FABRICATION OF NONPOLAR INDIUM GALLIUM NITRIDE THIN FILMS, HETEROSTRUCTURES AND DEVICES BY METALORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION

• US 20090146162A1
• Filed: 02/12/2009
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Japan Science & Technology Trading Co. Limited, Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Original Assignee: Japan Science & Technology Trading Co. Limited, Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Inventors: DenBaars, Steven P., Keller, Stacia, Haskell, Benjamin A., Nakamura, Shuji, Mishra, Umesh Kumar, Chakraborty, Arpan, Speck, James Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 8,502,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 257/94
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 20/00 Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 25/02 Epitaxial-layer growth
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 29/403 AIII-nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0237 Materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02389 Nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02433 Crystal orientation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02458 Nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02502 consisting of two layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0254 Nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02609 Crystal orientation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/0075 comprising nitride compounds
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/06 within the light emitting region, e.g. quantum confinement structure or tunnel barrier
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 2304/04 MOCVD or MOVPE
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 2304/12 Pendeo epitaxial lateral overgrowth [ELOG], e.g. for growing GaN based blue laser diodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0213 Sapphire, quartz or diamond based substrates
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/32025 non-polar orientation
• 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 method for the fabrication of nonpolar indium gallium nitride (InGaN) films as well as nonpolar InGaN-containing device structures using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOVCD). The method is used to fabricate nonpolar InGaN/GaN violet and near-ultraviolet light emitting diodes and laser diodes.

Claims

1. A p-n junction device, comprising:

an n-type layer and a p-type layer;

a nonpolar oriented Indium-containing III-nitride layer between the n-type layer and the p-type layer; and

a material quality of the Indium-containing III-nitride layer enabling a measurement of output power of the p-n junction device as a function of direct current.

2. The device structure of claim 1, wherein the nonpolar oriented Indium-containing III-nitride layer is a growth along a nonpolar III-nitride crystallographic direction.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the p-n junction device is a light-emitting diode or a laser diode, the Indium-containing III-nitride layer is a light-emitting active layer for the device, and the output power is optical power or electroluminescence.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the light has a wavelength in a range 360 nm-600 nm.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the material quality enables an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of at least 0.4%.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the material quality is characterized by an amount of one or more of the following:

carbon contamination, threading dislocation, stacking fault dislocation, and Indium incorporation.

7. An opto-electronic or electronic device, comprising:

a nonpolar oriented Indium-containing III-nitride layer for use as a nonpolar active layer in the device, wherein a material quality of the nonpolar Indium-containing III-nitride layer and the device enables a measurement of an amount of nonpolarity of the device.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein:

(1) the device is a light-emitting device for emitting electroluminescence as a function of drive current;

(2) the nonpolar oriented Indium-containing III-nitride layer is the active layer for the device emitting the electroluminescence; and

(3) the amount of nonpolarity is measured by a blue-shift of an emission peak of the electroluminescence, with increasing drive current over a drive current range, wherein the blue-shift is reduced as compared to a blue-shift of an emission peak emitted by a c-plane light-emitting device.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the amount of nonpolarity is measured by an absence of the blue-shift of the emission peak when the drive current is increased over the drive current range that corresponds to an increase in electroluminescence output by a factor of ten.

11. The device of claim 7, wherein the amount of nonpolarity is measured by an effective hole mass in the nonpolar oriented Indium-containing III-nitride layer which is reduced as compared to an effective hole mass in a c-plane Indium-containing III-nitride layer.

12. The device of claim 7, further comprising:

one or more III-nitride device layers; and

a cap layer between the III-nitride device layers and the Indium-containing III-nitride layer, wherein the cap layer prevents Indium desorbing from the Indium-containing III-nitride layer when the III-nitride device layers are formed.

13. A method of fabricating a nonpolar Indium-containing III-nitride device, comprising:

forming a cap layer between one or more III-nitride device layers and one or more nonpolar oriented Indium-containing III-nitride layers, wherein the cap layer prevents Indium desorbing from the Indium-containing III-nitride layers when the III-nitride device layers are formed.

14. A substrate for one or more III-nitride device layers, comprising:

a nonpolar oriented Indium-containing III-nitride layer; and

a cap layer on the Indium-containing III-nitride layer, wherein the cap layer prevents Indium desorbing from the Indium-containing III-nitride layer when the III-nitride device layers are formed on the cap layer.