Angular spectrum of visible resonant cavity light-emitting diodes

We present spectrally resolved angular radiation patterns from visible reso nant cavity light-emitting diodes. Recording the pattern for a fixed wavele ngth clearly demonstrates how the overall angular emission is strongly infl uenced by the relative spectral alignment of the cavity resonance and the u nderlying quantum well emission, i.e., the detuning. Combined with measurem ents of total optical power, taken over a range of solid angles, the result s highlight the importance of accounting for the collection optics of a pro posed application when an optimum design is considered. (C) 1999 American I nstitute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)08318-8].