Light-emitting device including nitride-based semiconductor omnidirectional reflector

• US 8,941,140 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Hwang, Kyung-wook, Park, Seong-eun, Chung, Hun-jae
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Cheung
• Assistant Examiner(s): Joy, Jeremy
• Application Number:
  US13/844,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20130248911A1
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• Field of Search: 257/98, 257/E33.069, 438/29
• US Class Current: 257/98
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/10 with a light reflecting structure, e.g. semiconductor Bragg reflector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/60 Reflective elements

Abstract

A light-emitting device includes a nitride-based semiconductor reflector. The light-emitting device includes a nitride-based reflector and a light-emitting unit that is disposed on the nitride-based reflector. The nitride-based reflector includes undoped nitride semiconductor layers and heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers that are alternately stacked. The heavily doped nitride semiconductor layers are etched at their edges to form air layers between adjacent undoped nitride semiconductor layers.

Claims

1. A light-emitting device comprising:

a base nitride semiconductor layer;

a nitride-based reflector disposed on the base nitride semiconductor layer; and

a light-emitting unit disposed on the nitride-based reflector,

wherein the nitride-based reflector includes undoped nitride semiconductor layers and heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers that are alternately stacked, each of the heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers has a smaller area than those of adjacent undoped nitride semiconductor layers to have air layers between the adjacent undoped nitride semiconductor layers, and the base nitride semiconductor layer has an area not smaller than the area of the undoped nitride semiconductor layers and has the same doping as the heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers.

2. The light-emitting device of claim 1, wherein the nitride-based reflector is formed of GaN.

3. The light-emitting device of claim 1, wherein the nitride-based reflector comprises 5 to 10 undoped nitride semiconductor layers, and heavily doped nitride semiconductor layers disposed between the undoped nitride semiconductor layers.

4. The light-emitting device of claim 1, wherein an area of each of the heavily doped nitride semiconductor layers is about 10 to 20% of a total area of each of the heavily doped nitride semiconductor layers and each of the air layers.

5. The light-emitting device of claim 4, wherein a height of the air layer ranges from about 100 to 200 nm.

6. The light-emitting device of claim 4, wherein a height of the undoped nitride semiconductor layer ranges from 20 to 100 nm.

7. The light-emitting device of claim 1, wherein the light-emitting unit is disposed on an uppermost layer of the nitride-based reflector.

8. The light-emitting device of claim 1, wherein the base nitride semiconductor layer has the same composition and doping as the heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers.

9. A light-emitting device comprising:

a nitride-based reflector; and

a light-emitting unit disposed on the nitride-based reflector,

wherein the nitride-based reflector includes lightly-doped nitride semiconductor layers and heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers that are alternately stacked, the lightly-doped and heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers are doped with impurities of a same type, and each of the heavily-doped nitride semiconductor layers has a smaller area than those of adjacent lightly-doped nitride semiconductor layers so as to have air layers between the adjacent lightly-doped nitride semiconductor layers.