ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT EMITTING DEVICE DOPED WITH BORON

• US 20160099382A1
• Filed: 10/01/2014
• Published: 04/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rayvio Corporation
• Original Assignee: Rayvio Corporation
• Inventors: LIAO, Yitao, COLLINS, Douglas A., ZHANG, Wei
• Granted Patent: US 9,876,143 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0254 Nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02551 Group 12/16 materials
• 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: H01L 33/12 with a stress relaxation structure, e.g. buffer layer
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/325 characterised by the doping materials

Abstract

In an example, the present invention provides a light-emitting device configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in a range of 210 to 360 nanometers. The device has a substrate member comprising a surface region. The device has a thickness of AlGaN material formed overlying the surface region and an aluminum concentration characterizing the AlGaN material having a range of 0 to 100%. The device has a boron doping concentration characterizing the AlGaN material having a range between 1e15 to 1e20 atoms/centimeter3.

Claims

1. A light emitting device configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in a range of 210 to 360 nanometers, the device comprising:

a thickness of AlGaN material formed epitaxially;

an aluminum concentration characterizing the AlGaN material having a range of 0 to 100%; and

a boron doping concentration characterizing the AlGaN material having a range between 1e15 to 1e20 atoms/centimeter³.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron doping concentration is configured within a spatial region of the thickness of AlGaN material;

wherein an average lattice constant of the thickness of the AlGaN is maintained;

wherein the thickness of AlGaN is single crystal growth.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron doping concentration is configured to cause a local strain, the strain being in a compressive mode.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron is configured to substitute nitrogen atoms within a thickness of the AlGaN material.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron is configured to substitute either aluminum or gallium atoms within a thickness of the AlGaN material.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron is configured to substitute both nitrogen atoms and aluminum and/or gallium atoms within a thickness of the AlGaN material.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron is configured to be an interstitial within a thickness of the AlGaN material.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron is doped into a thickness of AlGaN material, wherein the boron maintains an alloy composition of AlGaN;

wherein the boron is free from forming a binary BN, alloy BAlN, BGaN, or quaternary BAlGaN;

wherein the boron does not significantly change the average lattice constant of the AlGaN;

wherein the boron does not significantly change the a thermal expansion coefficient of the AlGaN.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein the thickness of AlGaN material comprises an active region, wherein the active region comprising a plurality of quantum well regions.

10. The device of claim 1 further comprising a buffer region overlying the surface region.

11. The device of claim 1 further comprising an AlGaN PN junction doped by boron overlying the surface region and an active region is sandwiched in between the P-layer and N-layers of the PN junction.

12. The device of claim 1 wherein the substrate member is selected from sapphire, GaN, AlN, GaN on sapphire, AlN on sapphire, silicon, silicon carbide, quartz, or other suitable substrate or template materials.

13. The device of claim 1 wherein the aluminum concentration ranges from 1 to 80%;

wherein the boron doping concentration ranges from 1e16 to 1e18 atoms/centimeter3.

14. The device of claim 1 wherein the boron is configured as an impurity within the AlGaN.

15. The device of claim 1 wherein the light emitting efficiency is enhanced by introducing boron as a dopant to the thickness of AlGaN material.

16. The device of claim 1, where in the emitted light is red-shifted by at least 10 nanometers by introducing boron as a dopant to the thickness of AlGaN material compared to a thickness of AlGaN material without boron which has largely the same aluminum concentration.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the emitted light is pumped by an external source providing carriers into the thickness of AlGaN layer in the form of another light source or an electron source.

18. A light emitting device configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in a range of 210 to 360 nanometers, the device comprising AlGaN material having a range of 0 to 100% and a boron concentration characterizing the AlGaN material having a range between 1e15 to 1e22 atoms/centimeter³ within a portion of the AlGaN such that a first band gap energy of the thickness of AlGaN with a boron concentration is substantially similar to a second band gap energy of AlGaN without boron concentration such that the first band gap energy is within 0.5 eV of the second band gap.