JP2008294343A - Method for manufacturing nitride semiconductor laser element - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nitride semiconductor laser element manufacturing method high in yield by preventing an electrode from peeling off in cleaving process of a wafer. <P>SOLUTION: In the nitride semiconductor laser element manufacturing method, a portion of an n-side electrode 13 formed on a substrate with bad adhesiveness to the substrate is removed by being irradiated with laser light, before cleaving a bar 15 from a wafer 1. Therefore, in cleaving process of the wafer 1, the electrode peeling-off starting from the n-side electrode 13 with bad adhesiveness to the substrate can be prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a laser device manufactured by stacking a nitride-based semiconductor on a nitride-based semiconductor substrate.

  Nitride-based semiconductors (eg, AlN, GaN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN, etc.), which are so-called III-V semiconductors composed of Group III elements and Group V elements, emit blue or blue-violet light from their band structures. Expected to be used as a light-emitting element, it has already been used for light-emitting diodes and laser elements.

  In addition, since a high-quality nitride-based semiconductor substrate has not been obtained so far, a nitride-based semiconductor laser device or the like has been manufactured using a heterogeneous substrate such as a sapphire substrate. However, since a heterogeneous substrate such as a sapphire substrate has a large lattice mismatch with a nitride semiconductor, the nitride semiconductor stacked on the heterogeneous substrate has many crystal defects such as dislocations. There was a problem of output and short life. In addition, since the cleavage direction of the nitride-based semiconductor and the dissimilar substrate is different, there is a problem that it is difficult to divide the wafer.

In response to these problems, high-quality gallium nitride substrates can be obtained in recent years, and by using these substrates, a nitride-based semiconductor laser device in which the above-described problems are solved can be obtained. (See Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-33282 A JP 2001-102307 A

  However, since the substrates manufactured by the methods of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 locally concentrate dislocations by promoting growth in a direction parallel to the main surface of the substrate, the growth surfaces collide with each other. There is a problem in that the crystallinity of a region which is a region where dislocations are concentrated (hereinafter referred to as a stripe core) and another region where dislocations are reduced is different.

  In particular, as shown in the schematic diagram of the substrate of FIG. 8A and the enlarged view of the broken line region B in FIG. 8A of FIG. 8B, the stripe core 31 and the other region 32 of the substrate 30 are Corrosivity due to dry etching such as RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) method is different. Specifically, when dry etching is performed on the substrate 30 in the pretreatment of the substrate 30 when manufacturing the wafer, the protrusion 33 is likely to be formed in the region 32 other than the stripe core 31 of the substrate 30. The stripe core 31 is difficult to form the protrusion 33 and is flat. Therefore, in the region 32 other than the stripe core 31, the adhesion of the electrode 34 is good due to the protrusion 33, but the adhesion of the electrode 34 on the stripe core 31 without the protrusion 33 is deteriorated.

  If there is a region with poor adhesion of the electrode 34 as described above, the electrode 34 on another region having good adhesion may be peeled off starting from the electrode 34 on the region. In particular, as shown in the schematic diagram of the bar 35 in FIG. 8C, when the bar 35 is produced by cleaving the wafer in the direction perpendicular to the stripe core 31, this electrode peeling is likely to occur. As a result of peeling, the yield is extremely lowered.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a nitride semiconductor laser device having a high yield by preventing electrode peeling when the wafer is cleaved.

  In order to achieve the above object, a method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device according to the present invention includes an element structure including a current path portion extending in a predetermined direction on a first main surface of a substrate. On the second main surface opposite to the first main surface of the substrate on which the plurality of element structures are formed after the first step. Forming a electrode that covers the second main surface excluding the portion to obtain a wafer, and after the second step, dividing the wafer in a direction substantially perpendicular to the current path portion to obtain a bar A nitride-based semiconductor laser device comprising: a third step; and a fourth step after the third step, for obtaining a chip by dividing the bar in a direction substantially parallel to the current path portion. Manufacturing method.

