Transferable, flexible white light-emitting diodes of GaN p–n junction microcrystals fabricated by remote epitaxy

Abstract

The remote epitaxy of GaN p–n homojunction microcrystals (μCs) is demonstrated for fabricating transferable, flexible white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). The GaN p–n junction μCs are randomly grown on graphene-coated Al2O3(0001), which are then delaminated for mass-transfer onto conducting copper tape. The μCs-LED shows electrical rectification and white electroluminescence (EL) emission. The μCs-WLED exhibits reliable LED performances after repetitive bending deformations and cycling temperature environments. Based on the transferability, the μCs-WLEDs are patterned and assembled to matrix arrays, which exhibit homogeneous, reliable performances even at a bent form. We discuss that the origin of white EL emission is mixing of blue and yellow–red EL emissions from p-GaN and n-GaN sides, respectively, based on photoluminescence spectroscopic measurements. This study opens a way of fabricating the transferable, flexible, and modular light panels through remote epitaxy. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd