Impact of Surface Passivation on the Efficiency and High-Speed Modulation of III–V GaAs/AlGaAs Nanopillar Array LEDs

III-V semiconductor nanolight sources with deep-subwavelength dimensions (≪1 μm) are essential for miniaturized photonic devices such as nanoLEDs and nanolasers. However, these nanoscale emitters typically suffer from substantial nonradiative recombination at room temperature, resulting in low efficiency and ultrashort lifetimes (<100 ps). Previous works have predominantly studied surface passivation of nanoLEDs under optical pumping conditions, while practical applications require electrically driven nanoLEDs. Here, we investigate the influence of surface passivation on the efficiency and high-speed modulation response of electrically pumped III-V GaAs/AlGaAs nanopillar array LEDs. Surface passivation was performed using ammonium sulfide chemical treatment followed by encapsulation with a 100 nm silicon nitride layer deposited via low-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Time-resolved electroluminescence (TREL) measurements reveal differential carrier lifetimes (τ) of ∼0.61 ns for nanoarray LEDs with pillar diameters of ∼440 nm, a record-long lifetime for electrically driven GaAs-based nanopillar arrays. Under low injection conditions, the devices exhibited carrier lifetimes of ∼0.41 ns, only 4-fold shorter than those of larger microLEDs (τ ∼ 1.67 ns for 10 μm pillar diameter), indicating successful suppression of nonradiative effects and a low surface velocity, ranging from S ∼ 0.7 × 10⁴ to 2.7 × 10⁴ cm/s. This reveals a potential high internal quantum efficiency (IQE) ∼ 0.45 for our nanoLEDs operating under very high injection conditions, limited only by Auger recombination and self-heating effects at high current density. These miniaturized nanoLEDs with high radiative recombination efficiency and subnanosecond modulation response pave the way for optical data communications, energy-efficient optical interconnects, AR/VR displays, and neuromorphic computing applications.