High-brightness AlGaInP light emitting diodes

First commercially introduced in 1990, AlGaInP light emitting diodes (LED's) currently are the highest (luminous) efficiency visible solid-state emitters produced to date in the red through yellow spectral regime. The attainment of this high-efficiency performance is a result of the development of advanced metalorganic chemical vapor deposition crystal growth techniques, which have facilitated the high-quality growth of this quaternary alloy as well as the implementation of complex device designs. Furthermore, the highest efficiency family of AlGaInP devices (based upon a transparent-substrate platform and commercially introduced in 1994) have been realized as result of the development and implementation of direct compound semiconductor wafer bonding technology. As a result, the luminous efficiency of AlGaInP LED's exceeds or rivals that of unfiltered incandescent lamps and other conventional lighting sources. Further improvements in these techniques (and the realization of efficient, high-power LED's) are expected to make AlGaInP LED's even more competitive with conventional lamp technology, thus enhancing the position of LED's in many applications as a preferred lighting source.