Light-emitting diode with an electrically conductive window
DC CAFC
First Claim
1. A light emitting diode comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
an electrical contact to the substrate;
active p-n junction layers for AlGaInP over the substrate for emitting light;
a transparent window layer of semiconductor different from AlGaInP over the active layers and having a bandgap greater than the bandgap of the active layers and a resistivity lower than the active layers; and
a metal electrical contact over a portion of the transparent layer.
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Abstract
A light-emitting diode has a semiconductor substrate underlying active p-n junction layers of AlGaInP for emitting light. A transparent window layer of semiconductor different from AlGaInP overlies the active layers and has a lower electrical resistivity than the active layers and a bandgap greater than the bandgap of the active layers, for minimizing current crowding from a metal electrical contact over the transparent window layer. The active layers may be epitaxially grown on a temporary GaAs substrate. A layer of lattice mismatched GaP is then grown on the active layers with the GaP having a bandgap greater than the bandgap of the active layers so that it is transparent to light emitted by the LED. The GaAs temporary substrate is then selectively etched away so that the GaP acts as a transparent substrate. A transparent window layer may be epitaxially grown over the active layers on the face previously adjacent to the GaAs substrate.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A light emitting diode comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate; an electrical contact to the substrate; active p-n junction layers for AlGaInP over the substrate for emitting light; a transparent window layer of semiconductor different from AlGaInP over the active layers and having a bandgap greater than the bandgap of the active layers and a resistivity lower than the active layers; and a metal electrical contact over a portion of the transparent layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A light emitting diode comprising:
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an opaque semiconductor substrate; an electrical contact to the substrate; a first confining layer of a first conductivity type AlGaInP on the substrate; an active layer of a first conductivity type AlGaInP on the first confining layer; a second confining layer of a second conductivity type AlGaInP on the active layer; a transparent window layer of semiconductor different from AlGaInP over the second confining layer and having a lower resistivity than the second confining layer and a bandgap greater than the bandgap of the active layer; and a metal electrical contact over a portion of the transparent window layer. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneePhilips Lumileds Lighting Company LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
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Original AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
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InventorsRobbins, Virginia M., Kuo, Chihping, Fletcher, Robert M., Osentowski, Timothy D.
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Primary Examiner(s)EPPS, GEORGIA Y
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Application NumberUS07/452,800Time in Patent Office484 DaysField of Search357/17, 357/16, 357/30 E, 372/45US Class Current257/96CPC Class CodesH01L 33/0062 for devices with an active ...H01L 33/30 containing only elements of...
