JP2012234889A - Light emitting diode element and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light emitting diode element including a porous SiC part processed under a preferred condition, and a method for manufacturing the light emitting diode element.SOLUTION: A light emitting diode element 1 includes: a semiconductor light emitting part; a porous SiC part 124 which comprises porous single-crystal 6H type SiC added with a donor and an acceptor and emits visible light when excited with light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting part; and a protective film covering a surface of the porous SiC part 124. A heat treatment for forming the protective film at a temperature of 850°C or below is performed to the porous SiC part 124.

Description

  The present invention relates to a light emitting diode element and a method for manufacturing the same.

  As a light emitting element using a pn junction of a compound semiconductor, an LED (light emitting diode) has been widely put into practical use, and is mainly used for optical transmission, display, and special illumination applications. In recent years, white LEDs using nitride semiconductors and phosphors have been put into practical use, and in the future, they are highly expected to be used for general lighting applications. However, in white LEDs, energy conversion efficiency is insufficient as compared with existing fluorescent lamps, so that significant efficiency improvement is necessary for general lighting applications. Furthermore, many problems remain for realizing high color rendering properties, low cost, and high luminous flux LEDs. As a white LED currently on the market, a blue light emitting diode element mounted on a lead frame, a yellow phosphor layer made of YAG: Ce over the blue light emitting diode element, and a transparent material such as an epoxy resin covering them. What is equipped with the mold lens which becomes is known. In this white LED, when blue light is emitted from the blue light emitting diode element, part of the blue light is converted into yellow light when passing through the yellow phosphor. Since blue and yellow are complementary to each other, when blue light and yellow light are mixed, white light is obtained. The white LED is required to improve the performance of the blue light-emitting diode element in order to improve efficiency and improve color rendering.

  As a blue light-emitting diode element, on an n-type SiC substrate, a buffer layer made of AlGaN, an n-type GaN layer made of n-GaN, a multiple quantum well active layer made of GaInN / GaN, an electron block layer made of p-AlGaN, It is known that a p-type contact layer made of p-GaN is continuously laminated in this order from the SiC substrate side. Further, a p-side electrode is formed on the surface of the p-type contact layer, and an n-side electrode is formed on the back surface of the SiC substrate, and a current is applied by applying a voltage between the p-side electrode and the n-side electrode. Thus, blue light is emitted from the multiple quantum well active layer. In this blue light-emitting diode element, the SiC substrate is conductive, so unlike the blue light-emitting diode element using a sapphire substrate, electrodes can be arranged above and below, simplifying the manufacturing process, and in-plane uniformity of current In addition, it is possible to effectively use the light emitting area with respect to the chip area.

  Furthermore, a light-emitting diode element that independently generates white light without using a phosphor has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this light emitting diode element, a fluorescent SiC substrate having a first SiC layer doped with B and N and a second SiC layer doped with Al and N is used instead of the n-type SiC substrate of the blue light emitting diode element described above. Near ultraviolet light is emitted from the multiple quantum well active layer. Near-ultraviolet light is absorbed by the first SiC layer and the second SiC layer, and is converted from green to red visible light by the first SiC layer, and from blue to red visible light by the second SiC layer. As a result, white light close to sunlight is emitted from the fluorescent SiC substrate.

  However, in the light emitting diode element described in Patent Document 1, when B is mixed in the second SiC layer, at least a part of the light emission between the Al and N impurity levels disappears, and the B and N impurity levels are lost. The desired light emission characteristics may not be obtained. When a fluorescent SiC substrate to which B is added at a high concentration is used, B once decomposed during the growth of the SiC layer is taken into the second SiC layer, or is solid-phase diffused in the crystal and mixed into the second SiC layer. Therefore, it is difficult to completely prevent B from being mixed into the second SiC layer.

  Accordingly, the inventors of the present application made a porous single crystal 6H type SiC doped with N and B, and a light emitting diode element having a porous SiC portion that emits visible light when excited by light emitted from a semiconductor light emitting portion. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2). According to this light emitting diode element, light emission on the shorter wavelength side than the emission wavelength region of normal 6H type SiC doped with B and N can be obtained without doping Al in 6H type SiC.

