Efficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a review

This review is aimed at providing an overview of the technologies of currently-available UVC LEDs, on the challenges that these devices have to face, and on the peculiar features that these modern solid-state emitters exhibit. In particular, this paper is aimed at serving as a bridge between device...

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Main Authors: Grigory Onushkin, Jan Ruschel, Francesco Piva, Matteo Buffolo, Jens Rass, Lynn Davis, Nicola Trivellin, Carlo De Santi, Willem van Driel, Matteo Meneghini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:JPhys Photonics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7647/adebcb
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author Grigory Onushkin
Jan Ruschel
Francesco Piva
Matteo Buffolo
Jens Rass
Lynn Davis
Nicola Trivellin
Carlo De Santi
Willem van Driel
Matteo Meneghini
author_facet Grigory Onushkin
Jan Ruschel
Francesco Piva
Matteo Buffolo
Jens Rass
Lynn Davis
Nicola Trivellin
Carlo De Santi
Willem van Driel
Matteo Meneghini
author_sort Grigory Onushkin
collection DOAJ
description This review is aimed at providing an overview of the technologies of currently-available UVC LEDs, on the challenges that these devices have to face, and on the peculiar features that these modern solid-state emitters exhibit. In particular, this paper is aimed at serving as a bridge between device developers and system manufacturers, by increasing awareness of the differences, both in terms of reliability and operation, that AlGaN-based UVC LEDs show with respect to their visible InGaN/GaN-based counterparts. In this view, this work reports performance and lifetime figures of both commercially-available and research-grade LEDs, showing their limitations in terms of temperature- and current-dependency of the emission spectrum. Both catastrophic and gradual processes that lead to device degradation are discussed, with a particular focus on the kinetics that device properties exhibit during prolonged operation. Moreover, also package-related degradation processes are investigated, which stand-out due to the peculiar structures and materials required to sustain both high-energy UV photons and high localized self-heating, while maximizing the optical efficiency of the LEDs. Ultimately, the data reported within this paper should help the final user in predicting and mitigating degradation effects, while also serving as a reference to manufacturers for the improvement of next generation devices.
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spelling doaj-art-b162c2941fd94ce6bd145324b22155092025-08-20T02:41:03ZengIOP PublishingJPhys Photonics2515-76472025-01-017303200210.1088/2515-7647/adebcbEfficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a reviewGrigory Onushkin0https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5870-2775Jan Ruschel1Francesco Piva2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3620-5510Matteo Buffolo3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9255-6457Jens Rass4Lynn Davis5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6023-6558Nicola Trivellin6Carlo De Santi7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6064-077XWillem van Driel8Matteo Meneghini9Signify , High Tech Campus 48, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The NetherlandsFerdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) , Gustav-Kirchhoff-Str. 4, 12489 Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Padova , Padova, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Padova , Padova, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova , Padova, ItalyFerdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) , Gustav-Kirchhoff-Str. 4, 12489 Berlin, GermanyRTI International , Durham, NC, United States of AmericaDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Padova , Padova, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Padova , Padova, ItalySignify , High Tech Campus 48, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Delft University of Technology , 2600 AA Delft, The NetherlandsDepartment of Information Engineering, University of Padova , Padova, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova , Padova, ItalyThis review is aimed at providing an overview of the technologies of currently-available UVC LEDs, on the challenges that these devices have to face, and on the peculiar features that these modern solid-state emitters exhibit. In particular, this paper is aimed at serving as a bridge between device developers and system manufacturers, by increasing awareness of the differences, both in terms of reliability and operation, that AlGaN-based UVC LEDs show with respect to their visible InGaN/GaN-based counterparts. In this view, this work reports performance and lifetime figures of both commercially-available and research-grade LEDs, showing their limitations in terms of temperature- and current-dependency of the emission spectrum. Both catastrophic and gradual processes that lead to device degradation are discussed, with a particular focus on the kinetics that device properties exhibit during prolonged operation. Moreover, also package-related degradation processes are investigated, which stand-out due to the peculiar structures and materials required to sustain both high-energy UV photons and high localized self-heating, while maximizing the optical efficiency of the LEDs. Ultimately, the data reported within this paper should help the final user in predicting and mitigating degradation effects, while also serving as a reference to manufacturers for the improvement of next generation devices.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7647/adebcbdegradationUVCperformancereliabilityLEDAlGaN
spellingShingle Grigory Onushkin
Jan Ruschel
Francesco Piva
Matteo Buffolo
Jens Rass
Lynn Davis
Nicola Trivellin
Carlo De Santi
Willem van Driel
Matteo Meneghini
Efficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a review
JPhys Photonics
degradation
UVC
performance
reliability
LED
AlGaN
title Efficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a review
title_full Efficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a review
title_fullStr Efficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a review
title_full_unstemmed Efficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a review
title_short Efficiency- and lifetime-limiting effects of commercially available UVC LEDs: a review
title_sort efficiency and lifetime limiting effects of commercially available uvc leds a review
topic degradation
UVC
performance
reliability
LED
AlGaN
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7647/adebcb
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