Method for the production of a plurality of opto-electronic semiconductor chips and opto-electronic semiconductor chip

• US 8,017,416 B2
• Filed: 07/22/2004
• Issued: 09/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH (Ams-Osram AG)
• Original Assignee: Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH (Ams-Osram AG)
• Inventors: Härle, Volker
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Ha Tran T
• Assistant Examiner(s): CAMPBELL, SHAUN M
• Application Number:
  US10/566,955
• Publication Number:
  US 20070034880A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,609 Days
• Field of Search: 438/116, 438/173, 438/626, 438/631, 438/645, 438/646, 438697-699, 438/760, 438 22- 47, 438/956, 257/13, 257 79-103, 257E51018-E51022, 257E33001-E33077, 117/104
• US Class Current: 438/26
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02532 Silicon, silicon germanium, germanium
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0262 Reduction or decomposition of gaseous compounds, e.g. CVD
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02639 Preparation of substrate for selective deposition
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02642 Mask materials other than SiO2 or SiN
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/005 Processes

Abstract

Presented is a method for the production of a plurality of optoelectronic semiconductor chips each having a plurality of structural elements with at least one semiconductor layer. The method involves providing a chip composite base that includes a substrate and a growth surface. A mask material layer is formed on the growth surface. The mask material layer includes a multiplicity of windows having an average extent of less than or equal to 1 μm. A mask material is chosen so that a semiconductor material of the semiconductor layer that is to be grown essentially cannot grow on the mask material or can grow in a substantially worse manner in comparison with the growth surface. Subsequently, semiconductor layers are deposited essentially simultaneously onto regions of the growth surface that lie within the windows. The chip composite base with applied material is singulated to form semiconductor chips.

Claims

1. A method for the production of a plurality of optoelectronic semiconductor chips each having a plurality of structural elements with each structural element comprising a semiconductor layer sequence, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a chip composite base comprising a substrate and a growth surface;

forming on the growth surface a mask material layer with a multiplicity of windows, most of which have an average lateral extent of less than or equal to 1 μ

m, wherein a mask material is chosen so that a semiconductor material of the semiconductor layer sequence that is to be grown in a later method step essentially cannot grow on said mask material or can grow in a substantially worse manner in comparison with the growth surface, and wherein the windows of the mask material layer comprise a plurality of statistically distributed windows having varying forms and opening areas;

essentially simultaneously growing semiconductor layers to form the structural elements on regions of the growth surface that lie within the windows; and

singulating the chip composite base with applied material to form semiconductor chips each having a plurality of the structural elements;

wherein, after the growth of the semiconductor layers, a layer of electrically conductive contact material that is transmissive to an electromagnetic radiation emitted by an active zone is applied to the semiconductor layers, so that the semiconductor layers of a plurality of the structural elements are electrically conductively connected to one another by the contact material.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chip composite base has at least one semiconductor layer grown epitaxially onto the substrate and the growth surface is a surface on that side of the epitaxially grown semiconductor layer which is remote from the substrate.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chip composite base has a semiconductor layer sequence grown epitaxially onto the substrate with an active zone that emits electromagnetic radiation, and the growth surface is a surface on that side of the semiconductor layer sequence which is remote from the substrate.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the structural elements respectively have an epitaxially grown semiconductor layer sequence with an active zone that emits electromagnetic radiation.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mask material has SiO₂, Si_xN_y or Al₂O₃.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the average thickness of the mask material layer is less than the cumulated thickness of the semiconductor layers of a structural element.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mask material layer is at least partly removed after the growth of the semiconductor layers.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, after the growth of the semiconductor layers, a planarization layer is applied over the growth surface.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein a material whose refractive index is lower than that of the semiconductor layers is chosen for the planarization layer.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein a dielectric material is chosen for the planarization layer.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the growth conditions for the growth of the semiconductor layers are at least one of set and varied during growth in such a way that semiconductor layers of the structural elements form a lens-shaped form, a truncated cone-shaped form, or a polyhedral form.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layers are grown by means of metal organic vapor phase epitaxy.

13. An optoelectronic semiconductor chip produced according to a method as claimed in claim 1.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mask material layer is grown on the growth surface.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the mask material layer is grown in situ in a non-closed layer including the multiplicity of windows.