NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT EMITTING DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME

• US 20090159922A1
• Filed: 09/12/2008
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Kang, Ki Man, Kwak, Joon Seop, KIM, Hyun Soo, Sone, Cheol Soo, Kim, Yu Seung, Lee, Jin Hyun
• Granted Patent: US 8,372,672 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 257/103
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/14 with a carrier transport control structure, e.g. highly-doped semiconductor layer or current-blocking structure
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/32 containing nitrogen
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/641 characterized by the materials

Abstract

There is provided a nitride semiconductor light emitting device including: a light emitting structure having n-type and p-type nitride semiconductor layers and an active layer formed therebetween; n-type and p-type electrodes electrically connected to the n-type and p-type nitride semiconductors, respectively; and an n-type ohmic contact layer formed between the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and the n-type electrode and having a first layer formed of a material containing In and a second layer formed on the first layer and formed of a material containing W.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a nitride semiconductor light emitting device that has an n-type electrode having thermal stability and excellent electrical characteristics without heat treatment.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a nitride semiconductor light emitting device optimized to obtain the excellent thermal and electrical characteristics.

Claims

1. A nitride semiconductor light emitting device comprising:

a light emitting structure having n-type and p-type nitride semiconductor layers and an active layer formed therebetween;

n-type and p-type electrodes electrically connected to the n-type and p-type nitride semiconductors, respectively; and

an n-type ohmic contact layer formed between the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and the n-type electrode and having a first layer formed of a material containing In and a second layer formed on the first layer and formed of a material containing W.

2. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the first layer is formed of an In alloy.

3. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device of claim 2, wherein an element contained in the In alloy comprises at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Al, Cr, Ni, Pd, Pt, Mo, Co, and Mg.

4. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the second layer is formed of a W alloy.

5. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device of claim 4, wherein an element contained in the W alloy comprises at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Al, Cr, Ni, Pd, Pt, Mo, Co, Cu, Hf, and Mg.

6. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the first layer has a thickness in the range of 10 to 300 Å

.

7. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the second layer has a thickness in the range of 100 to 4000 Å

.

8. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the n-type ohmic contact layer is formed on a Ga-polar face of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer.

9. A method of manufacturing a nitride semiconductor light emitting device, the method comprising:

sequentially stacking an n-type nitride semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a p-type nitride semiconductor layer to prepare a light emitting structure;

forming a first layer formed of a material containing In at one surface of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and a second layer formed of a material containing W at the first layer to form an n-type ohmic contact layer;

forming an n-type electrode on the n-type ohmic contact layer; and

forming a p-type electrode to be electrically connected to the p-type nitride semiconductor layer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the forming an n-type electrode on the n-type ohmic contact layer is performed after forming the n-type ohmic contact layer without heat treatment of the n-type ohmic contact layer.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the forming a first layer is performed by sputtering.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the forming a second layer is performed by sputtering.