LED with porous diffusing reflector
First Claim
1. A light emitting diode (LED) structure comprising:
- a plurality of LED layers including a first cladding layer, an active layer, and a second cladding layer grown on a growth substrate, the first cladding layer being of a first conductivity type, and the second cladding layer being of an opposite second conductivity type;
a porous semiconductor layer overlying the second cladding layer, the porous semiconductor layer containing pores having a sub-micron minimum diameter, the pores having characteristics that diffuse light generated by the active layer;
a first metal, overlying the porous semiconductor layer, that electrically contacts the second cladding layer such that a majority of current flows between the first metal and the second cladding layer without being substantially conducted through porous areas of the porous semiconductor layer;
a second metal electrically contacting the first cladding layer; and
metal-filled vias through the porous semiconductor layer to allow the first metal to electrically contact the second cladding layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, an AlInGaP LED includes a bottom n-type layer, an active layer, a top p-type layer, and a thick n-type GaP layer over the top p-type layer. The thick n-type GaP layer is then subjected to an electrochemical etch process that causes the n-type GaP layer to become porous and light-diffusing. Electrical contact is made to the p-GaP layer under the porous n-GaP layer by providing metal-filled vias through the porous layer, or electrical contact is made through non-porous regions of the GaP layer between porous regions. The LED chip may be mounted on a submount with the porous n-GaP layer facing the submount surface. The pores and metal layer reflect and diffuse the light, which greatly increases the light output of the LED. Other embodiments of the LED structure are described.
12 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A light emitting diode (LED) structure comprising:
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a plurality of LED layers including a first cladding layer, an active layer, and a second cladding layer grown on a growth substrate, the first cladding layer being of a first conductivity type, and the second cladding layer being of an opposite second conductivity type; a porous semiconductor layer overlying the second cladding layer, the porous semiconductor layer containing pores having a sub-micron minimum diameter, the pores having characteristics that diffuse light generated by the active layer; a first metal, overlying the porous semiconductor layer, that electrically contacts the second cladding layer such that a majority of current flows between the first metal and the second cladding layer without being substantially conducted through porous areas of the porous semiconductor layer; a second metal electrically contacting the first cladding layer; and metal-filled vias through the porous semiconductor layer to allow the first metal to electrically contact the second cladding layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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9. A light emitting diode (LED) structure comprising:
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a plurality of LED layers including a first cladding layer, an active layer, and a second cladding layer grown on a growth substrate, the first cladding layer being of a first conductivity type, and the second cladding layer being of an opposite second conductivity type; a porous semiconductor layer overlying the second cladding layer, the porous semiconductor layer containing pores having a sub-micron minimum diameter, the pores having characteristics that diffuse light generated by the active layer; a first metal, overlying the porous semiconductor layer, that electrically contacts the second cladding layer such that a majority of current flows between the first metal and the second cladding layer without being substantially conducted through porous areas of the porous semiconductor layer; wherein the porous semiconductor layer comprises regions of porous GaP based material, having a first level of doping, and a plurality of separate regions of non-porous GaP based material, having a second level of doping higher than the first level of doping, distributed throughout the porous semiconductor layer, wherein surfaces of the regions of porous GaP based material and non-porous GaP based material are substantially coplaner, and wherein the first metal directly electrically contacts the non-porous GaP based material and overlies the surfaces of the regions of porous GaP based material and the non-porous GaP based material.
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Specification