  In the method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device, the substrate includes a first region extending in a direction substantially parallel to the current passage portion, and a second region that is a region other than the first region. And the second step may form the electrode on the second region of the second main surface.

  In the method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device, the substrate includes a first region extending in a direction substantially parallel to the current passage portion, and a second region that is a region other than the first region. And the second step may form the electrode on the second main surface excluding the vicinity of the region where the first region and the line to be divided in the third step intersect. Absent.

  In the method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device, the second step includes a fifth step of forming the electrode that covers the second main surface of the substrate, and the fifth step. And a sixth step of removing a part of the electrode.

  In the method for manufacturing a nitride semiconductor laser element, the sixth step irradiates a part of the electrode formed by the fifth step with a laser beam to remove a part of the electrode. It does not matter even if it is a thing.

  In the method for manufacturing a nitride semiconductor laser device, the second step includes a seventh step of forming a mask on a part of the second main surface of the substrate, and after the seventh step. An eighth step of forming an electrode that covers the second main surface of the substrate and a ninth step of removing the mask after the eighth step may be provided.

  According to the method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device in the present invention, before the wafer is divided in the third step, a part of the substrate on the second main surface can have no electrode. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of electrode peeling in which a wide range of electrodes are peeled off when some of the electrodes are peeled when the wafer is divided, and the yield of the bar can be increased.

Hereinafter, a method for producing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, an outline of a method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, and then an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
<< Method for Fabricating Nitride Semiconductor Laser Device >>
<Wafer fabrication method>
First, an example of a wafer to be manufactured will be described with reference to schematic views of the wafer in FIGS. FIG. 1A is a schematic plan view of a wafer, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the AA cross section of FIG. 1A and 1B also show the crystal orientation of the substrate, and the crystal orientation of the substrate is also shown in the following figures.

  According to the wafer manufacturing method of this example, by laminating various layers on the substrate 2, the current path portion (ridge portion 10) as shown in FIG. 1A is substantially parallel to the <1-100> direction of the substrate. Thus, a plurality of aligned wafers 1 are produced. Here, the pad electrode 12 is aligned in a direction along the ridge portion 10 and in a direction substantially perpendicular to the ridge portion 10. Further, one pad electrode 12 represents one element structure, and a plurality of chips can be obtained by dividing the wafer 1 into pad electrodes 12 as will be described later.

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 1B, the substrate 2 includes the stripe core region 2a having a high dislocation density as described above and the other region 2b having a low dislocation density. At this time, the stripe core regions 2a extend in a direction substantially parallel to the <1-100> direction of the substrate, and are aligned at substantially equal intervals in the <11-20> direction.

  Next, an example of a wafer manufacturing method will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the same cross section as FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the active layer.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), first, an n-type cladding layer 3 made of n-type AlGaN is formed on the {0001} plane of an n-type GaN substrate 2 having a thickness of about 100 μm. An active layer 4 is formed on the mold cladding layer 3. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the active layer 4 includes a plurality of well layers 4a made of undoped InGaN having a thickness of about 3.2 nm and barrier layers 4b made of undoped InGaN having a thickness of about 20 nm. A multiple quantum well structure is formed by stacking. In the example of FIG. 3, a case where three well layers 4a and four barrier layers 4b are stacked is shown.

  Further, an optical guide layer 5 made of undoped InGaN having a thickness of about 50 nm is formed on the active layer 4 having the multiple quantum well structure, and a thickness of about 5 nm made of undoped AlGaN is formed on the optical guide layer 5. A 20 nm cap layer 6 is formed. FIG. 2A shows a state in which the cap layer 6 is laminated on the substrate 2.

