Grown photonic crystals in semiconductor light emitting devices
First Claim
1. A method comprising forming a photonic crystal within a semiconductor structure, the semiconductor structure comprising a light emitting region configured to emit light of wavelength λ
- when forward biased, the light emitting region being disposed between an n-type region and a p-type region, wherein forming the photonic crystal comprises;
forming a plurality of regions of semiconductor material having a first refractive index; and
forming a plurality of regions of a material having a second refractive index, wherein the second refractive index is different from the first refractive index;
wherein the regions of material having a second refractive index are disposed between the regions of semiconductor material in an array, and the material having a first refractive index is grown around the material having a second refractive index, and each region of material having a second refractive index is located less than 5λ
from a nearest neighbor region of material having a second refractive index; and
wherein the light emitting region is substantially planar and the regions of material having a second refractive index are confined to a region above or below the light emitting region.
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Abstract
A photonic crystal is grown within a semiconductor structure, such as a III-nitride structure, which includes a light emitting region disposed between an n-type region and a p-type region. The photonic crystal may be multiple regions of semiconductor material separated by a material having a different refractive index than the semiconductor material. For example, the photonic crystal may be posts of semiconductor material grown in the structure and separated by air gaps or regions of masking material. Growing the photonic crystal, rather than etching a photonic crystal into an already-grown semiconductor layer, avoids damage caused by etching which may reduce efficiency, and provides uninterrupted, planar surfaces on which to form electric contacts.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method comprising forming a photonic crystal within a semiconductor structure, the semiconductor structure comprising a light emitting region configured to emit light of wavelength λ
- when forward biased, the light emitting region being disposed between an n-type region and a p-type region, wherein forming the photonic crystal comprises;
forming a plurality of regions of semiconductor material having a first refractive index; and forming a plurality of regions of a material having a second refractive index, wherein the second refractive index is different from the first refractive index; wherein the regions of material having a second refractive index are disposed between the regions of semiconductor material in an array, and the material having a first refractive index is grown around the material having a second refractive index, and each region of material having a second refractive index is located less than 5λ
from a nearest neighbor region of material having a second refractive index; andwherein the light emitting region is substantially planar and the regions of material having a second refractive index are confined to a region above or below the light emitting region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
- when forward biased, the light emitting region being disposed between an n-type region and a p-type region, wherein forming the photonic crystal comprises;
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35. A method comprising growing a photonic crystal within a semiconductor structure, the semiconductor structure comprising a light emitting region configured to emit light of wavelength λ
- when forward biased, the light emitting region being disposed between an n-type region and a p-type region, wherein growing the photonic crystal comprises;
growing a plurality of regions of semiconductor material having a first refractive index; and growing a plurality of regions of a material having a second refractive index, wherein the second refractive index is different from the first refractive index; wherein the regions of material having a second refractive index are disposed between the regions of semiconductor material in an array, and each region of material having a second refractive index is located less than 5λ
from a nearest neighbor region of material having a second refractive index; andwherein the light emitting region is substantially planar and the regions of material having a second refractive index are confined to a region above or below the light emitting region.
- when forward biased, the light emitting region being disposed between an n-type region and a p-type region, wherein growing the photonic crystal comprises;
Specification