Manufacturable laser diode formed on C-plane gallium and nitrogen material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9774170-B2
Application number	US-201615177710-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 9, 2016
Priority date	Oct 18, 2013
Publication date	Sep 26, 2017
Grant date	Sep 26, 2017

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a laser diode device includes providing a substrate having a surface region and forming epitaxial material overlying the surface region, the epitaxial material comprising an n-type cladding region, an active region comprising at least one active layer overlying the n-type cladding region, and a p-type cladding region overlying the active layer region. The epitaxial material is patterned to form a plurality of dice, each of the dice corresponding to at least one laser device, characterized by a first pitch between a pair of dice, the first pitch being less than a design width. Each of the plurality of dice are transferred to a carrier wafer such that each pair of dice is configured with a second pitch between each pair of dice, the second pitch being larger than the first pitch.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing an article that includes a laser diode device, the method comprising:
forming the laser diode device by:
providing a gallium and nitrogen containing substrate having a surface region characterized by a polar c-plane or an offcut of a polar c-plane surface;
forming an epitaxial material overlying the surface region, the epitaxial material comprising a release material overlying the surface region, an n-type gallium and nitrogen containing region overlying the release material, an active region comprising at least one quantum well layer overlying the n-type gallium and nitrogen containing region, and a p-type gallium and nitrogen containing region overlying the active region; and an interface region overlying the p-type gallium and nitrogen containing region, the at least one quantum well layer being characterized by an internal polarization field;
forming a plurality of dies by at least patterning the epitaxial material, each pair of dies being characterized by a first pitch between the pair of dies, each of the dies corresponding to at least one laser diode device;
bonding the interface region associated with at least one of the plurality of dies to a carrier substrate to form a bonded structure;
subjecting the release material to an energy source to initiate the gallium and nitrogen containing substrate member to transfer the one of the plurality of dies to the carrier substrate;
configuring at least a pair of the transferred dies with a second pitch between the pair of dies on the carrier substrate; and
processing at least one of the plurality of dies on the carrier substrate to form at least a laser diode;

coupling the laser diode device to the article, the article comprising a display, a projector, a light source, or a car headlamp.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first pitch is less than a design width; wherein the second pitch is larger than the first pitch and corresponds to the design width; wherein the bonding is provided before subjecting or the subjecting is provided before bonding.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interface region is comprised of metal, a semiconductor, or an oxide; wherein the energy source is selected from a light source, a chemical source, a thermal source, or a mechanical source, and their combinations; wherein the interface region comprises a contact material; wherein the release material is selected from GaN, InGaN, AlInGaN, or AlGaN; and wherein the substrate is released using photo-electrical-chemical (PEC) etching.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each die is shaped as a mesa using an etching process, and each pair of die having the first pitch ranging between 1 μm and 10 μm or between 10 micron and 50 microns wide or between 50 μm and 100 μm with a length of 50 μm to 3000 μm; and wherein the second pitch on the carrier substrate is between 50 microns and 200 microns, or between 200 microns and 500 microns, or between 500 microns and 1000 microns, or greater than 1000 microns.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising processing each of the die to form at least one laser device on each die after the transferring or further comprising forming one or multiple laser diode cavities on each die of epitaxial material.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising separating a plurality of laser dies by initiating a cleaving process, a scribing and breaking, or a sawing process in the carrier substrate; wherein the carrier substrate has a larger diameter than the gallium and nitrogen containing substrate; and wherein the bond interface region is at least one of a metal-metal pairs, oxide-oxide pairs, spin-on-glass, soldering alloys, polymers, photoresists, or wax.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the energy source comprises a selective photo-electrical-chemical (PEC) etch of the release region; a selective etch chemistry comprising KOH or any of its species; a selective etch to selectively remove the release region while leaving an anchor region in tact to support the die before the selective bonding of the one or more die to the one or more carrier substrate, and the anchor region separates after the selective bonding of the one or more die to the one or more carrier substrate; or a selective photo-electrical-chemical (PEC) etch to selectively remove the release region while leaving a metal anchor region in tact to support the die before the selective bonding of the one or more die to the one or more carrier substrate, and the anchor region separates after the selective bonding of the one or more die to the one or more carrier substrate.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carrier substrate is selected from a silicon wafer, a gallium arsenide wafer, an indium phosphide wafer, a silicon carbide wafer, an aluminum nitride wafer, a sapphire wafer, a diamond wafer, or a gallium nitride wafer; wherein the bonding comprising thermal bonding, plasma activated bonding, anodic bonding, chemical bonding, or combinations thereof; and wherein the substrate is reclaimed and prepared for reuse after transferring each of the plurality of dies the carrier substrate.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the die comprises one or more components, the one or more components being selected from at least one of an electrical contact, a current spreading region, an optical cladding region, a laser ridge, a laser ridge passivation, or a pair of facets, either alone or in any combination.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a TCO such as ITO or ZnO is configured above and/or below the active region to provide an optical guiding effect.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a reflective metal such as silver, aluminum, or gold is configured above and/or below the active region to provide an optical guiding effect.

12. A method for fabricating an article that includes a laser diode device comprising:
forming the laser diode device by:
providing a gallium and nitrogen containing substrate member comprising a surface region characterized by a polar c-plane or an offcut of a polar c-plane surface;
forming an epitaxial material overlying the surface region, the epitaxial material comprising a release material overlying the surface region, an n-type gallium and nitrogen containing material overlying the release material; an active region overlying the n-type gallium and nitrogen containing material, a p-type gallium and nitrogen containing material overlying the active region; and a first transparent conductive oxide material overlying the epitaxial material, and an interface region overlying the first transparent conductive oxide material;
patterning the epitaxial material to form a plurality of dies, wherein each die is characterized by a first pitch between a pair of dies, each of the dies corresponding to at least one laser diode device;
bonding the interface region associated with at least one of the plurality of dies to a carrier substrate;
and subjecting the release material associated with the one of the plurality of dies to an energy source to initiate release of the gallium and nitrogen containing substrate member to transfer the one a plurality of dies to the one or more carrier substrate;
wherein each pair of the transferred dies is configured with a second pitch between the pair of dies on the carrier substrate; and
processing at least one of the plurality of dies on at least one of the carrier substrates to form at least a laser diode;

coupling the laser diode device to the article, the article comprising a display, a projector, a light source, or a car headlamp.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising repeating the bonding and subject process with ano

Assignees

• Soraa Laser Diode Inc

Inventors

• Mclaurin Melvin
• Raring James W
• Sztein Alexander
• Hsu Po Shan

Classifications

• H01S5/3202

  grown on specifically orientated substrates, or using orientation dependent growth · CPC title

• H01S5/32025

  non-polar orientation · CPC title

• H01S5/320225

  polar orientation · CPC title

• H10W72/5363

  the connected ends being wedge-shaped · CPC title

• H10W72/536

  the connected ends being ball-shaped · CPC title