Then, a p-type cladding layer 7 made of p-type AlGaN and having a thickness of about 400 nm is formed on the cap layer 6 shown in FIG. Then, a contact layer 7 made of undoped InGaN and having a thickness of about 3 nm is formed on the p-type cladding layer 7. Then, a p-side ohmic electrode 9 composed of a Pt layer having a thickness of about 1 nm and a Pd layer having a thickness of about 10 nm is formed on the contact layer 7, and a thickness of about 240 nm is formed on the p-side ohmic electrode 9. The SiO ₂ layer 14 is formed. In this way, each layer is formed to obtain a structure as shown in FIG.

Next, in order to form the ridge portion 10, the stacked structure shown in FIG. At this time, a striped photoresist (not shown) having a width of about 1.5 μm and extending in the <1-100> direction of the substrate is formed in a portion where the ridge portion 10 is to be formed. Then, etching by the RIE method is performed using a CF ₄ gas. Then, only the SiO ₂ layer 14 and the ohmic electrode 9 of the part forming the photoresist remains, the SiO ₂ layer 14 and the ohmic electrode 9 of the portion not forming a photoresist is removed.

Further, the photoresist is removed here, and etching is performed by the RIE method using a chlorine-based gas such as Cl ₂ or SiCl ₄ . At this time, the contact layer 8 and the p-type cladding layer 7 where the SiO ₂ layer 14 is not present are etched using the SiO ₂ layer 14 as a mask. Then, when the p-type cladding layer 7 remains in a state where about 80 nm remains, the etching is stopped and the SiO ₂ layer 14 is removed. Then, as shown in FIG. 2C, a part of the p-type cladding layer 7 protrudes, and a ridge part in which the contact layer 8 and the ohmic electrode 9 are sequentially formed on the protruding part of the p-type cladding layer 7. A structure with 10 is obtained.

Next, a SiO ₂ layer having a thickness of 200 nm is formed on the structure shown in FIG. 2C, and a photoresist is formed on the SiO ₂ layer formed in a portion other than the ridge portion 10. Then, etching by RIE using CF ₄ gas is performed, and the SiO ₂ layer formed on the ridge portion 10 is removed to form the current blocking layer 11 made of the SiO ₂ layer. Then, a structure as shown in FIG. 2D is obtained, and thereafter, a pad electrode 12 made of Au and having a thickness of 3 μm is continuously formed so as to cover the ridge portion 10 surrounded by the current blocking layer 11. A plurality of ridges 10 are formed.

  Further, an n-side electrode 13 is formed on the surface opposite to the surface of the substrate 2 on which the above-described laminated structure is formed, and the wafer 1 as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is obtained. In addition, the formation method of this n side electrode 13 and the effect acquired by it are explained in full detail in the Example of the formation method of the n side electrode 13 mentioned later. FIG. 1B shows an example in which the n-side electrode 13 is not formed on the stripe core 2a but only on the other region 2b. Then, a wafer as shown in FIG. 1B can be obtained by the manufacturing method described above.

In the wafer manufacturing method described above, the MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Deposition) method may be used for forming each nitride-based semiconductor layer, and the MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy) method or the HVPE (Hydride Vapor Papour) method. (Epitaxial) method and other methods may be used. Further, the electrode may be formed by using a forming method such as sputtering or vapor deposition, and as the vapor deposition, electron beam vapor deposition may be used, or resistance heating vapor deposition may be used. In addition, a method such as PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) or sputtering may be used for forming the SiO ₂ layer.

  Further, in the example of the wafer shown in FIG. 1A, two ridge portions 10 are provided between adjacent stripe cores 2a of the substrate 2, but one ridge portion is provided in this portion. Alternatively, a configuration having a large number of ridges 10 on the contrary may be used.

  By adopting such a configuration, the ridge portion 10 is formed avoiding the region immediately above the stripe core 2a having a high dislocation density. Therefore, compared to the case where the ridge portion 10 is formed in the region immediately above the stripe core 2a, dislocations propagating from the substrate to the ridge portion can be reduced, and the device life can be extended.

  In addition, depending on the method for manufacturing the substrate 2, there may be a region with a high resistivity at a substantially central portion between the adjacent stripe cores 2 a of the substrate 2. Therefore, when such a substrate 2 is used, the ridge portion 10 may be formed so as to avoid a substantially central portion of the stripe core 2a.

