JP2011018819A - Semiconductor light-emitting element and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a highly reliable semiconductor light-emitting element in good yield by improving the coverage of an insulating protective film covering a side face of a pad electrode and a portion of a surface.SOLUTION: The semiconductor light-emitting element includes an n-type semiconductor layer (2) and a p-type semiconductor layer (4), wherein electrodes (6, 7) including a plurality of metal layers are formed over at least one of those n-type semiconductor layer and p-type semiconductor layer, and a protective film (8) is formed which covers side faces of the electrodes and parts of upper surfaces. The side faces of the electrodes (6, 7) that the protective film comes into contact with are each in a forward tapered shape.

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting device and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to improvement of an electrode structure of a semiconductor light emitting device and a method for forming the same.

In recent years, a gallium nitride-based semiconductor represented by Al _x In _y Ga _1-xy N has attracted attention as a material for an LED (light emitting diode) that can emit blue or green light. By using such a compound semiconductor material for an LED, it has become possible to emit blue light or green light with high light emission intensity, which has been difficult until now.

As described above, the LED having improved light emitting ability has been used in a severe environment of high temperature and humidity as compared with the conventional case, such as in outdoor lighting applications. Therefore, in order to prevent deterioration due to migration of the electrode of the LED under such a severe environment, it has become common to form an insulating protective film such as SiO _x or SiN _{x on} the surface of the electrode.

  As documents disclosing such an electrode protective film structure and a method for forming the electrode protective film structure, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-168823 of Patent Document 1 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-41403 of Patent Document 2 exist.

  Here, the structure of a typical nitride semiconductor light emitting device will be described as an example. In a general LED, an n-type nitride semiconductor layer and a p-type nitride semiconductor layer are stacked on a sapphire substrate, and an electrode that is electrically connected to the n-type and p-type nitride semiconductor layers is formed. Is included.

  As an electrode electrically connected to the p-type nitride semiconductor layer, a translucent electrode is generally formed on the p-type semiconductor layer, and a pad electrode made of metal is formed thereon. As this translucent electrode, conductive oxides such as ITO (indium tin oxide), IZO (indium zinc oxide), and ZnO are used. Further, as the upper pad electrode, a bonding layer made of Ni, Rh or the like having good adhesion to the translucent electrode and a bonding layer made of Au, Al, or the like are appropriately stacked. The translucent electrode spreads the current injected from the pad electrode into the p-type nitride semiconductor layer, and allows light from the active layer included in the light emitting element to be transmitted and extracted outside.

  On the other hand, since the n-type nitride semiconductor layer generally has a low electrical resistance, a pad electrode is formed directly on the n-type nitride semiconductor layer. As this n-side electrode, in general, in order to maintain a good ohmic contact with the n-type semiconductor layer, an ohmic contact layer such as Al, Cr, Ti, etc., a barrier layer such as Pt, Mo, etc., and Al, Au Etc. are used by being sequentially stacked.

Thereafter, an insulating protective film made of SiO _x , SiN _x or the like is formed so as to cover the side surface of the pad electrode and a part of the surface.

JP 2003-168823 A JP 2006-041403 A

  In general, the pad electrode is formed using a lift-off method or an etching method. When the lift-off method is used, if the pattern is formed using a general positive resist, the side surface shape of the periphery of the opening of the resist pattern 9 is in order as shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. Tapered. That is, in FIG. 8, an n-type semiconductor layer 2, an active layer 3, a p-type semiconductor layer layer 4, and a translucent electrode layer 5 are sequentially stacked on a sapphire substrate 1. A resist pattern 9 is formed on the upper surface of the laminated structure, and the side surface of the opening of the resist layer has a forward tapered shape. In each figure of the present application, the same reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts.

  On the resist pattern 9, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 9, a first metal layer 10a, a second metal layer 10b, and a third metal layer 10c for forming pad electrodes having a multilayer structure are formed. The film is formed using vapor deposition or sputtering.

  Thereafter, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 10, if lift-off is performed using a resist stripping solution, the metal layers 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c on the resist layer 9 are peeled off. As a result, the p-side pad electrode formed including the plurality of metal layers 7a, 7b, and 7c and the n-side pad electrode formed including the plurality of metal layers 6a, 6b, and 6c are reversed in their side surfaces. Tapered and protruding.

Thereafter, as shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. 11, an insulating protective film 8 made of SiO _x , SiN _x or the like is formed by a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) method, a sputtering method, an evaporation method or the like. It is common to be done. However, if the side surface of the pad electrode has a reverse taper shape and a protrusion shape, the insulating protective film 8 cannot sufficiently cover the side surface of each electrode.

