Group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting device and production method therefor

• US 8,309,381 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2009
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Moriyama, Miki, Goshonoo, Koichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Such, Matthew W
• Assistant Examiner(s): CARPENTER, ROBERT K
• Application Number:
  US12/585,994
• Publication Number:
  US 20100078672A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,140 Days
• Field of Search: 407/42, 438/42
• US Class Current: 438/42
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/0093 Wafer bonding; Removal of the growth substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/20 with a particular shape, e.g. curved or truncated substrate

Abstract

A method for producing a light-emitting device including a growth substrate made of Group III nitride semiconductor, and a Group III nitride semiconductor layer stacked on the top surface of the growth substrate, includes forming, between the growth substrate and the semiconductor layer, a stopper layer exhibiting resistance to a wet etchant, and wet-etching the bottom surface of the growth substrate until the stopper layer is exposed.

Claims

1. A method for producing a light-emitting device comprising a growth substrate made of Group III nitride semiconductor, and a Group III nitride semiconductor layer stacked on the top surface of the growth substrate, the method comprising:

forming, between the growth substrate and the semiconductor layer, a stopper layer exhibiting resistance to a wet etchant; and

wet-etching the bottom surface of the growth substrate until the stopper layer is exposed,

wherein the growth substrate comprises GaN,

wherein the stopper layer comprises AlGaN including an Al compositional proportion in a range from 5% to 40% and including a band gap greater than a band gap of a material of the growth substrate,

wherein the growth substrate comprises a c-plane substrate, and the top surface and the bottom surface of the substrate comprise a Ga-polar surface and an N-polar surface, respectively, and

wherein the wet-etching of the bottom surface comprises photo-enhanced chemical reaction (PEC) etching employing light including a wavelength corresponding to an energy which is greater than a band gap of the material of the substrate, and less than a band gap of a material of the stopper layer.

2. A method for producing a light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the wet etching is carried out for providing, at a center portion of the bottom surface of the growth substrate, a cavity having a side surface perpendicular to or inclined with respect to the top or bottom surface of the growth substrate, so that the stopper layer is exposed to the space defined by the cavity.