  Further, in FIG. 1A, the wafer 1 is shown as a square shape for the sake of simplicity, but a laminated structure is formed on a substantially circular substrate including an orientation flat surface and a notch for specifying the crystal orientation. However, a wafer may be produced.

  In this example of the wafer manufacturing method, a laminated structure is formed on the {0001} plane of the substrate 2, but the laminated structure is formed on the {11-20} plane or the {1-100} plane. You can do it. Further, when the surface of the substrate 2 forming the laminated structure is changed in this way, the direction in which the ridge portion 10 is formed and the cleavage direction are appropriately changed. Further, the above-described wafer manufacturing method is an example, and any other manufacturing method may be used to manufacture the wafer. For example, the shape of the laminated structure formed on the pad electrode 12 or the substrate 2 may be different from the shape shown in FIGS.

<Wafer cutting>
Next, the obtained wafer 1 is cleaved and divided to obtain chips, and an example of a method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device using the chips will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the bar and the chip, and shows the same plane as that of FIG. 1A of the bar and the chip. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a nitride semiconductor laser element. Hereinafter, a case where a wafer obtained by an example of the above-described wafer manufacturing method is used will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the wafer 1 is cleaved along the <11-20> direction of the substrate 2 to obtain the bar 15. The bar 15 obtained at this time has two end faces ({1-100} face) obtained by cleaving as resonator end faces, and the element structures are aligned in a line in the <11-20> direction.

Then, the resonator end faces of the obtained bar 15, for example, may be subjected to a coating consisting of SiO ₂ and _TiO 2, _Al 2 _{O 3.} Further, the coating formed on one of the end faces is made up of a large number of layers of about 10 layers, and the reflectance is increased, and the coating formed on either of the end faces is made up of a small number of layers of about one layer. The reflectance may be lowered.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the chip 16 is obtained by dividing the obtained bar 15 along the <1-100> direction. At this time, one chip 16 includes one element structure, and a nitride-based semiconductor laser element 20 as shown in FIG.

  In the cleavage from the wafer 1 to the bar 15 and the division from the bar 15 to the chip 16, grooves along the respective cleavage direction and division direction are formed in the wafer 1 or the bar 15, and the cleavage and cutting along the grooves are performed. It is also possible to perform division. The groove may be a solid line or a broken line. Further, grooves may be formed on the surface of the wafer 1 or the bar 15 where the pad electrode 12 or the current blocking layer 11 is formed, or the groove may be formed on the surface of the n-side electrode 13 formed. It doesn't matter.

<Mount chip>
As shown in FIG. 5, the nitride-based semiconductor laser device 20 includes a submount 23 to which the chip 16 is connected and fixed (mounted) by solder, a heat sink 22 connected to the submount 23, and a surface on which the heat sink 22 is provided. The stem 21 to be connected, the surface to which the heat sink 22 of the stem 21 is connected, and the surface opposite to the surface, and pins 24a and 24b insulated from the stem 21; one pin 24a and the pad of the chip 16 A wire 25a that electrically connects the electrode 12 and a wire 26b that electrically connects the other pin 24b and the submount 23 are provided.

  Although not shown for easy understanding of the configuration of the nitride-based semiconductor laser device 20, it is connected to a surface to which the heat sink 22 of the stem 21 is connected, the chip 16, the submount 23, the heat sink 22, The caps that seal the portions protruding from the surfaces with the pins 24a and 24b and the wires 25a and 25b are provided.

  Then, current is supplied to the chip 16 through the two pins 24 a and 24 b to oscillate, and laser light is emitted from the chip 16. At this time, the cap is provided with a window made of a material transparent to the emitted laser beam, and the laser beam is emitted through the window.

