Conductive SiO2/HfO2 distributed Bragg Reflector Achieved by Electrical Breakdown and Its Application in GaN-Based Light Emitters
Abstract
Owing to the excellent optical reflectivity with wavelength tunability, dielectric distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) have attracted considerable interest in GaN-based light emitters. Yet, the non-conductive nature of the dielectric DBRs prevents current from passing through, leading to a current crowding effect and hampering dielectric DBRs from unlocking their full potential. In this paper, a conductive dielectric DBR was fabricated utilizing the electrical breakdown (EBD) technique. With the help of optical simulations, excellent optical properties were demonstrated by optimizing the structural designs with a high reflectivity of 98.3% at 450 nm based on 5.5 pairs SiO2/HfO2 DBRs. The outstanding electrical behaviors after the EBD process were verified by current–voltage curves and conductive atomic force microscopy characterization. Moreover, conductive mechanisms of this type of dielectric DBR were elaborated by comparing the EBD behaviors with different metal electrodes, suggesting that metal filaments play an important role in forming the conducting channels. Besides, 450 nm-emission with conductive 5.5 pairs SiO2/HfO2 DBR was successfully prepared, which proves that a conductive DBR can be successfully applied to GaN-based light-emitting devices. The conductive DBR presented in this work contributes to the acceleration of the development of high-power GaN-based solid-state light emitters.
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The SiO2/TiO2 pair offers the largest optical contrast, making it suitable for high-reflectance dielectric mirrors with a smaller number of pairs and sharper stopbands.
“However, the pair SiO2/TiO2 offers the largest optical contrast, rendering it perfect for high-reflectance dielectric mirrors with a smaller number of pairs and sharper stopbands.”
From Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
Silicon dioxide (SiO2) is the most commonly used material to fabricate dielectric mirrors.
“The most commonly used material to fabricate dielectric mirrors is silicon dioxide (SiO2).”
From Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
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Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications
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- Authors
- Cui, M., Guo, C., Yang, Z., Chen, L., Dai, Y., Xu, H., Guo, W., & Ye, J.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- University of Nottingham Ningbo China (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Guo, Wei
- Ye, Jichun
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Publisher
- AIP Publishing
- Published
- 2022-01-25
- Volume
- 131
- Issue
- 4
- ISSN
- 0021-8979 (ISSN-L)
- 1089-7550
- OpenAlex
- W4206996424
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Physics (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association (2020298)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (61974149)
- Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (YJKYYQ20190074)
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LQ21F040004)
- Science and Technology Innovation 2025 Major Project of Ningbo (2020Z020)
- Primary Research and Development Plan of Zhejiang Province (2020C01145)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Condensed Matter Physics › GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Surfaces, Coatings and Films › Optical Coatings and Gratings
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Semiconductor materials and devices
- Keywords
- distributed Bragg reflector, electrical breakdown, current crowding, metal filaments, conduction mechanism, high reflectivity
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