Semiconductor light-emitting device, surface-emission laser diode, and production apparatusthereof, production method, optical module and optical telecommunication system

• US 20030006429A1
• Filed: 03/26/2002
• Published: 01/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Takahashi, Takashi, Sato, Shunichi, Kaminishi, Morimasa, Jikutani, Naoto, Itoh, Akihiro
• Granted Patent: US 6,765,232 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 257/200
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 20/00 Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/007 comprising nitride compounds
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/025 Physical imperfections, e.g. particular concentration or distribution of impurities
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/10 with a light reflecting structure, e.g. semiconductor Bragg reflector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/32 containing nitrogen
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 2304/04 MOCVD or MOVPE
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0014 Measuring characteristics or properties thereof measuring techniques per se G01J, G01K, G01N, G01R
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/02251 using optical fibres
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/18305 with emission through the substrate, i.e. bottom emission
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/18308 having a special structure for lateral current or light confinement
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/18311 using selective oxidation
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/18341 Intra-cavity contacts
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/18394 Apertures, e.g. defined by the shape of the upper electrode
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/3211 characterised by special cladding layers, e.g. details on band-discontinuities
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/32366 (In)GaAs with small amount of N
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/343 in AIIIBV compounds, e.g. AlGaAs-laser , InP-based laser
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/34306 emitting light at a wavelength longer than 1000nm, e.g. InP based 1300 and 1500nm lasers
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/34333 with a well layer based on Ga(In)N or Ga(In)P, e.g. blue laser

Abstract

A semiconductor light-emitting device has a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, wherein Al and oxygen are removed from a growth chamber before growing said active layer and a concentration of oxygen incorporated into said active layer together with Al is set to a level such that said semiconductor light-emitting device can perform a continuous laser oscillation at room temperature.

Claims

2. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is provided an intermediate layer between said semiconductor layer and said active layer, and wherein said impurity concentration level of said active layer is equal to or smaller than an impurity concentration level of said impurity element in said intermediate layer.

3. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

an active layer containing nitrogen;

a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer,

said active layer being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

said semiconductor layer being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

a concentration level of oxygen in said active layer being set to a level such that said semiconductor light-emitting device can cause a continuous laser oscillation at room temperature.

4. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 3, wherein there is provided an intermediate layer between said semiconductor layer and said active layer, said oxygen concentration level in said active layer being smaller than an oxygen concentration level of said intermediate layer.

5. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

an active layer containing therein nitrogen; and

a semiconductor layer containing therein Al provided between said substrate and said active layer,

wherein said active layer is grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

said semiconductor layer is grown by using a metal organic source of Al, and

wherein an oxygen concentration level of said active layer is set to be less than 1.5×

10¹⁸ cm<sup>−

1</sup>.

6. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 5, wherein there is provided an intermediate layer between said semiconductor layer and said active layer, said oxygen concentration level of said active layer is 3×

10¹⁷ cm<sup>−

3</sup> or less.

7. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

an active layer containing nitrogen;

a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer,

said active layer being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

said semiconductor layer being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

wherein an Al concentration level of said active layer is set to a level such that such that said semiconductor light-emitting device can cause a continuous laser oscillation at room temperature.

8. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 7, wherein there is provided an intermediate layer between said semiconductor layer and said active layer, said concentration level of Al in said active layer is equal to or smaller than a concentration level of Al of said intermediate layer.

9. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

an active layer containing nitrogen;

a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer,

said active layer being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

said semiconductor layer being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

wherein said active layer contains Al with a concentration level of less than 2×

10¹⁹ cm<sup>−

3</sup>.

10. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 9, wherein there is provided an intermediate layer between said semiconductor layer and said active layer, said concentration level of Al of said active layer is 1.5×

10¹⁹ cm<sup>−

3</sup> or less.

11. A method of fabricating a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, said method comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer in a growth chamber; and

growing said active layer in said growth chamber,

wherein said step of growing said active layer is conducted inside said growth chamber without taking out said substrate to the atmosphere after said step of growing said semiconductor layer.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said step of removing said residual Al species is conducted by purging said residual Al species by a carrier gas.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said purging of said residual Al species is conducted while simultaneously growing an intermediate layer between said semiconductor layer and said active layer.

15. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said step removing said residual Al species being conducted by a carrier gas, said step of purging being conducted while heating a susceptor.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17, wherein there is provided a step of growing a GaInPAs layer having a composition represented as Ga_xIn_1-xP_yAs_1-y (0<

x≦

1, 0<

y≦

1) in a growth chamber in which said active layer is formed, before said step of forming said active layer.

12. A method of fabricating a semiconductor light-emitting device, said semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, said method comprising the steps of:

heating a susceptor in a growth chamber;

growing said semiconductor layer in said growth chamber while using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing said active layer in said growth chamber while using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step, after said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al but before a start of said step of growing said active layer, of removing residual Al species comprising one or more of an Al source, an Al reactant, an Al compound, and Al, remaining in said growth chamber, from a part of said growth chamber that can make a contact with said nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source.

16. A surface-emission type semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

an active layer containing nitrogen;

a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector provided between said substrate and said active layer, said semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector comprising a plurality of semiconductor layers, at least a part of said semiconductor layers containing Al,

said active layer being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

said semiconductor layer containing Al being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

a concentration level of an impurity element forming a non-optical recombination level in said active layer being set to a level such that said semiconductor light-emitting device can cause a continuous laser oscillation at room temperature.

17. A method of fabricating a surface-emission laser diode, said laser diode comprising:

an active region containing at least one active layer for causing optical emission; and

upper and lower reflectors vertically sandwiching said active region, said active layer containing Ga, In, nitrogen and As as major components, one of said upper and lower reflectors being a p-type semiconductor reflector, at least said p-type semiconductor reflector comprising a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector in which there occurs a periodic change of refractive index, said method comprising the steps of;

forming said active layer by an MBE process; and

forming at least said p-type semiconductor reflector by an MOCVD process.

19. A method as claimed 17, wherein there is provided a step of interrupting a growth while growing a distributed Bragg reflector constituting any of said upper and lower reflectors.

20. A method of fabricating a surface-emission laser diode comprising:

an active region containing at least one active layer for causing optical emission; and

upper and lower reflectors vertically sandwiching said active region, said active layer containing Ga, In, nitrogen and As as major components, at least said lower reflector comprising a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector in which there occurs a periodic change of refractive index, said method comprising the steps of;

forming said lower reflector in any of a first MOCVD growth chamber and an MBE growth chamber; and

forming said active layer in a second MOCVD growth chamber.

21. A fabrication process as claimed in claim 20, wherein said second MOCVD growth chamber is not used for growing a material layer containing Al.

22. A fabrication process as claimed in claim 20, wherein said second MOCVD growth chamber is used also for growing a material containing Al, said step of forming said active layer being conducted after a step of removing residual Al species comprising one or more of a residual Al source material, a residual Al reactant, a residual Al compound, and residual Al remaining in said second MOCVD growth chamber after a growth of said material.

23. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein there is provided a step of growing a GaInPAs layer having a composition represented as Ga_xIn_1-xP_yAs_1-y (0<

x≦

1, 0<

y≦

1) in said second MOCVD growth chamber before growing said active layer.

24. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein there is conducted an interruption of growth while growing said semiconductor Bragg reflector.

26. A fabrication process as claimed in claim 25, wherein said second MOCVD growth chamber is not used for growing a material layer containing Al.

27. A fabrication process as claimed in claim 25, wherein said second MOCVD growth chamber is used also for growing a material containing Al, said step of forming said active layer being conducted after a step of removing residual Al species comprising one or more of a residual Al source material, a residual Al reactant, a residual Al compound, and residual Al remaining in said second MOCVD growth chamber after a growth of said material.

28. A method as claimed in claim 25, wherein there is provided a step of growing a GaInPAs layer having a composition represented as Ga_xIn_1-xP_yAs_1-y (0<

x≦

1, 0<

y≦

1) in said second MOCVD growth chamber before growing said active layer.

29. A method as claimed in claim 25, wherein there is conducted an interruption of growth while growing said semiconductor Bragg reflector.

25. A fabrication process a surface-emission laser diode, said surface-emission laser diode comprising:

an active region containing at least one active layer for causing optical emission; and

upper and lower reflectors vertically sandwiching said active region, said active layer containing Ga, In, nitrogen and As as major components, at least one of said upper and lower reflectors including a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector in which there occurs a periodic change of refractive index, said method comprising the steps of;

forming said semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector in a first MOCVD growth chamber; and

forming said active region in a second MOCVD growth chamber.

