SBIR Phase I: Enhanced Reflectivity GEMM Materials for High-Efficiency and Low-Cost III-Nitride LED Technology

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将研究使用掺杂剂显著提高新型外延金属反射镜(GEMM)技术的反射率的可行性，以提高发光二极管(LED)设备的性能，并大幅降低高亮度III-氮化物LED的制造成本。GEMM技术提供了直接集成到LED器件外延层中的集成反射镜，从而简化了制造、降低了成本并提高了产量。此外，GEMM允许非常精确地控制反射镜的放置，以便利用微半腔效应。第一代GEMM材料对蓝色波长的反射率约为70%-75%，因此，为了进一步提高用于蓝色LED的GEMM的性能和效率，并推动GEMM-LED的市场采用，我们将研究GEMM材料的掺杂，以将反射率光谱向更短的波长移动。预计这些掺杂GEMM材料将在450到460 nm的范围内表现出90%或更高的反射率，导致LED性能的显著改善，同时降低制造成本，并最终推动固态照明变得真正具有商业竞争力。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是以与紧凑型荧光灯竞争的成本获得面向普通消费者的高能效固态照明。目前，LED灯的成本是同类紧凑型荧光灯的5到10倍。GEMM技术的市场吸引力依赖于LED芯片每流明生产成本预计降低35%至68%，这将促使LED芯片制造商购买GEMM基板以实现设备增长。LED灯具的下游制造商和将发光器集成到其产品中的制造商也将从GEMM-LED的更低成本和更高性能中受益匪浅。在该项目期间成功展示了用于LED的增强型GEMM材料，有可能加快具有成本竞争力的固态照明的供应，并推动消费者接受基于LED的普通照明。反过来，固态LED照明的广泛采用的加速有可能减少美国对外国能源的依赖，减少国内温室气体排放，并通过创造“绿色”就业机会和持续的技术领先来重振美国经济。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate the feasibility of using dopants to significantly improve the reflectivity of a novel grown epitaxial-metal-mirror (GEMM) technology to increase light-emitting diode (LED) device performance and substantially reduce the cost of manufacturing high-brightness III-nitride LEDs. The GEMM technology provides an integrated mirror directly into the epitaxial layers of the LED device, which simplifies manufacturing, reduces cost, and improves yield. Furthermore, the GEMM allows for very precise control over the placement of the mirror in order to take advantage of micro-half-cavity effects. The reflectivity of the first-generation GEMM materials for blue wavelengths is approximately 70%-75% and therefore to further improve the performance and efficiency of the GEMM for blue LEDs and drive market adoption of GEMM-LEDs, we will investigate doping of the GEMM materials to shift the reflectivity spectrum to shorter wavelengths. It is anticipated that these doped-GEMM materials will exhibit reflectivities of 90% or greater in the range of 450 to 460 nm, leading to significantly improved LED performance, while simultaneously reducing manufacturing costs, and will ultimately drive solid-state lighting to become truly commercially competitive.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be the availability of highly energy-efficient solid-state lighting for general consumer use at a cost that is competitive with compact-fluorescent lamps. Currently, LED-based lamps are 5 to 10 times the cost of comparable compact-fluorescent lamps. The market pull for the GEMM technology relies on a projected 35% to 68% lower production cost per lumen for LED chips, which will motivate LED chip manufacturers to purchase GEMM substrates for device growth. Downstream manufactures of LED-based fixtures and manufacturers that integrate light emitters into their products would also greatly benefit from the lower cost and higher performance of GEMM-LEDs. The successful demonstration of enhanced GEMM materials for LEDs during this project has the potential to accelerate the availability of cost-competitive solid-state lighting and drive consumers to embrace LED-based general lighting. In turn, the acceleration of widespread adoption of solid-state LED-based lighting has the potential to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign energy, reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions, and revitalize the economy of the United States through the creation of "green" jobs and continued technological leadership.