Method for production of a radiation-emitting semiconductor chip

• US 7,897,423 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2004
• Issued: 03/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OSRAM OLED GMBH (Ams-Osram AG)
• Original Assignee: Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH (Ams-Osram AG)
• Inventors: Hahn, Berthold, Härle, Volker, Kaiser, Stephan
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Hsien-ming
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARENDO, KEVIN A
• Application Number:
  US11/579,194
• Publication Number:
  US 20080093611A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,497 Days
• Field of Search: 438/47, 438/458, 257/E21.122
• US Class Current: 438/47
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/0093 Wafer bonding; Removal of the growth substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/22 Roughened surfaces, e.g. at the interface between epitaxial layers

Abstract

A method for micropatterning a radiation-emitting surface of a semiconductor layer sequence for a thin-film light-emitting diode chip. The semiconductor layer sequence is grown on a substrate. A mirror layer is formed or applied on the semiconductor layer sequence, which reflects back into the semiconductor layer sequence at least part of a radiation that is generated in the semiconductor layer sequence during the operation thereof and is directed toward the mirror layer. The semiconductor layer sequence is separated from the substrate by means of a lift-off method, in which a separation zone in the semiconductor layer sequence is at least partly decomposed in such a way that anisotropic residues of a constituent of the separation zone, in particular a metallic constituent of the separation layer, remain at the separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence, from which the substrate is separated. The separation surface—provided with the residues—of the semiconductor layer sequence with a dry etching method, a gaseous etchant or a wet-chemical etchant, wherein the anisotropic residues are at least temporarily used as an etching mask. A semiconductor chip is produced according to such a method.

Claims

1. A method for micropatterning a radiation-emitting surface of a semiconductor layer sequence for a thin-film light-emitting diode chip, comprising the steps of:

(a) growing the semiconductor layer sequence on a substrate;

(b) forming or applying a mirror layer on the semiconductor layer sequence, which reflects back into the semiconductor layer sequence at least part of a radiation that is generated in the semiconductor layer sequence during operation thereof;

(c) separating the semiconductor layer sequence from the substrate with a lift-off method, in which a separation zone in the semiconductor layer sequence is at least partly decomposed such that anisotropic residues of a constituent of the separation zone remain at a separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence and the substrate is separated from said semiconductor layer sequence, the anisotropic residues being formed on the semiconductor sequence as a layer having a varying layer thickness; and

(d) etching the separation surface—

provided with the anisotropic residues—

of the semiconductor layer sequence with a dry etching method, a gaseous etchant or a wet-chemical etchant, wherein the anisotropic residues are temporarily used as an etching mask, wherein the etching results in roughening the separation surface

wherein the separation zone that is decomposed in step (c) contains AlGaN, an Al content of the AlGaN lies between approximately 1% and approximately 10%, and Al of said AlGaN is sintered into the semiconductor layer sequence.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (d) both anisotropic residues of the separation zone and the semiconductor layer sequence are etched in material-removing fashion at the separation surface thereof.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (d) different crystal facets of the semiconductor layer sequence are uncovered.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wet-chemical etchant contains KOH, or the gaseous etchant contains a corrosive gas.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein after method step (d) the etched separation surface is treated with a further wet-chemical or gaseous etchant which predominantly etches at crystal defects and selectively etches different crystal facets at the separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the further wet-chemical etchant contains KOH, or the gaseous etchant contains a corrosive gas.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer sequence is a radiation-emitting semiconductor layer sequence based on nitride compound semiconductor material, and wherein in step (c) nitride compound semiconductor material of the semiconductor layer sequence is decomposed in the separation zone in such a way that gaseous nitrogen arises.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein a laser radiation source having a wavelength in a range of between 350 nm and 360 nm or a shorter wavelength is used in step (c).

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lift-off method is a laser lift-off method.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer sequence has an increased defect density at the separation surface, as compared with a defect density of a part of the semiconductor layer sequence that is disposed farther away from the substrate than is the separation surface.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the region of the semiconductor layer sequence in which the separation zone is situated is a buffer layer.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer sequence contains at least one material from the system In_xAl_yGa_1-x-yN where 0 ≦

x ≦

1, 0≦

y ≦

1 and x+y ≦

1.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer sequence contains at least one material from the system In_xAl_yGa_1-x-yN where 0 ≦

x ≦

1, 0 ≦

y ≦

1 and x+y ≦

1, and wherein the separation zone substantially has GaN and the anisotropic residues are made of metallic Ga and remain on the separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer sequence has a dopant concentration of between 1×

10¹⁸cm<sup>−

3</sup> and 1×

10²⁰ cm<sup>−

3</sup>, inclusive, at its separation surface.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the dopant is Si.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein an aluminum n-contact is produced at the separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sapphire substrate is used.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a contact pad comprising a contact metallization for electrical connection of the semiconductor layer sequence, is applied to a micropatterned separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein through the micropatterning at the separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence a roughening is produced on a scale which corresponds to a wavelength range of an electromagnetic radiation emitted by the semiconductor layer sequence during operation thereof, wherein roughening structures are of an order of magnitude of half an internal wavelength which is the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation generated within the semiconductor layer sequence.

20. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer sequence is grown overall from hexagonal GaN-based material on the substrate, wherein a 000-1 crystal face (N face of the hexagonal nitride lattice) faces toward the substrate.

21. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mirror layer is a Bragg mirror.

22. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mirror has a reflective layer and a radiation-transmissive layer, and wherein the radiation-transmissive layer is between the reflective layer and the semiconductor layer sequence.

23. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mirror layer has a reflection layer and a current transport layer which is different from the reflection layer, and wherein the reflection layer comprises a plurality of windows, the current transport layer being arranged at least in said plurality of windows and being in direct contact with the semiconductor layer sequence within said plurality of windows.

24. A method for micropatterning a radiation-emitting surface of a semiconductor layer sequence for a thin-film light-emitting diode chip, comprising the steps of:

(a) growing the semiconductor layer sequence on a substrate;

(b) forming or applying a mirror layer on the semiconductor layer sequence, which reflects back into the semiconductor layer sequence at least part of a radiation that is generated in the semiconductor layer sequence during operation thereof;

(c) separating the semiconductor layer sequence from the substrate with a lift-off method, in which a separation zone in the semiconductor layer sequence is at least partly decomposed such that anisotropic residues of a constituent of the separation zone remain at a separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence and the substrate is separated from said semiconductor layer sequence, the anisotropic residues being formed on the semiconductor sequence as a layer having a varying layer thickness; and

(d) etching the separation surface—

provided with the anisotropic residues—

of the semiconductor layer sequence with a dry etching method, a gaseous etchant or a wet-chemical etchant, wherein the anisotropic residues are temporarily used as an etching mask, wherein the etching results in roughening the separation surface

wherein the separation zone that is decomposed in step (c) contains A1GaN, and Al of said AlGaN of the separation zone is sintered into the semiconductor layer sequence; and

wherein the separation zone has a GaN layer adjoined by an AlGaN layer on a side remote from the substrate, and in step (c) the entire GaN layer and part of the AlGaN layer are decomposed.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the anisotropic residues remain after the separation in step (c) on the separation surface as one of a continuous layer having a varying thickness and a layer of insular or reticulated zones with interspaces in which a surface of the semiconductor layer sequence has already been uncovered.

26. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein during step (d), the semiconductor layer sequence is etched to different extents depending on layer thicknesses of the anisotropic residues to create a roughing of the separation surface of the semiconductor layer sequence.