Japanese Patent No. 4153455 JP 2010-232556 A

  Patent Document 2 describes that a protective film is formed on the surface of porous SiC to reduce the surface state density to prevent a decrease in emission intensity. The inventors of the present application have further conducted intensive studies on conditions suitable for forming a protective film.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The place made into the objective is to provide the light emitting diode element by which the porous SiC part was processed on suitable conditions, and its manufacturing method.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a semiconductor light emitting part and a porous single crystal 6H type SiC doped with a donor and an acceptor, and emits visible light when excited by light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting part. And a protective film covering the surface of the porous SiC part, the protective film is made of nitride, and the porous SiC part is heat-treated for forming the protective film at 850 ° C. or lower. A light emitting diode device is provided.

  In the light-emitting diode element, the porous SiC portion may be a fiber crystal having a width dimension of 50 nm or less.

  In the light-emitting diode element, the donor may be N and the acceptor may be B.

  The light emitting diode element is made of bulk single crystal 6H-type SiC to which N and B are added. When excited by light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting layer, visible light having a wavelength longer than that of the porous SiC portion is emitted. You may have the bulk SiC part which emits.

  In the light-emitting diode element, the porous SiC portion may be formed by making a part of the bulk SiC portion porous.

  In the light-emitting diode element, the semiconductor light-emitting portion may be formed on the bulk SiC portion that is partially porous.

  According to the present invention, there is also provided a method for manufacturing the light-emitting diode device, comprising: an electrode forming step of forming an electrode on a bulk single crystal 6H-type SiC to which a donor and an acceptor are added; Anodizing process for anodizing 6H-type SiC to form the porous SiC part, surface cleaning process for heat-treating the porous SiC part at a predetermined temperature for surface cleaning, and surface cleaning A method for manufacturing a light-emitting diode element is provided, which includes a step of forming a protective film by heat treatment at 850 ° C. or lower in order to form a protective film on the porous SiC portion subjected to the above.

  In the method for manufacturing a light emitting diode element, heat treatment may be performed in an atmosphere of hydrogen and ammonia in the protective film forming step.

  In the method for manufacturing a light emitting diode element, heat treatment may be performed in a hydrogen atmosphere in the surface cleaning step.

  In the method for manufacturing a light emitting diode element, a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution to which an oxidation auxiliary agent is added may be used as a solution to be reacted with the single crystal 6H type SiC in the anodic oxidation step.

  In the method for manufacturing the light emitting diode element, the oxidation auxiliary agent may be nitric acid.

  According to the present invention, the porous SiC part can be processed under suitable temperature conditions.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a light-emitting diode element showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a SiC substrate on which an ohmic electrode is formed. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an anodizing apparatus for making a SiC substrate porous. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a SiC substrate on which a porous layer is formed. FIG. 5 is an electron micrograph of a cross section of the produced porous layer. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bulk SiC substrate in which electrodes are formed on a semiconductor layer according to a modification. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a light emitting diode element showing a modification. FIG. 8 is a graph showing the emission wavelength and emission intensity of the sample body 1. FIG. 9 is a graph showing the emission wavelength and emission intensity of the sample body 1. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the elapsed time and emission intensity after the formation of the protective film of the sample bodies 1 to 3. FIG. 11 is a graph showing the elapsed time and emission intensity after forming the protective film of the sample bodies 4 and 5. 12A and 12B are diagrams for explaining donor-acceptor pair emission, wherein FIG. 12A shows a state in the bulk crystal, and FIG. 12B shows a state in the porous crystal.

  1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a light-emitting diode element.

As shown in FIG. 1, the light emitting diode element 100 includes a SiC substrate 102 and a nitride semiconductor layer formed on the SiC substrate 102. The nitride semiconductor layer as the semiconductor light emitting unit has a thermal expansion coefficient of 5.6 × 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C., and the buffer layer 104, the n-type layer 106, the multiple quantum well active layer 108, the electron block layer 110, and the p-type. The clad layer 112 and the p-type contact layer 114 are provided in this order from the SiC substrate 102 side. A p-side electrode 116 is formed on the p-type contact layer 114, and an n-side electrode 118 is formed on the back side of the SiC substrate 102.

The SiC substrate 102 is made of single crystal 6H type SiC and has a thermal expansion coefficient of 4.2 × 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C. The SiC substrate 102 includes a bulk layer 122 made of bulk single crystal 6H type SiC to which N and B are added, and a porous layer 124 made of porous single crystal 6H type SiC to which N and B are added. Have. The term “bulk” as used herein refers to a state where there is no interface with another substance inside or a state where a change in physical property value can be ignored even if an interface exists. In addition, the porous shape here refers to a state in which a porous shape is formed and an interface with the atmosphere exists inside.