30. A method of fabricating a surface-emission laser diode, said laser diode comprising:

an active region containing at least one active layer for causing optical emission; and

upper and lower reflectors vertically sandwiching said active region, said active layer containing Ga, In, nitrogen and As as major components, one of said upper and lower reflectors being a p-type semiconductor reflector, at least said p-type semiconductor reflector including a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector in which there occurs a periodic change of refractive index, said method comprising the steps of;

forming said active layer in a first growth chamber;

transporting a substrate of said surface-emission laser diode, after said step of forming said active layer, from said first growth chamber to a second growth chamber via a vacuum transportation path connecting said first and second growth chambers; and

forming at least said p-type semiconductor reflector in said second growth chamber.

31. A method of fabricating a surface-emission laser diode comprising:

an active region containing at least one active layer for causing optical emission; and

upper and lower reflectors vertically sandwiching said active region, said active layer containing Ga, In, nitrogen and As as major components, at least said lower reflector including a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector in which there occurs a periodic change of refractive index, said method comprising the steps of;

forming said lower reflector in a first MOCVD growth chamber;

transporting a substrate of said surface-emission laser diode from said first growth chamber, after said step of forming said lower reflector, to a second growth chamber via a vacuum transportation path connecting said first and second growth chambers; and

forming said active layer in said second growth chamber.

32. A crystal growth apparatus, comprising:

an MBE growth chamber;

an MOCVD growth chamber; and

a vacuum wafer transportation chamber connecting said MBE growth chamber and said MOCVD growth chamber.

33. A crystal growth apparatus, comprising:

a first MOCVD growth chamber;

a second MOCVD growth chamber; and

a vacuum wafer transportation chamber connecting said first and second MOCVD growth chambers.

35. A semiconductor film growth method as claimed in claim 34, wherein at least hydrazines are included in said nitrogen compound.

37. A semiconductor film growth method as claimed in claim 34, wherein said metal Al or said alloy containing said metal Al is a solid phase and forms a particle state or fine particle state or film state or porous medium.

38. A semiconductor film growth method as claimed in claim 34, wherein the group III-V compound semiconductor film containing nitrogen is a GaN system material.

39. A semiconductor film growth method as claimed in claim 34, wherein said group III-V compound semiconductor film containing nitrogen is a GaInNAs system material.

34. A semiconductor film growth method, comprising the steps of

contacting a nitrogen source material of a nitrogen compound to a metal of Al or an alloy containing a metal of Al;

and transporting said nitrogen source to a reaction chamber, after said step of contacting, for causing to grow a group III-V semiconductor film.

36. A semiconductor film growth method as claimed in claim clause 34, wherein said metal Al or said alloy containing said metal Al is a liquid phase, and said nitrogen source gas of said nitrogen compound is transported to said reaction chamber after passing through said metal or said Al alloy containing said metal Al by a bubbling process.

40. A nitrogen source material refinement apparatus, comprising:

a container holding a metal of Al or an alloy of a metal of Al;

a first conduit system that supplies a nitrogen source material to said container for causing said nitrogen source material to contact with said metal of Al or said alloy containing said metal; and

a second conduit system that discharges said nitrogen source material that has made a contact with said metal of Al or said alloy containing said metal of Al.

41. A nitrogen source material refinement apparatus, comprising:

a reaction chamber that causes a growth of a group III-V compound semiconductor film containing nitrogen;

a group III source that supplies a group III source material to said reaction chamber;

a group V source that supplies a group V source material to said reaction chamber; and

a nitrogen source;

said nitrogen source material refinment apparatus supplying a nitrogen source material of a nitrogen compound from said nitrogen source to said reaction chamber after removing an impurity therefrom,

said nitrogen source material refinement apparatus comprising;

a container holding a metal of Al or an alloy containing said metal of Al;

a first conduit system supplying said nitrogen source material from said nitrogen source to a said container for contacting said nitrogen source material with said metal of Al or said alloy containing said metal of Al; and

a second conduit system supplying said nitrogen source material that has contacted with said metal of Al or said alloy containing said metal of Al to said reaction chamber.

42. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal-organic Al source;

growing said active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source material; and

providing the means for preventing residual of said metal-organic Al source from an inner wall of a growth chamber, between a gas flow containing said metal-organic Al source and said inner wall of said growth chamber.

43. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing and nitrogen, comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal-organic source of Al;

growing said active layer containing nitrogen by said nitrogen compound source material,

wherein a side-flow gas is caused to flow in said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al between an inner wall of a growth chamber and a gas flow containing said metal-organic Al source so as to prevent residual of said metal-organic source of Al.

44. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal-organic source of Al;

growing said active layer containing nitrogen by said nitrogen compound source material,

wherein a side-flow gas is caused to flow in said step of growing said active layer containing nitrogen between an inner wall of a growth chamber and a gas flow containing said metal-organic Al source.

50. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 49, wherein an oxidation concentration in said active layer containing nitrogen is a level that said semiconductor light-emitting device can perform a room temperature continuous oscillation.

55. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 49, wherein an Al concentration in said second semiconductor layer containing Al is smaller than an Al concentration of said first semiconductor layer containing Al.

59. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 49, wherein there is provided an intermediate layer between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said second semiconductor layer containing Al, and wherein there is provided a process of removing residual Al species, formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al remaining in a part of a growth chamber where a nitrogen source compound or an impurity contained in said nitrogen source compound makes a contact, during a growth of said intermediate layer.

63. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 49, wherein said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said second semiconductor layer containing Al constitute a distributed Bragg reflector and a light is emitted in a perpendicular direction with respect to said substrate.

45. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal-organic source of Al;

growing said active layer containing nitrogen by said nitrogen compound source material,

wherein said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al includes the step of flowing a side-flow gas so as to eliminate a residue of Al species including an Al source, an Al reactant, an Al compound and Al on an inner wall of a growth chamber,

said step of growing said active layer containing nitrogen comprising the step of flowing a said side-flow gas so as to prevent migration of said Al species remaining on said inner wall of said growth chamber to a substrate.

46. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal-organic source of Al;

growing said active layer containing nitrogen by said nitrogen compound source material,

wherein a production apparatus of said semiconductor light-emitting device provides the means, in said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al, for preventing said metal organic Al source from residing on an inner wall of said growth chamber, between said inner wall of said growth chamber and a gas flow containing said metal-organic Al source.

47. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal-organic source of Al;

growing said active layer containing nitrogen by said nitrogen compound source material,

wherein a production apparatus of said semiconductor light-emitting device forms a structure, in said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al and/or said step of growing said active layer containing nitrogen, for causing to flow a side-flow gas along an inner wall of a growth chamber.

48. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, comprising the steps of:

growing said semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal-organic source of Al;

growing said active layer containing nitrogen by said nitrogen compound source material,

wherein there is provided a structure, in said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al and/or said step of growing said active layer containing nitrogen, for flowing a side-flow gas along a sidewall of a susceptor holding said substrate.

49. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

a first semiconductor layer containing Al stacked on said substrate; and

an active layer containing nitrogen formed on said first semiconductor layer containing Al;

said first semiconductor layer being grown by using an organic metal source of Al;

wherein there is provided a second semiconductor layer containing Al between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said active layer containing nitrogen, with a thickness smaller than a thickness of said first semiconductor layer containing Al, after a step of removing residual Al species formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound or Al remaining in a part of said growth chamber where said nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact, a concentration of an impurity forming a non-optical recombination level in said active layer containing nitrogen is set to a level such that said semiconductor light-emitting device can perform a room temperature continuous oscillation.

51. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

a first semiconductor layer containing Al stacked on said substrate;

an intermediate layer formed on said first semiconductor layer containing Al; and

an active layer containing nitrogen formed on said intermediate layer,

said first semiconductor layer being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

said active layer being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided is provided a second semiconductor layer containing Al between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said intermediate layer, with a thickness smaller than a thickness of said first semiconductor layer containing Al, after a step of removing residual Al species formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound or Al remaining in a part of said growth chamber where said nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact,

a concentration of an impurity forming a non-optical recombination level in said active layer containing nitrogen is set to a level such that said semiconductor light-emitting device can perform a room temperature continuous oscillation.

52. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 51, wherein an oxygen concentration in said active layer containing nitrogen is a level that said semiconductor light emitting device can perform a room temperature continuous oscillation.

56. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 51, wherein an Al content of said second semiconductor layer containing Al is smaller than an Al content of said first semiconductor layer containing Al.

60. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 51, wherein there is provided another intermediate layer between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said second semiconductor layer containing Al, and wherein there is provided a process of removing residual Al species, formed of any of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound or Al and remaining in a part of a growth chamber in which a nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact, during a growth of said another intermediate layer.

53. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

a first semiconductor layer containing Al stacked on said substrate; and

an active layer containing nitrogen formed on said intermediate layer,

said first semiconductor layer being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

said active layer being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided is provided a second semiconductor layer containing Al between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said active layer, with a thickness smaller than a thickness of said first semiconductor layer containing Al, after a step of removing residual Al species formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound or Al remaining in a part of said growth chamber where said nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact,

a concentration of Al in said active layer containing nitrogen is set to a level such that said semiconductor light-emitting device can perform a room temperature continuous oscillation.

57. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 53, wherein an Al content of said second semiconductor layer containing Al is smaller than an Al content of said first semiconductor layer containing Al.

61. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 53, wherein there is provided an intermediate layer between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said second semiconductor layer containing Al, and wherein there is provided a process of removing residual Al species, formed of any of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound or Al and remaining in a part of a growth chamber in which a nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact, during a growth of said intermediate layer.

54. A semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a substrate;

a first semiconductor layer containing Al stacked on said substrate;

an intermediate layer formed on said first semiconductor layer containing Al; and

an active layer containing nitrogen formed on said intermediate layer,

said first semiconductor layer being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

said active layer being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided is provided a second semiconductor layer containing Al between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said intermediate layer, with a thickness smaller than a thickness of said first semiconductor layer containing Al, after a step of removing residual Al species formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound or Al remaining in a part of said growth chamber where said nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact,

a concentration of Al in said active layer containing nitrogen is set equal to or smaller than a concentration of Al in said intermediate layer.

58. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 54, wherein an Al content of said second semiconductor layer containing Al is smaller than an Al content of said first semiconductor layer containing Al.

62. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 54, wherein there is provided another intermediate layer between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said second semiconductor layer containing Al, and wherein there is provided a process of removing residual Al species, formed of any of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound or Al and remaining in a part of a growth chamber in which a nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact, during a growth of said another intermediate layer.

64. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, a first semiconductor layer containing Al stacked on said substrate, and an active layer containing nitrogen formed on said first semiconductor layer containing Al, said method comprising the steps of:

growing said first semiconductor layer by a metal organic source of Al;

growing a second semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of any of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al from a part of said growth chamber where said nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact, after a growth step of said first semiconductor layer containing Al but before a step of start of said second semiconductor layer containing Al.

65. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, a first semiconductor layer containing Al stacked on said substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen formed on said second semiconductor layer containing Al, and an active layer containing nitrogen formed on said second semiconductor layer containing Al, said method comprising the steps of:

growing said first semiconductor layer by using a metal organic source of Al;

growing a second semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of any of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al from a part of said growth chamber where said nitrogen compound source or an impurity contained in said nitrogen compound source makes a contact, during a growth of an intermediate layer provided between said first semiconductor layer containing Al and said second semiconductor layer containing Al.

66. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al, from an inner wall of a growth chamber, by conducting a purging process while maintaining a temperature of said inner wall of said growth chamber higher than a temperature of said inner wall of said growth chamber during a growth of said active layer containing nitrogen, after growth of said semiconductor layer containing Al but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen.

67. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al, from an inner wall of a growth chamber, by conducting a purging process by way of flowing a side-flow gas along said inner wall of said growth chamber, while maintaining a temperature of said inner wall of said growth chamber higher than a temperature of said inner wall of said growth chamber during a growth of said active layer containing nitrogen, after growth of said semiconductor layer containing Al but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen.

68. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al, from an inner wall of a growth chamber, by conducting a purging process while maintaining a temperature of a susceptor used to hold a substrate higher than a susceptor temperature during a growth of said active layer containing nitrogen, after growth of said semiconductor layer containing Al but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen.

69. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al, from an inner wall of a growth chamber, by conducting a purging process while maintaining a temperature of a susceptor used to hold a substrate higher than a susceptor temperature during a growth of said active layer containing nitrogen and further by flowing a side-flow gas along said susceptor, after growth of said semiconductor layer containing Al but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen.

70. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of changing a susceptor, which has been used for holding a substrate in said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al, with a different susceptor in said step of growing said active layer containing nitrogen.

71. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al and by using a first susceptor; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source and by using a second susceptor,

wherein said first susceptor and said second susceptor are different.

72. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 71, wherein said first susceptor used for growing said active layer containing nitrogen is placed in a chamber different from said growth chamber during said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al and exchanging said second susceptor used in said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al with said first susceptor after an end of said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al, without exposing to the atmosphere.

73. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al on a susceptor by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen on said susceptor by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein said susceptor has a removable cover such that said removable cover covers said susceptor excluding a part directly holding a substrate, and

wherein said step of growing said semiconductor layer containing Al is conducted in the state that said cover is provided, and

said step of growing said active layer containing nitrogen is conducted in the state in which said cover is removed.

74. A production apparatus of a semiconductor light-emitting device,

said apparatus growing a semiconductor layer containing Al on a substrate held on a susceptor by using a metal organic source of Al, and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen on said substrate held on said susceptor by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein said susceptor supporting said substrate is provided with a removable cover such that said removable cover covers said susceptor excluding a part that supports said substrate directly, and

wherein there is provided a mechanism such that said removable cover is mounted when growing said semiconductor layer containing Al, and

such that said removable cover being removed when growing said active layer containing nitrogen.

75. A production apparatus as claimed in claim 74, wherein said mount/dismount mechanism can mount and dismount said cover in a state in which said susceptor is loaded in a reaction chamber.

76. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising:

a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and a group III-V compound semiconductor film containing nitrogen,

wherein there is provided a step of vacuum-evacuating at least one of an Al source supply line and a reaction chamber before a growth of said group III-V compound semiconductor film.

77. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 76, wherein there is provided a step of measuring a concentration of residual Al species during said step of vacuum-evacuating at least one of said metal organic Al source and said growth chamber, at a location between said supply line of said metal organic source of Al and a vacuum pump.

78. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 76, wherein at least one source of said group III-V compound semiconductor film containing nitrogen contains hydrazines.

79. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 77, wherein at least one source of said group III-V compound semiconductor film containing nitrogen contains hydrazines.

80. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing nitrogen between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen,

wherein said semiconductor light-emitting device is grown by supplying a source gas to a reaction chamber in which a substrate is provided, said active layer containing nitrogen and said semiconductor layer containing nitrogen are grown respectively by using a nitrogen compound source and a metal organic source of Al, group III sources supplied to said reaction chamber for growing said semiconductor layer containing Al and said active layer containing nitrogen are supplied via respective different gas lines.

81. A metal-organic vapor phase growth apparatus causing a crystal growth of a semiconductor layer by supplying a source gas to a reaction chamber provided with a substrate,

at least two semiconductor layers A and B can be grown,

wherein there are provided plural group III source lines so as to supply group III sources to said reaction chamber via different gas lines when growing said A layer and when growing said B layer.

82. An organic vapor phase growth apparatus as claimed in claim 81, wherein a group III source gas inlet has at least a double pipe structure at an source gas inlet to said growth chamber.

83. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a lower surrounding layer between a substrate and a group III-V compound semiconductor layer containing nitrogen, said lower surrounding layer being formed primarily of GatIn1-tPuAs1-u (0≦

t≦

1, 0≦

u≦

1),

wherein an organic Al source is introduced into a reaction chamber during or before a growth of said lower surrounding layer.

84. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 83, wherein said lower surrounding layer at least contains a lower cladding layer and a lower optical guide layer, and wherein said organic Al source is introduced into said growth chamber before or during or after a growth of said lower cladding layer but before a growth of said lower optical guide layer.

85. A method as claimed in claim 84, wherein said lower optical guide layer is GaAs.

86. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device having a semiconductor layer containing Al between a substrate and an active layer containing nitrogen, said method comprising the steps of:

growing a semiconductor layer containing Al by using a metal organic source of Al; and

growing an active layer containing nitrogen by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al, remaining in a growth chamber by an etching gas, after a growth of said semiconductor layer containing Al but before starting a growth of said active layer containing nitrogen.

87. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 86, wherein said step of removing said residual Al species remaining in said growth chamber by said etching gas is conducted by supplying an organic nitrogen compound gas into said growth chamber.

88. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 86, wherein the step of removing said residual Al species remaining in said growth chamber is conducted by supplying a gas containing oxygen into said growth chamber.

89. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 86, wherein there is provided a step of forming a GaxIn1-xPyAs (0<

x≦

1, 0<

y≦

1) layer between said semiconductor layer containing Al and said active layer containing nitrogen.

90. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 89, wherein said semiconductor light-emitting device is a surface-emission type semiconductor light-emitting device, said semiconductor layer containing Al forming a distributed Bragg reflector, and wherein said step of removing said residual Al species by said etching gas is conducted during a growth process of said distributed Bragg reflector.

91. A semiconductor light-emitting device having a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al provided between said substrate and said active layer,

said semiconductor layer containing Al being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

said active layer containing nitrogen being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is provided a GaNAs layer or a GaInNAs layer between said semiconductor layer containing Al and said active layer containing nitrogen.

92. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 91, wherein there is provided one of a GaAs layer, a GaInAs layer, a GaAsP layer, a GaInPAs layer and a GaInP layer having a bandgap larger than that of a GaNAs layer or a GaInNAs layer between said GaNAs layer or GaInNAs layer and said active layer containing nitrogen.

95. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 91, wherein said semiconductor layer containing Al constituting a distributed Bragg reflector, said semiconductor light-emitting device being a surface-emission type laser diode device emitting an optical beam perpendicularly to a substrate surface.

93. A semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al between said substrate and said active layer containing nitrogen,

said semiconductor layer containing Al being grown by using a metal organic source of Al,

said active layer containing nitrogen being grown by using a nitrogen compound source,

wherein there is formed a GaInNP layer or a GaInNPAs layer between said semiconductor layer containing Al and said active layer containing nitrogen.

94. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 93, wherein there is further provided one of a GaAsP layer, a GaInPAs layer and a GaInP layer having a bandgap energy larger than that of said GaInNP layer and said GaInNPAs layer, between said GaInNP layer or said GaInNPAs layer and said active layer containing nitrogen.

96. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a substrate, an active layer containing nitrogen and a semiconductor layer containing Al and provided between said substrate and said active layer,

wherein there is provided a step of removing residual Al species, formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound and Al and remaining in a growth chamber, by supplying a chlorine compound gas into said growth chamber as an etching gas, after a start of growth of said semiconductor layer containing Al but before a growth of an active layer containing nitrogen.

97. A semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 96, wherein said step of removing said residual Al species remaining in said growth chamber is conducted by interrupting a growth of said semiconductor light-emitting device and by moving a substrate of said semiconductor light-emitting device from said growth chamber to an exterior thereof.

98. A method of producing a semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 96, wherein there is provided a process of growing any of a GaInP layer, a GaPAs layer and a GaInPAs layer after removing said residual Al species remaining in said growth chamber by said chlorine compound gas but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen.

99. A method of producing a surface-emission laser diode having, on a semiconductor substrate, an active region including at least one active layer containing nitrogen and causing optical emission, and an upper reflector and a lower reflector respectively above and below said active layer so as to form a cavity structure therebetween,

said lower reflector having a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector in which there is formed a periodical change of refractive index and reflecting an incident light by optical interference,

a layer of lower refractive index of said semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector being formed of AlxGa1-xAs (0<

x≦

1), a layer of higher refractive index of said semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector being formed of AlyGa1-yAs (0≦

y<

x≦

1),

wherein there is a step of removing residual Al species formed of one or more of an Al source, Al reactant, Al compound an Al remaining in a growth chamber after growing said lower reflector containing Al but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen, by supplying a chlorine compound gas to said growth chamber as an etching gas.

100. A method of producing a surface-emission laser diode as claimed in claim 99, wherein there is formed one of a GaInP layer, a GaPAs layer and a GaInPAs layer after removing said residual Al species by said chlorine compound gas but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen, and said step of removing by said etching gas is conducted while growing said semiconductor Bragg reflector.

101. A method of producing a surface-emission laser diode as claimed in claim 99, wherein there is formed one of a GaInP layer, a GaPAs layer and a GaInPAs layer after removing said residual Al species by said chlorine compound gas but before growing said active layer containing nitrogen, and said step of removing by said etching gas is conducted while growing a cavity structure.