Demonstration of Near‐Size‐Independent External Quantum Efficiency for 368 nm UV Micro‐LEDs

UV‐ranged micro‐LEDs are being explored for numerous applications due to their high stability and power efficiency. However, previous reports have shown reduced external quantum efficiency (EQE) and increased leakage current due to the increase in surface‐to‐volume ratio with a decrease in the micro‐LED size. Herein, the size‐related performance for UV‐A micro‐LEDs, ranging from 8 × 8 to 100 × 100 μm², is studied. These devices exhibit reduced leakage current with the implementation of atomic layer deposition‐based sidewall passivation. A systematic EQE comparison is performed with minimal leakage current and a size‐independent on‐wafer EQE of around 5.5% is obtained. Smaller sized devices experimentally show enhanced EQE at high current density due to their improved heat dissipation capabilities. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the highest reported on‐wafer EQE demonstrated in <10 μm dimensioned 368 nm UV LEDs.