  Even when the pad electrode is formed by etching instead of the lift-off method, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 12, when the pad electrode including the multilayer metal layer is formed by etching, the multilayer metal In the lower metal layer far from the upper resist layer (not shown), side etching is more likely to occur than in the upper metal layer. In this case as well, the side surface of the pad electrode is formed in a reverse taper shape.

After such a pad electrode is formed, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 13, an insulating protective film 8 made of SiO _x, SiN _x or the like is formed by CVD, sputtering, or It is formed by vapor deposition. However, if the side surface of the pad electrode has a reverse taper shape, the insulating protective film 8 cannot sufficiently cover the side surface of the electrode.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the coverage of the insulating protective film that covers the side surface of the pad electrode and a part of the surface by forming the side surface of the pad electrode in a forward tapered shape, thereby achieving high reliability. A semiconductor light emitting device is provided.

  The semiconductor light emitting device according to the present invention includes an n-type semiconductor layer and a p-type semiconductor layer, and an electrode including a plurality of metal layers is formed on at least one of the n-type semiconductor layer and the p-type semiconductor layer. A protective film covering the side surface of the electrode and a part of the upper surface is formed, and the shape of the side surface of the electrode in contact with the protective film is a forward tapered shape. Only the side surface shape of the uppermost metal layer included in the electrode may be a forward tapered shape. In the method of manufacturing such a semiconductor light emitting device, the shape of the electrode can be formed using a lift-off method or a dry etching method.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a highly reliable semiconductor light emitting device with a high yield.

It is typical sectional drawing which shows an example of the manufacturing process of the semiconductor light-emitting device by one Example of this invention. In one Example of this invention, it is typical sectional drawing showing the taper angle a of the opening part side surface of a resist pattern. FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the development time [sec] of the resist layer and the taper angle a [°] of the opening side surface in relation to FIG. 2. In one Example of this invention, it is typical sectional drawing which shows the pad electrode which has the forward taper-shaped side surface formed of the lift-off method. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the formation of an insulating protective film following FIG. 4. It is a typical sectional view showing formation of a pad electrode in other examples of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the formation of an insulating protective film following FIG. 6. It is typical sectional drawing which shows an example of the manufacturing process of the semiconductor light-emitting device by a prior art. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating formation of a metal multilayer film to be included in the pad electrode following FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating formation of a pad electrode by a lift-off method following FIG. 9. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the formation of an insulating protective film following FIG. 10. It is typical sectional drawing showing formation of the pad electrode by the etching method in a prior art. FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the formation of an insulating protective film following FIG. 12.

  In the following, a nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting device according to some embodiments of the present invention and a method for manufacturing the same will be described with reference to various schematic cross-sectional views.

<Example 1>
In the production of the nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting device according to Example 1 of the present invention, the pad electrode is formed by the lift-off method.

  With reference to FIG. 1, an AlGaN buffer layer and a non-doped GaN layer in this order (not shown) were deposited on an insulating substrate 1 such as a sapphire substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) or the like. Later, an Si-doped n-type contact layer and an n-type cladding layer included in the n-type semiconductor layer 2 are laminated in this order. This n-type cladding layer has a superlattice structure in which GaN layers and InGaN layers are alternately stacked. An active layer 3 having a multiple quantum well structure in which GaN layers and InGaN layers are alternately stacked is formed on the n-type semiconductor layer 2. As the p-type semiconductor layer 4 on the active layer 3, an Mg-doped p-type cladding layer and an Mg-doped p-type GaN contact layer having a superlattice structure in which AlGaN layers and InGaN layers are alternately laminated are laminated in this order. .

The wafer including the plurality of semiconductor layers 2-4 stacked on the substrate 1 in this manner is annealed at a temperature of 600 to 800 ° C. in an N ₂ atmosphere, thereby reducing the resistance of the p-type contact layer. The surface of the annealed wafer is cleaned by cleaning with hydrofluoric acid.

An ITO layer having a thickness of 170 nm and serving as the translucent electrode 5 is formed on the entire upper surface of the cleaned wafer using a vapor deposition apparatus. Thereafter, the wafer is annealed at a temperature of 500 to 700 ° C. in an N ₂ atmosphere.

  On the ITO layer, a resist mask (not shown) having a predetermined pattern is formed by photolithography. The ITO layer exposed outside the region of the resist mask is removed with an aqua regia type etching solution, thereby forming the ITO translucent electrode 5, and then the resist mask is peeled off. Further, a resist mask (not shown) having an opening in a region where an n-side electrode is formed later is formed, and a part of the n-type contact layer is exposed by dry etching with an etching apparatus. Peeling is performed.

  On the upper surface of the wafer on which the translucent electrode 5 is formed and a part of the n-type contact layer is exposed, a resist mask 9 having an opening for forming a pad electrode is formed by photolithography. That is, in the resist mask 9, an opening for forming a pad electrode is formed on a part on the translucent electrode 5 and on a part of the exposed region of the n-type contact layer. At this time, the resist mask 9 is formed using a resist (for example, SIPR-9684 manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., NPR9700 manufactured by Nagase Sangyo Co., Ltd.) or the like whose side surface shape of the opening can be reversely tapered.

