This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 109137208, filed on Oct. 27, 2020. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
The disclosure relates to a micro light-emitting diode, and in particular to a micro light-emitting diode with a higher bonding yield.
Vertical light-emitting diodes and flip-chip light-emitting diodes are two common forms of existing light-emitting diodes. The two electrodes of a vertical light-emitting diode are located on two opposite sides of the vertical light-emitting diode. Since one of the electrodes is required to be bonded to the circuit board through wire bonding, the bonding yield is limited. On the other hand, a flip-chip light-emitting diode requires a conductive hole or a mesa formed on the semiconductor layers so that one of the semiconductor layers is electrically connected to the electrode. When the light-emitting diode is scaled down to a micron-level micro light-emitting diode and applied to a display device, it is difficult to reduce the overall size.
The disclosure provides a micro light-emitting diode which exhibits characteristics of a vertical light-emitting diode and a flip-chip light-emitting diode.
A micro light-emitting diode according to an aspect of the disclosure is adapted for being disposed on and electrically connected to a circuit substrate. The micro light-emitting diode includes an epitaxial structure, at least one first electrode, a second electrode, and an insulating layer. The epitaxial structure includes a first semiconductor layer, a light emitting layer, and a second semiconductor layer stacked in sequence. At least one first electrode is electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer and extends from a side of the first semiconductor layer along at least one side surface of the epitaxial structure to between the second semiconductor layer and the circuit substrate. The second electrode is located below the second semiconductor layer and is electrically connected to the second semiconductor layer. The insulating layer is disposed at least between the at least one first electrode and the light emitting layer of the epitaxial structure and between the at least one first electrode and the second semiconductor layer.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the micro light-emitting diode further includes a conductive layer, which is disposed on the first semiconductor layer and contacts the first semiconductor layer, and the at least one first electrode contacts and is electrically connected to the conductive layer.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a projection area of the conductive layer on the circuit substrate entirely covers projection areas of the epitaxial structure, the at least one first electrode, and the insulating layer on the circuit substrate.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a projection area of the conductive layer on the circuit substrate is smaller than a projection area of the epitaxial structure, the at least one first electrode, and the insulating layer on the circuit substrate.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a projection area of the conductive layer on the epitaxial structure covers 80% or more of an area of the epitaxial structure.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a ratio of a projection area of the conductive layer on the circuit substrate to a projection area of the epitaxial structure to the circuit substrate is between 80% and 110%.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a thickness of the conductive layer is smaller than a thickness of each of the at least one first electrode.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the micro light-emitting diode further includes a first light guide layer, disposed on the conductive layer, and the conductive layer is located between the first light guide layer and the first semiconductor layer. A refractive index of the conductive layer is greater than a refractive index of the first light guide layer.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the micro light-emitting diode further includes a second light guide layer, disposed on the first light guide layer, and the first conductive layer is located between the second light guide layer and the conductive layer. A refractive index of the first light guide layer is greater than a refractive index of the second light guide layer.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a projection area of each of the at least one first electrode on the circuit substrate is greater than or equal to a projection area of the second electrode on the circuit substrate.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a projection area of the at least one first electrode on the epitaxial structure is equal to a projection area of the second electrode on the epitaxial structure.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one first electrode includes a plurality of first electrodes, the at least one side surface includes a plurality of side surfaces, and the first electrodes extend along the side surfaces of the epitaxial structure to below the second semiconductor layer.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, a projection area of the at least one first electrode on the circuit substrate does not overlap with a projection area of the epitaxial structure on the circuit substrate.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one first electrode directly contacts the first semiconductor layer.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one first electrode extends onto the first semiconductor layer.
A display device of the disclosure includes a display panel and a plurality of micro light-emitting diodes stacked below the display panel.
In summary, the first electrode of the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure extends from a side of the first semiconductor layer along the at least one side surface of the epitaxial structure to between the second semiconductor layer and the circuit substrate, and the second electrode is located below the second semiconductor layer. Therefore, different from a vertical light-emitting diode, the first electrode and the second electrode of the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure are located on the same side of the epitaxial structure. The first electrode and the second electrode can be directly bonded to the circuit substrate without wire bonding. Thus, the bonding yield can be high. In addition, different from a flip-chip light-emitting diode, the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure has the design of the first electrode extending from a side of the first semiconductor layer along the at least one side surface of the epitaxial structure to below the second semiconductor layer. In this way, it is not required to manufacture a conductive hole or a mesa on the epitaxial structure, and the size of the micro light-emitting diode is thus reduced. That is, the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure exhibits the characteristics of the vertical light-emitting diode and the flip-chip light-emitting diode.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
The epitaxial structure 110 includes a first semiconductor layer 112, a light emitting layer 114, and a second semiconductor layer 116 stacked in sequence. In this embodiment, the first semiconductor layer 112 is, for example, a P-type semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer 116 is, for example, an N-type semiconductor layer, and the light emitting layer 114 is a multiple quantum well layer.
