III-nitride optoelectronic semiconductor device containing Lattice mismatched III-nitride semiconductor materials
First Claim
1. A III-nitride optoelectronic semiconductor device, comprising:
- a substrate;
a first contact region of a first doping type;
a first cladding region of the first doping type;
an active region formed of a first III-nitride semiconductor material;
a second cladding region of a second doping type opposite to the first doping type;
a second contact region of the second doping type; and
a first graded layer,wherein the first contact region, the first cladding region, the active region, the second cladding region and the second contact region are sequentially provided on the substrate, at least one of the first and second cladding regions is formed of a second III-nitride semiconductor material which is lattice mismatched with the first III-nitride semiconductor material,in order to compensate for the lattice mismatching between the active region and at least one of the first and second cladding regions, the first graded layer is interposed between the active region and at least one of the first and second cladding regions, such that one side of the first graded layer is lattice matched with the active region and the other side of the first graded layer is lattice matched with at least one of the first and second cladding regions, and the first graded layer has a constituency which is graded from the one side to the other side of the first graded layer, andwherein at least one region selected from the first contact region of a first doping type, the first cladding region of the first doping type, the second cladding region of a second doping type opposite to the first doping type, and the second contact region of the second doping type also contains nitrogen.
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Abstract
A light-emitting diode or laser diode comprises a sapphire substrate and, grown on the substrate, a GaN buffer layer, an n-doped GaN contact layer, an n-doped (AlGa)N cladding layer, a Zn-doped (InGa)N active layer, a p-doped (AlGa)N cladding layer and a p-doped GaN contact layer. Graded layers are introduced at the interfaces between the cladding layers and both the contact layers and the active layer. The constituency of each graded layer is graded from one side to the other of the layer such that the layer is lattice matched with the adjacent layer on each side with the result that the strain at the interfaces between the layers is reduced and the possibility of deleterious dislocations being introduced at the interfaces is minimized. By removing or reducing such dislocations, the efficiency of the operation of the device is increased.
59 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A III-nitride optoelectronic semiconductor device, comprising:
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a substrate; a first contact region of a first doping type; a first cladding region of the first doping type; an active region formed of a first III-nitride semiconductor material; a second cladding region of a second doping type opposite to the first doping type; a second contact region of the second doping type; and a first graded layer, wherein the first contact region, the first cladding region, the active region, the second cladding region and the second contact region are sequentially provided on the substrate, at least one of the first and second cladding regions is formed of a second III-nitride semiconductor material which is lattice mismatched with the first III-nitride semiconductor material, in order to compensate for the lattice mismatching between the active region and at least one of the first and second cladding regions, the first graded layer is interposed between the active region and at least one of the first and second cladding regions, such that one side of the first graded layer is lattice matched with the active region and the other side of the first graded layer is lattice matched with at least one of the first and second cladding regions, and the first graded layer has a constituency which is graded from the one side to the other side of the first graded layer, and wherein at least one region selected from the first contact region of a first doping type, the first cladding region of the first doping type, the second cladding region of a second doping type opposite to the first doping type, and the second contact region of the second doping type also contains nitrogen. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A III-nitride optoelectronic semiconductor device, comprising:
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a substrate; a first contact region of a first doping type; a first cladding region of the first doping type; an active region formed of a first III-nitride semiconductor material; a second cladding region of a second doping type opposite to the first doping type; a second contact region of the second doping type; and a first graded layer, wherein the first contact region, the first cladding region, the active region, the second cladding region and the second contact region are sequentially provided on the substrate, at least one of the first and second cladding regions is formed of a second III-nitride semiconductor material which is lattice mismatched with the first III-nitride semiconductor material, in order to compensate for the lattice mismatching between the active region and at least one of the first and second cladding regions, the first graded layer is interposed between the active region and at least one of the first and second cladding regions, such that one side of the first graded layer is lattice matched with the active region and the other side of the first graded layer is lattice matched with at least one of the first and second cladding regions, and the first graded layer has a constituency which is graded from the one side to the other side of the first graded layer, and wherein the first graded layer between the active region and at least one of the first and second cladding regions has a first constituent which is graded across the first graded layer in a first direction and a second constituent which is graded across the first graded layer in a second direction opposite to the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification