Light emitting device and manufacturing method thereof

• US 8,343,788 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2011
• Issued: 01/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Epistar Corporation (Ennostar, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Epistar Corporation (Ennostar, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kuo, De-Shan, Ko, Ting-Chia, Tu, Chun-Hsiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Cheung
• Application Number:
  US13/089,485
• Publication Number:
  US 20120267656A1
• Time in Patent Office: 623 Days
• Field of Search: 438/41, 257/E21.483, 257/E21.486, 257/E21.536
• US Class Current: 438/39
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/02363 of the semiconductor body itself, e.g. textured active layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/0095 Post-treatment of devices, e.g. annealing, recrystallisation or short-circuit elimination
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/22 Roughened surfaces, e.g. at the interface between epitaxial layers

Abstract

A method of fabricating a light emitting device comprising: providing a substrate; forming an epitaxial stack on the substrate wherein the epitaxial stack comprising a first conductivity semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity semiconductor layer; forming a mesa on the epitaxial stack to expose partial of the first conductivity semiconductor layer; and etching the surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer and forming a least one rough structure on the surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer wherein the first conductivity semiconductor layer is sandwiched by the substrate and the active layer.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating a light emitting device comprising:

providing a substrate;

forming an epitaxial stack on the substrate wherein the epitaxial stack comprising a first conductivity semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity semiconductor layer;

forming a mesa to expose partial of the first conductivity semiconductor layer, wherein the first conductivity semiconductor layer includes a first surface which is connected to a surface of the substrate, a second surface which is parallel to the surface of the substrate and a third surface which is connected between the second surface and the active layer; and

etching the first conductivity semiconductor layer and forming a rough structure on at least one of first surface and the third surface.

2. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, further comprising a step to dice the epitaxial stack into separated light emitting devices.

3. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the etching can be wet etching, electrochemical etching or dry etching.

4. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the first conductivity semiconductor layer is an n-type layer and the etching can be electrochemical etching with the voltage in 5V-40V and etching time in 1 min-1 hr.

5. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the material of the epitaxial stack contains at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al, Ga, In, As, P, and N.

6. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the depth of the rough structure can be 10 nm-5000 nm, the distance between each of the rough structure can be 10 nm-10000 nm, and/or the percentage of the area occupied by the rough structures on the surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer can be 5%-90%.

7. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the first surface is vertical to the surface of the substrate.

8. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, further comprising totally or partially forming an etching protection layer on the second surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer.

9. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the second surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer is a totally or partially substantially smooth surface.

10. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the second surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer further comprises a first level rough section, a substantially smooth section and a second level rough section wherein the second level rough section is adjacent to the substantially smooth section and the first level rough section is adjacent to the second level rough section.

11. The method of fabricating a light emitting device of claim 10, wherein the first level rough structure has a depth h1;

the second level rough structure has a depth h2 and h1 is different from h2.

12. A light emitting device comprising:

a substrate;

an epitaxial stack on the substrate wherein the epitaxial stack comprising a first conductivity semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity semiconductor layer, wherein the first conductivity semiconductor layer includes a first surface connected to a surface of the substrate, a second surface which is parallel to the surface of the substrate and a third surface which is connected between the second surface and the active layer; and

a mesa exposing partial of the first conductivity semiconductor layer wherein of the first conductivity semiconductor layer further comprises a rough structure on at least one of the first surface and the third surface.

13. The light emitting device of claim 12, wherein the first conductivity semiconductor layer is an n-type layer and the material of the epitaxial stack contains at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al, Ga, In, As, P, and N.

14. The light emitting device of claim 12, wherein the depth of the rough structure can be 10 nm-5000 nm and/or the distance between each of the rough structure can be can be 10 nm-10000 nm.

15. The light emitting device of claim 12, wherein the percentage of the area occupied by the rough structures on the surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer can be 5%-90%.

16. The light emitting device of claim 12, wherein the first surface is vertical to the surface of the substrate.

17. The light emitting device of claim 12, wherein the second surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer can totally or partially be a substantially smooth surface.

18. The light emitting device of claim 12, wherein the second surface of the first conductivity semiconductor layer further comprises a first level rough section, a substantially smooth section and a second level rough section wherein the second level rough section is adjacent to the substantially smooth section and the first level rough section is adjacent to the second level rough section.

19. The light emitting device of claim 18, wherein the first level rough section has a depth h1, the second level rough section has a depth h2 and h1 is different from h2.

20. The light emitting device of claim 12, wherein rough structure can be pore, void, bore, pinhole, cavity or porous structure and the shape of the rough structures can be circle, hexagon, dodecagon, conical, or pyramidal shapes.

21. A method of fabricating a light emitting device comprising:

providing a substrate;

forming an epitaxial stack on the substrate wherein the epitaxial stack comprising a first conductivity semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity semiconductor layer;

forming a mesa to expose partial of the first conductivity semiconductor layer wherein the first conductivity semiconductor layer includes a first surface which is connected to the surface of the substrate, a second surface which is parallel to the surface of the substrate and a third surface which is connected between the second surface to the active layer;

etching the first conductivity semiconductor layer and forming at least a rough structure on the first and the third surface, and wherein the second surface further comprises a first level rough section having a depth h1, a substantially smooth section and a second level rough section having a depth h2 different from h1, and wherein the second level rough section is adjacent to the substantially smooth section and the first level rough section is adjacent to the second level rough section.