At least one first electrode 140 is electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer 112 and extends from a side of the first semiconductor layer 112 along at least one side surface of the epitaxial structure 110 to below the second semiconductor layer 116. In this embodiment, an example is given in which the number of the at least one first electrode 140 is one, but in other embodiments, more than one first electrodes 140 may be provided. The disclosure is not limited thereto.
In addition, in this embodiment, the first electrode 140 is L-shaped, a part of the first electrode 140 is located on a side surface of the epitaxial structure 110, and another part of the first electrode 140 is located below the epitaxial structure 110, but the form of the first electrode 140 is not limited thereto. The part of the first electrode 140 on the side surface of the epitaxial structure 110 and the part of the first electrode 140 below the epitaxial structure 110 may be integrally formed to increase the yield.
The second electrode 142 is located below the second semiconductor layer 116 and is electrically connected to the second semiconductor layer 116. In this embodiment, the micro light-emitting diode 100 further includes an ohmic contact layer 145 disposed between the second electrode 142 and the second semiconductor layer 116. The second electrode 142 is electrically connected to the second semiconductor layer 116 through the ohmic contact layer 145, so as to facilitate the electrical connection between the second electrode 142 and the second semiconductor layer 116. In embodiments not shown in the drawings, the ohmic contact layer 145 may be omitted. In this embodiment, an example is given in which the number of the second electrode 142 is one, but in other embodiments, more than second electrodes 142 may be provided.
In this embodiment, the first electrode 140 and the second electrode 142 are located on the same side of the epitaxial structure 110. Therefore, the first electrode 140 and the second electrode 142 may be connected to a first bonding pad 34 and a second bonding pad 36 on the circuit substrate 32 respectively.
In addition, in this embodiment, the projection area of the first electrode 140 on the circuit substrate 32 is greater than or equal to the projection area of the second electrode 142 on the circuit substrate 32. Such a design allows the first electrode 140 to have a larger area to bond with the first bonding pad 34 of the circuit substrate 32. With the larger bonding area, the bonding force may be evenly distributed to increase the bonding yield.
In addition, since the first electrode 140 is disposed on the side surface of the epitaxial structure 110, the first electrode 140 may be used as a reflective layer to reflect the light incident onto the side surface of the epitaxial structure 110 upward. Accordingly, the light output efficiency is facilitated.
The insulating layer 120 is disposed at least between the at least one first electrode 140 and the light emitting layer 114 and between the at least one first electrode 140 and the second semiconductor layer 116 of the epitaxial structure 110. In this embodiment, the insulating layer 120 is further disposed between the at least one first electrode 140 and the first semiconductor layer 112 of the epitaxial structure 110. That is, the insulating layer 120 separates the first electrode 140 and the entire epitaxial structure 110.
In this embodiment, the micro light-emitting diode 100 further includes a conductive layer 130, which is disposed on the first semiconductor layer 112 and is in ohmic contact with the first semiconductor layer 112. The first electrode 140 contacts and is electrically connected to the conductive layer 130. That is, in this embodiment, the first electrode 140 is electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer 112 through the conductive layer 130. In this embodiment, the conductive layer 130 is a transparent conductive layer 130, and the light generated by the epitaxial structure 110 passes through the conductive layer 130 and emits upward. The conductive layer 130 is capable of conducting electricity and transmitting light. The material of the conductive layer 130 includes, for example, ITO, AZO, or ZnO, but the material and form of the conductive layer 130 are not limited thereto.
In addition, as shown in
In this embodiment, the conductive layer 130 covers the epitaxial structure 110, the first electrode 140, and the insulating layer 120. Therefore, the projection area of the conductive layer 130 on the circuit substrate 32 entirely covers the projection areas of the epitaxial structure 110, the first electrode 140, and the insulating layer 120 on the circuit substrate 32. Accordingly, the current conducting efficiency is facilitated. It is to be noted that in other embodiments, the relative relationship between the conductive layer 130 and the epitaxial structure 110 and the insulating layer 120 is not limited thereto.
