Fabrication of GaN-based nanorod light emitting diodes using self-assemble nickel nano-mask and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching

We report a novel method to fabricate GaN-based nanorod light emitting diodes (LEDs) with controllable dimension and density using self-assemble nickel (Ni) and Ni/Si3N4 nano-masks and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE). Under the fixed Cl2/Ar flow rate of 50/20 sccm, ICP/Bias power of 400/100 W and chamber pressure of 0.67 Pa, the GaN-based nanorod LEDs were fabricated with density of 2.2 × 109 to 3 × 1010 cm−2 and dimension of 150–60 nm by self assemble Ni nano-masks with various size. The size of Ni/Si3N4 nano-mask was control by the thickness Ni film ranging 150–50 Å and rapid thermal annealing condition. The technique offers a controllable method of fabrication of GaN-based nanorod LEDs and should be applicable for fabrication of the others III–V nanoscale photonic and electronic devices.