The configuration of the nitride semiconductor laser element 20 shown in FIG. 5 is an example, and other configurations may be used for the configuration of the heat sink 22, the submount 23, the pins 24a and 24b, the wires 25a and 25b, and the like. Absent.
<< Example >>
The series of methods for fabricating the nitride-based semiconductor laser device according to the present invention has been described above. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the method for forming the n-side electrode in the wafer fabrication method described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Describe.

<First embodiment>
First, a first embodiment of a method for forming an n-side electrode will be described with reference to FIG. 6A and 6B are plan views showing a surface opposite to the wafer surface shown in the plan view of FIG. FIG. 6C is a plan view showing a surface on the same side as the surfaces shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, and the wafer shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is cleaved. The resulting bar is shown.

  When the n-side electrode 13 is formed by the method for forming the n-side electrode 13 in the present embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. The side electrode 13 is formed. In FIG. 6A, a portion of the stripe core 2a of the substrate covered with the n-side electrode 13 is indicated by a broken line.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the n-side electrode 13 formed on the stripe core 2 a of the substrate is irradiated with laser light, thereby removing the n-side electrode 13 in the portion. At this time, the n-side electrode 13 formed on the stripe core 2a of the substrate and the n-side electrode 13 formed on the other region 2b are easily and clearly distinguished by observation using an electron microscope or an optical microscope. can do.

  Then, by cleaving the wafer 1 along the <11-20> direction of the substrate, a bar 15 as shown in FIG. 6C is obtained, and a chip is obtained by dividing the bar 15 as described above. be able to.

  In this way, by removing a part of the n-side electrode 13 on the stripe core 2 a before cleaving the wafer 1 to obtain the bar 15, the n-side electrode 13 is peeled off when cleaving from the wafer 1 to the bar 15. Can be prevented. In particular, since the electrode formed on the stripe core 2a has poor adhesion to the substrate 2, it tends to be a starting point for electrode peeling. Therefore, since the starting point of electrode peeling can be removed simply by removing the n-side electrode 13 on the stripe core 2a, the occurrence of electrode peeling can be effectively suppressed. As a result, the yield of the bar, and hence the yield of the chip and the nitride semiconductor laser device can be increased.

  In addition, the film quality of the n-side electrode 13 can be improved by heat generated by laser light irradiation, a part of the electrode or substrate scattered around. As a result, the solder used when the chip 16 obtained by cleaving and dividing the wafer 1 is attached to the submount 23 as described above can be prevented from penetrating into the n-side electrode 13. In addition, this makes it possible to suppress an increase in drive voltage when the nitride semiconductor laser element is continuously driven, thereby extending the life of the nitride semiconductor laser element.

  In order to distinguish the n-side electrode 13 covering the stripe core 2a, the n-side electrode 13 may be visually recognized using an electron microscope or an optical microscope. If the wafer 1 has a mark such as an orientation flat surface, The position of the n-side electrode 13 to be removed by irradiating with laser light may be specified according to the distance from the mark. Further, such a mark may be formed on the substrate in advance.

  In addition, as a laser device used for removing a part of the n-side electrode 13, any solid laser such as an Nd-YAG (Neodymium doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) laser, a gas laser such as a carbon dioxide laser or an ArF excimer laser, or the like Such a laser device may be used.

  When the wafer 1 is cleaved to form a groove for cleavage or division by irradiating the wafer 1 with a laser beam before the bar 15 is obtained, in the same step as the step of forming the groove, The n-side electrode 13 may be removed. Furthermore, the output of the laser beam irradiated when removing the n-side electrode 13 may be smaller than the output of the laser beam irradiated when forming the groove.

  Further, not only a part of the n-side electrode 13 is removed by irradiating the laser beam, but the substrate may be scraped to a certain depth at the same time. With this configuration, it is possible to simultaneously form a groove for dividing the bar 15 into chips and remove the n-side electrode 13 for preventing electrode peeling.