  More specifically, spin coating is performed using a spin coater at a rotational speed of 5000 to 6000 rpm for 20 to 30 seconds so that the resist film thickness is 3.0 to 4.0 μm. However, the spin coating conditions may be changed as appropriate according to the resist layer thickness.

  The spin-coated resist layer is pre-baked at 110 to 120 ° C. for 2 to 3 minutes using a hot plate.

  The pre-baked resist layer is exposed with an exposure energy of 250 to 300 mJ using an aligner through a photomask for obtaining a desired resist pattern. The exposure energy may be changed as appropriate depending on the shape of the resist pattern to be formed.

  The exposed resist layer is subjected to post-exposure baking at 120 to 130 ° C. for 1 to 2 minutes using a hot plate.

  The resist layer baked after exposure is immersed in the developer for 1 to 3 minutes. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, a resist pattern 9 is formed in which the side surface of the opening has an inversely tapered shape.

  At this time, the taper angle a on the side surface of the opening of the resist pattern as shown in FIG. 2 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the time during which the resist layer is immersed in the developer. Here, when the taper angle a of the side surface of the opening is larger than 90 °, it means a forward taper shape, and when the taper angle a is less than 90 °, it means a reverse taper shape.

  The graph of FIG. 3 shows the relationship between such development time and the taper angle a. That is, in this graph, the horizontal axis represents the development time [sec], and the vertical axis represents the taper angle [°] indicated by a. From the graph of FIG. 3, it can be seen that the taper angle decreases as the development time increases, and the degree of inverse taper becomes significant.

  After the resist pattern 9 is formed as shown in FIG. 1, a Ti layer having a thickness of 0.5 to 15 nm, a Pt layer having a thickness of 15 to 100 nm, which are to become p-side and n-side pad electrodes, In addition, an Au layer having a thickness of 200 to 500 nm is sequentially deposited over the entire upper surface of the wafer by an evaporation method. As the metal to be deposited at this time, Ni or the like may be used instead of Ti, W, Mo, Rh, Pd or the like may be used instead of Pt, and Al or the like may be used instead of Au.

  Thereafter, the wafer is immersed in the resist stripping solution for 30 minutes to 2 hours, and the metal layer on the resist pattern 9 is lifted off. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4, the side surface of the n-side pad electrode 6 including the first metal layer 6a, the second metal layer 6b, and the third metal layer 6c, the first metal layer 7a, the second metal layer 6a, and the second metal layer 6a. The metal layer 7b and the side surface of the p-side pad electrode 7 including the third metal layer 7c are formed in a forward tapered shape.

Thereafter, a SiO _x film as an insulating protective film is deposited over the entire upper surface of the wafer to a thickness of 100 to 300 nm by a CVD method. As this insulating protective film, a SiN _x film may be deposited.

A resist layer is deposited on the insulating protective film, and a resist pattern is formed by photolithography for the purpose of exposing a part of the upper surface of the p-side pad electrode 7 and a part of the upper surface of the n-side pad electrode 6. . Then, etching is performed using buffered hydrofluoric acid to remove the SiO _x film on the pad electrodes 7 and 6, and then the resist pattern is peeled off. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the side surfaces and part of the upper surface of each pad electrode 7, 6 can be protected by the insulating protective film 8 of the SiO _x film. The etching of the SiO _x film may be performed by a dry etching method using a gas such as CF ₄ .

  The wafer having undergone the above steps is divided into a desired size including a pair of p-side electrode and n-side electrode, thereby obtaining a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements as shown in FIG.

<Example 2>
The second embodiment of the present invention differs from the first embodiment only in that the pad electrode of the nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting element is formed not by the lift-off method but by the dry etching method. That is, the pad electrode included in the light emitting element can be formed by a dry etching method as follows.

  In the second embodiment, in the state where the resist pattern 9 for lift-off shown in FIG. 1 is not formed, the thickness 0. A Ti layer having a thickness of 5 to 15 nm, a Pt layer having a thickness of 15 to 100 nm, and an Au layer having a thickness of 200 to 500 nm are sequentially deposited over the entire upper surface of the wafer by an evaporation method. Also in this case, as the metal to be deposited, Ni or the like may be used instead of Ti, W, Mo, Rh, Pd or the like may be used instead of Pt, and Al or the like may be used instead of Au.

  On the metal multilayer film thus deposited, a resist mask is formed by photolithography in a region to be a pad electrode. In this state, the metal multilayer film not covered with the resist mask is dry-etched, and at the same time, the resist mask is dry-etched. As a result, the metal multilayer film is etched and the periphery of the resist mask is retracted by etching, and the side surface of the pad electrode remaining under the resist mask can be formed in a forward tapered shape.

