency (QE), luminance, chromaticity coordinates, correlated color temperature, color purity including the composition ratio of RGB in white light, and color rendering index of the white light emission of phosphor were evaluated comprehensively from a bulk sample.

Improvement in uniformity of emission by ZrO2 nano-particles for white LEDs.

The high luminous efficiency and superior uniformity of angular-dependent correlated color temperature (CCT) white light-emitting diodes have been investigated by ZrO2 nano-particles in a remote phosphor structure. By adding ZrO2 nano-particles with silicone onto the surface of the phosphor layer, the capability of light scattering could be enhanced. In particular, the intensity of blue light at large angles was increased and the CCT deviations could be reduced. Besides, the luminous flux was improved due to the ZrO2 nano-particles with silicone providing a suitable refractive index between air and phosphor layers. This novel structure reduces angular-dependent CCT deviations from 1000 to 420 K in the range of -70° to 70°. Moreover, the enhancement of lumen flux was increased by 2.25% at a driving current 120 mA, compared to a conventional remote phosphor structure without ZrO2 nano-particles. Consequently, the ZrO2 nano-particles in a remote phosphor structure could not only improve the uniformity of lighting but also increase the light output.

A novel randomly textured phosphor structure for highly efficient white light-emitting diodes.

We have successfully demonstrated the enhanced luminous flux and lumen efficiency in white light-emitting diodes by the randomly textured phosphor structure. The textured phosphor structure was fabricated by a simple imprinting technique, which does not need an expensive dry-etching machine or a complex patterned definition. The textured phosphor structure increases luminous flux by 5.4% and 2.5% at a driving current of 120 mA, compared with the flat phosphor and half-spherical lens structures, respectively. The increment was due to the scattering of textured surface and also the phosphor particles, leading to the enhancement of utilization efficiency of blue light. Furthermore, the textured phosphor structure has a larger view angle at the full width at half maximum (87°) than the reference LEDs.