  For removal of the n-side electrode 13, for example, a physical method of directly scraping with a scriber such as a diamond point may be employed, or a predetermined etchant may be used to remove the n-side electrode 13 on the stripe core 2 a. A chemical method of selectively removing only the n-side electrode 13 may be adopted.

<Second embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the method for forming the n-side electrode will be described with reference to FIG. 7 (a) and 7 (b) respectively correspond to FIGS. 6 (b) and 6 (c) shown for the first embodiment, and FIG. 7 (a) is the same side as FIG. 6 (b). FIG. 7B is a plan view of a bar obtained by cleaving the wafer shown in FIG. 7A.

  The method for forming the n-side electrode 13 in this example is the same as that in the first example. After the n-side electrode 13 is formed on the substrate as shown in FIG. Thus, a part of the n-side electrode 13 is removed. Since the only difference is the shape of the n-side electrode 13 that is removed by laser light irradiation, the description of the same components as those in the first embodiment is omitted.

  In the method of forming the n-side electrode 13 in this embodiment, after the n-side electrode 13 is formed on the substrate, as shown in FIG. 7A, on the vicinity of the intersection of the stripe core 2a and the line that cleaves the wafer 1a. The formed n-side electrode 13 is removed by laser light irradiation. Then, by cleaving the wafer 1a along the <11-20> direction of the substrate with respect to the wafer 1a, a bar 15a as shown in FIG. 7B is obtained.

  Thus, before the wafer 1a is cleaved to obtain the bar 15a, the n-side electrode 13 formed near the intersection of the stripe core 2a and the line for cleaving the wafer 1a is removed, thereby removing the first embodiment. Similarly to the above, it becomes possible to remove the part that is the starting point of electrode peeling, and it is possible to effectively suppress the peeling of the n-side electrode 13 when the wafer 1a is cleaved. Therefore, it is possible to increase the yield of the bar 15a, and hence the yield of the chip and the nitride semiconductor laser element. In addition, the n-side electrode 13 to be removed can be minimized, and the operating time of the laser device can be shortened.

  As in the first embodiment, the position of the n-side electrode 13 to be removed may be specified by visual recognition or the distance from the mark, and any type of laser device may be used for removal. It doesn't matter. Further, when the wafer 1a is cleaved to form a groove for cleavage or division by irradiating the wafer 1a with laser light before the bar 15a is obtained, the n-side electrode 13 is removed in the same step as the step of forming the groove. It doesn't matter. Furthermore, the output of the laser beam irradiated when removing the n-side electrode 13 may be smaller than the output of the laser beam irradiated when forming the groove.

  Further, not only the n-side electrode 13 is removed by irradiating the laser beam, but also a groove for cleaving from the wafer 1a to the bar 15a may be formed by simultaneously removing the substrate to a certain depth. Absent. With this configuration, it is possible to simultaneously perform the formation of a groove for cleaving and the removal of the n-side electrode 13 to prevent electrode peeling.

  Further, as in the first embodiment, the removal of the n-side electrode 13 may employ a physical method such as scraping directly with a scriber such as a diamond point, or using a predetermined etchant. Then, a chemical method of selectively removing only the predetermined n-side electrode 13 may be adopted.

<Third embodiment>
Next, a third embodiment of the method for forming the n-side electrode will be described. In the third embodiment, a part of the n-side electrode 13 to be removed in the first and second embodiments is not already formed when the n-side electrode 13 is formed on the substrate. This is a method of forming the electrode 13. Specifically, in the portion where the n-side electrode 13 of FIG. 6B shown in the first embodiment and FIG. 7A shown in the second embodiment is removed, a mask is formed in advance when the n-side electrode 13 is formed. Is formed, and after the n-side electrode 13 is formed, the mask is removed.

  The n-side electrode 13 formed on the wafer according to the present embodiment has the same shape as the n-side electrode in FIG. 6B and FIG. 7A. Therefore, in the same manner as the method for forming the n-side electrode 13 in the first and second embodiments, when the wafers 1 and 1a are cleaved to obtain the bars 15 and 15a, a part of the n-side electrode 13 is removed. It becomes. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the n-side electrode 13 from being peeled at the time of cleavage as described above, and the effect of increasing the yield of the bars 15 and 15a can be obtained.

