Semiconductor light-emitting element, and manufacturing method for same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10193021-B2
Application number	US-201615561028-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2016
Priority date	Mar 23, 2015
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

A light-emitting layer includes: a base layer with a plurality of base segments that have a composition subject to stress strain from a first semiconductor layer and are formed in a random net shape; and a quantum well structure layer including at least one quantum well layer and at least one barrier layer that are formed on the base layer. The base layer includes: a first sub-base layer; a trench that partitions the first sub-base layer for each of the plurality of base segments; and a second sub-base layer formed to bury the first sub-base layer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A semiconductor light-emitting element comprising:
a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type and having a composition of GaN;
a light-emitting functional layer including a light-emitting layer formed on the first semiconductor layer; and
a second semiconductor layer that is of a conductivity type opposite to the conductivity type of the first semiconductor layer and is formed on the light-emitting functional layer,
wherein:
the light-emitting layer includes a base layer with a plurality of base segments that have a composition subject to stress from the first semiconductor layer and are formed in a random net shape, and a quantum well structure layer including at least one quantum well layer each having a composition of InGaN and at least one barrier layer that are formed on the base layer, and
the base layer includes a first sub-base layer, a trench that partitions the first sub-base layer for each of the plurality of base segments, and a second sub-base layer formed to bury the first sub-base layer, the first sub-base layer having a composition of AlGaN, and the second sub-base layer being formed from AlGaN that has an Al composition that is greater than an Al composition of the first sub-base layer.

2. The semiconductor light-emitting element according to claim 1 , wherein the trench is formed to have a depth so as to extend from a surface of the first sub-base layer to an inside of the first semiconductor layer.

3. The semiconductor light-emitting element according to claim 1 , wherein:
the base layer further includes a third sub-base layer formed between the first semiconductor layer and the first sub-base layer; and
the trench is formed to have a depth so as to extend from a surface of the first sub-base layer to an inside of the third sub-base layer.

4. The semiconductor light-emitting element according to claim 3 , wherein the light-emitting functional layer has a structure in which a plurality of the light-emitting layers are stacked.

5. The semiconductor light-emitting element according to claim 4 , wherein each of the base layers of the plurality of the light-emitting layers has a different composition.

6. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor light-emitting element, the method comprising:
forming, on a substrate, a first semiconductor layer having a first conductivity type and having a composition of GaN;
forming, on the first semiconductor layer, a first sub-base layer with a groove that is formed in a random net shape, the first sub-base layer having a composition of AlGaN subject to stress from the first semiconductor layer;
forming a trench for removing the groove;
forming a second sub-base layer to bury the first sub-base layer, the second sub-base layer being formed from AlGaN that has an Al composition that is greater than an Al composition of the first sub-base layer;
forming, on the second sub-base layer, a quantum well structure layer including at least one quantum well layer each having a composition of InGaN and at least one barrier layer; and
forming, on the quantum well structure layer, a second semiconductor layer having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type.

7. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor light-emitting element according to claim 6 , wherein:
forming the trench comprises etching the first sub-base layer using H 2 gas.

Assignees

• Stanley Electric Co Ltd
• Univ Tokyo

Inventors

• Togawa Hiroyuki
• Sugiyama Masakazu

Classifications

• H01L33/007

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L33/06

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L33/22

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L33/145

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L33/32

  Electricity · mapped topic