High electrostatic discharge protection of InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs by using GaN Schottky diodes

GaN Schottky diodes were built internally inside the GaN green LEDs by using etching and re-deposition techniques. By proper selecting the etching areas underneath the bonding pads, one can minimize the optical loss due to the etching process. Although the reverse current, the forward turn-on voltage and device lifetime degradation were all higher for the GaN LED with Schottky diode, it was found that the internal Schottky diode could significantly increase the ESD threshold from 450 V to 1300 V.