  Furthermore, since only a mask is applied when the n-side electrode 13 is formed, a part of the n-side electrode 13 is irradiated by irradiating laser light after the formation of the n-side electrode 13 as in the first and second embodiments. Since the removal process is unnecessary, the process can be simplified.

  Further, since the present invention removes a part of the n-side electrode 13 of the wafers 1 and 1a or applies a mask so that a part is not formed when the n-side electrode 13 is formed, a very simple process. Just add. Therefore, it can be easily incorporated into a manufacturing process of an existing nitride semiconductor laser element.

  Note that a photoresist or other material may be used as the mask. In addition, in order to specify the position where the mask is formed, it may be visually recognized using an electron microscope or an optical microscope as in the first and second embodiments, and from a predetermined mark on the wafer 1, 1a. The position where the mask is formed may be specified by the distance.

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device, and is particularly suitable when applied to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor laser device manufactured by stacking a nitride-based semiconductor on a nitride-based semiconductor substrate. is there.

These are a schematic plan view and a cross-sectional view showing an example of a wafer. These are typical sectional drawings which show an example of the manufacturing method of a wafer. These are the typical sectional views shown about the active layer. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a bar and a chip. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a nitride-based semiconductor laser device. These are the typical top views of the wafer and bar | burr which show the formation method of the n side electrode in 1st Example. These are the typical top views of the wafer and bar | burr which show the formation method of the n side electrode in 2nd Example. These are the typical top view and sectional drawing of the conventional board | substrate and bar | burr.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wafer 2 Substrate 2a Striped core 2b Other area 3 N-type cladding layer 4 Active layer 4a Well layer 4b Barrier layer 5 Optical guide layer 6 Cap layer 7 P-type cladding layer 8 Contact layer 9 P-side ohmic electrode 10 Ridge portion 11 Current Block layer 12 Pad electrode 13 N-side electrode 14 SiO ₂ layer 15 Bar 16 Chip

Claims (6)

A first step of forming a plurality of element structures provided with current passage portions extending in a predetermined direction on the first main surface of the substrate so that the current passage portions are parallel;
After the first step, an electrode that covers the second main surface excluding a part is formed on the second main surface opposite to the first main surface of the substrate on which the plurality of element structures are formed. A second step of obtaining a wafer,
After the second step, a third step of obtaining a bar by dividing the wafer in a direction substantially perpendicular to the current path portion;
After the third step, a fourth step of obtaining a chip by dividing the bar in a direction substantially parallel to the current path portion;
A method for producing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device, comprising: The substrate includes a first region extending in a direction substantially parallel to the current passage portion, and a second region that is a region other than the first region,
2. The method for manufacturing a nitride semiconductor laser element according to claim 1, wherein in the second step, the electrode is formed on the second region of the second main surface. 3. The substrate includes a first region extending in a direction substantially parallel to the current passage portion, and a second region that is a region other than the first region,
The second step is characterized in that the electrode is formed on the second main surface excluding the vicinity of the region where the first region and the line to be divided in the third step intersect. A method for manufacturing the nitride-based semiconductor laser device according to claim 1. The second step is
A fifth step of forming the electrode covering the second main surface of the substrate;
A sixth step of removing a part of the electrode formed by the fifth step;
A method for producing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: The sixth step is
5. The nitride-based semiconductor laser device according to claim 4, wherein a part of the electrode formed in the fifth step is irradiated with laser light to remove a part of the electrode. Manufacturing method. The second step is
A seventh step of forming a mask on a part of the second main surface of the substrate;
After the seventh step, an eighth step of forming an electrode covering the second main surface of the substrate;
A ninth step of removing the mask after the eighth step;
A method for producing a nitride-based semiconductor laser device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

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