It is worth mentioning that the first electrode 140 of the micro light-emitting diode 100 of this embodiment extends from the conductive layer 130 along the side surface of the epitaxial structure 110 to below the second semiconductor layer 116, and the second electrode 142 is located below the second semiconductor layer 116. Therefore, different from the vertical micro light-emitting diode in the conventional art, the first electrode 140 and the second electrode 142 of the micro light-emitting diode 100 of this embodiment are located on the same side of the epitaxial structure 110. Each of the first electrode 140 and the second electrode 142 may thereby be directly bonded to the circuit substrate 32 individually without wire bonding or using co-electrodes. Consequently, the bonding yield is facilitated.
In addition, different from the flip-chip light-emitting diode in the related art, the micro light-emitting diode 100 of this embodiment has the design of the first electrode 140 extending from a side of the first semiconductor layer 112 along at least one side surface of the epitaxial structure 110 to below the second semiconductor layer 116. In this way, it is not required to manufacture a conductive hole or a mesa on the epitaxial structure 110, and the size of the epitaxial structure 110 may be reduced to less than 30 microns. Therefore, the epitaxial structure 110 has a smaller size.
It is to be noted that the following embodiments use the reference numerals and a part of the contents of the above embodiments, and the same reference numerals are used to denote the same or similar elements, and the description of the same technical contents is omitted. For the description of the omitted part, reference may be made to the above embodiments, and details are not described in the following embodiments.
In this embodiment, by increasing the number of the multiple first electrodes 140b, the reflection area on the side surfaces of the epitaxial structure 110 increases. Consequently, the light output efficiency is further facilitated.
In addition, in this embodiment, since the number of the multiple first electrodes 140b increases, if one of the multiple first electrodes 140b breaks, the other first electrode 140b may remain operational. Consequently, the probability of failure of the micro light-emitting diode 100b is reduced.
Furthermore, the epitaxial structure 110 generally has fewer defects in the center during manufacturing. In this embodiment, since the first electrodes 140b are configured on the side surfaces of the epitaxial structure 110 and the number of the first electrodes 140b is plural, a second electrode 142b is re-arranged to a position corresponding to the center of the epitaxial structure 110. Such a design allows the second electrode 142b to be located at a part corresponding to the position of the epitaxial structure 110 with fewer defects. Therefore, the micro light-emitting diode 100b may have a higher light-emitting efficiency and a higher external quantum efficiency (EQE).
Such a design provides a more comprehensive reflecting effect of the light on the four side surfaces of the epitaxial layer, and allows the multiple first electrodes 140c of the micro light-emitting diode 100c to have a larger bonding area, so as to further increase the bonding margin between the multiple first electrodes 140c and the first bonding pad 34 of the circuit substrate 32. The micro light-emitting diode 100c can remain operational even if there is a slight misalignment between the micro light-emitting diode 100c and the circuit substrate 32.
In general, the epitaxial structure 110 has fewer defects in the center during manufacturing. As shown in
In this embodiment, the projection area of the conductive layer 130g on the epitaxial structure 110 covers 80% or more of the area of the epitaxial structure 110 and therefore allows a large current to pass through, but the coverage of the projection area of the conductive layer 130g on the epitaxial structure 110 is less than 100% of the area of the epitaxial structure 110 so as to reduce the probability of the current flowing through the edges of the epitaxial structure 110. In addition, in this embodiment, the conductive layer 130g only covers a part of the epitaxial structure 110 and the first electrode 140. Therefore, the ratio of the projection area of the conductive layer 130g on the circuit substrate 32 to the projection area of the epitaxial structure 110 to the circuit substrate 32 may be between 80% and 110%, but is not limited thereto.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the first electrode 140 may be in direct ohmic contact with the first semiconductor layer 112 in addition to the ohmic contact through the conductive layer 130. Consequently, the circuit path is reduced.
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It is to be noted that compared with the conductive layer 130 (in
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In summary, the first electrode of the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure extends from a side of the first semiconductor layer along at least one side surface of the epitaxial structure to below the second semiconductor layer, and the second electrode is located below the second semiconductor layer. Therefore, different from a vertical light-emitting diode, the first electrode and the second electrode of the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure are located on the same side of the epitaxial structure. The first electrode and the second electrode can be directly bonded to the circuit substrate without wire bonding. Thus, the bonding yield is increased. In addition, different from a flip-chip light-emitting diode, the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure has the design of the first electrode extending from a side of the first semiconductor layer along at least one side surface of the epitaxial structure to below the second semiconductor layer. In this way, it is not required to manufacture a conductive hole or a mesa on the epitaxial structure. As a result, the micro light-emitting diode has a smaller size. That is, the micro light-emitting diode according to the embodiments of the disclosure exhibits the characteristics of the vertical light-emitting diode and the flip-chip light-emitting diode.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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109137208 | Oct 2020 | TW | national |