  The resist that is dry-etched simultaneously with the metal multilayer film is less expensive than the resist in which the side surface of the opening is reversely tapered as in the first embodiment. Therefore, by using the method of Example 2, a semiconductor light emitting device can be manufactured at a lower cost than in the case of Example 1.

<Example 3>
The third embodiment of the present invention differs from the first and second embodiments only in that the method for forming the pad electrode of the nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting element is only partially changed.

  As in the case of the second embodiment, in this third embodiment, the thickness 0 included in the p-side and n-side pad electrodes is not formed in the state where the lift-off resist pattern 9 shown in FIG. 1 is not formed. A Ti layer having a thickness of 5 to 15 nm and a Pt layer having a thickness of 15 to 100 nm are sequentially stacked by vapor deposition. As in the case of Examples 1 and 2, the metal to be deposited may be Ni or the like instead of Ti and W, Mo, Rh, Pd or the like may be used instead of Pt.

  Thereafter, in Example 3, a resist mask is formed by photolithography on the region where the pad electrodes 7 and 6 are to be formed. Outside the region of the resist mask, the Pt layer is etched using aqua regia, and the Ti layer is etched with buffered hydrofluoric acid, whereby the metal stack is removed except in the region where the pad electrode is to be formed. When a metal stack is formed using Ni, Mo, Rh, Pd or the like instead of Ti and Pt, a known etching solution suitable for these metals can be appropriately selected and used.

  Thereafter, a resist layer is deposited so as to cover the upper surface of the wafer. The resist layer is patterned to form an opening that exposes the Ti and Pt stack left in the region where the pad electrode is to be formed. At this time, a resist in which the side surface of the opening has a reverse taper shape is used.

  An Au layer having a thickness of 200 to 500 nm is formed by a vapor deposition method so as to cover the resist pattern in which the inversely tapered opening is formed. In this case, Al or the like may be used instead of Au, as in the case of Examples 1 and 2.

  Thereafter, the wafer is immersed in a resist stripping solution for 10 to 30 minutes and lifted off to obtain pad electrodes 7 and 6 having forward tapered surfaces as shown in FIG.

  In the third embodiment, only the uppermost metal layers 7c and 6c included in the pad electrodes 7 and 6 are formed by the lift-off method. Therefore, compared to the first embodiment, the metal layer is deposited on the resist layer. Time is shortened, and the temperature rise of the resist layer during vapor deposition can be suppressed. As a result, the curing and alteration of the resist due to heat can be suppressed, so that the time required for lift-off in the subsequent process can be shortened.

After the formation of the pad electrodes 7 and 6 of the third embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, the SiO _x film as an insulating protective film is formed to a thickness of 100 to 300 nm over the entire upper surface of the wafer by the CVD method. Is deposited. As this insulating protective film, a SiN _x film may be deposited.

A resist layer is deposited on the insulating protective film, and a resist pattern is formed by photolithography so that a part of the upper surface of the p-side pad electrode 7 and a part of the upper surface of the n-side pad electrode 6 are exposed. . Then, etching is performed using buffered hydrofluoric acid to remove the SiO _x film on the pad electrodes 7 and 6, and then the resist pattern is peeled off. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the side surfaces and part of the upper surface of each pad electrode 7, 6 can be protected by the insulating protective film 8 made of the SiO _x film. The etching of the SiO _x film may be performed by a dry etching method using a gas such as CF ₄ .

  The wafer having undergone the above steps is divided into a desired size including a pair of the p-side electrode and the n-side electrode, thereby obtaining a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements as shown in FIG.

  According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to provide a highly reliable semiconductor light emitting element with a high yield.

  1 sapphire substrate, 2 n-type semiconductor layer, 3 active layer, 4 p-type semiconductor layer, 5 translucent electrode, 6, 6a, 6b, 6c n-side pad electrode, 7, 7a, 7b, 7c p-side pad electrode, 8 Insulating protective film, 9 Resist pattern, 10a, 10b, 10c Metal layer.

Claims (4)

including an n-type semiconductor layer and a p-type semiconductor layer,
An electrode including a plurality of metal layers is formed on at least one of the n-type semiconductor layer and the p-type semiconductor layer;
A protective film is formed to cover the side surface and a part of the upper surface of the electrode,
A semiconductor light-emitting element, wherein a shape of a side surface of an electrode in contact with the protective film is a forward tapered shape.   2. The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1, wherein only a side surface shape of the uppermost metal layer included in the electrode is a forward tapered shape.   3. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the electrode is formed using a lift-off method.   3. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the electrode is formed by using a dry etching method.

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