When excited by ultraviolet light, the bulk layer 122 serving as a bulk SiC portion emits visible light of approximately yellow to orange color by donor-acceptor pair emission. The bulk layer 122 emits light with a wavelength of 500 nm to 750 nm having a peak at 500 nm to 650 nm, for example. In the present embodiment, the bulk layer 122 is adjusted to emit light having a peak wavelength of 580 nm. The doping concentration of B and N in the bulk layer 122 is 10 ¹⁵ / cm ³ to 10 ¹⁹ / cm ³ . Here, the bulk layer 122 can be excited by light of 408 nm or less.

When excited by ultraviolet light, the porous layer 124 serving as a porous SiC portion emits visible light of approximately blue to green by donor-acceptor pair emission. The porous layer 124 emits light with a wavelength of 380 nm to 700 nm having a peak at 400 nm to 500 nm, for example. In the present embodiment, the porous layer 124 is adjusted to emit light having a peak wavelength of 450 nm. The doping concentration of B and N in the porous layer 124 is 10 ¹⁵ / cm ³ to 10 ¹⁹ / cm ³ . The surface of the porous layer 124 is covered with a protective film so that it is not directly exposed to the atmosphere. Here, in forming the protective film, the porous layer 124 is heat-treated at 850 ° C. or lower. In the present embodiment, the protective film is made of nitride.

  The buffer layer 104 is formed on the SiC substrate 102 and is made of AlGaN. In the present embodiment, the buffer layer 104 is grown at a lower temperature than an n-type layer 106 described later. The n-type layer 106 is formed on the buffer layer 104 and is made of n-GaN.

The multiple quantum well active layer 108 is formed on the n-type layer 106, is made of GalnN / GaN, and emits excitation light, for example, by injection of electrons and holes. In the present embodiment, the multiple quantum well active layer 108 is made of Ga _0.95 ln _0.05 N / GaN, and the peak wavelength of light emission is 385 nm. The peak wavelength in the multiple quantum well active layer 108 can be arbitrarily changed.

  The electron blocking layer 110 is formed on the multiple quantum well active layer 108 and is made of p-AIGaN. The p-type cladding layer 112 is formed on the electron block layer 110 and is made of p-AlGaN. The p-type contact layer 114 is formed on the p-type cladding layer 112 and is made of p-GaN.

  The buffer layer 104 to the p-type contact layer 114 are formed by epitaxial growth of a group III nitride semiconductor. In addition, when a voltage is applied to the first conductive type layer and the second conductive type layer at least including the first conductive type layer, the active layer, and the second conductive type layer, the active layer is formed by recombination of electrons and holes. As long as light can be emitted, the layer structure of the nitride semiconductor layer is arbitrary.

  The p-side electrode 116 is formed on the p-type contact layer 114, is made of, for example, Ni / Au, and is formed by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method, or the like. The n-side electrode 118 is formed on the SiC substrate 102 and is made of, for example, Ti / Al / Ti / Au, and is formed by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method, or the like.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the light emitting diode element 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a SiC substrate on which an ohmic electrode is formed.

  First, bulk single crystal 6H type SiC doped with B and N is generated by a sublimation method, and the SiC substrate 102 made of the bulk layer 122 is produced (bulk SiC preparation step). Note that the doping concentrations of B and N in the SiC crystal can be controlled by adding an impurity gas to the atmosphere gas during crystal growth and adding an impurity element or compound thereof to the raw material powder. Although the thickness of SiC substrate 102 is arbitrary, it is 250 micrometers, for example. The SiC substrate 102 is manufactured through steps such as peripheral grinding, slicing, surface grinding, and surface polishing by preparing a bulk crystal of about 30 mm by bulk growth by a sublimation method.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 2, an ohmic electrode 201 is formed on one surface of the SiC substrate 102 (electrode formation step). In the present embodiment, the ohmic electrode 201 is made of Ni, and is subjected to heat treatment after being deposited by sputtering. Although the thickness of the ohmic electrode 201 is arbitrary, it is 100 nm, for example, and is heat-treated at about 1000 ° C., for example. Here, when the porous layer 124 is formed on the (0001) Si surface side of the SiC substrate 102, the ohmic electrode 201 is formed on the C surface. In the case where the porous layer 124 is formed on the C surface side, the ohmic electrode 201 may be formed on the Si surface.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an anodizing apparatus for making a SiC substrate porous.
As shown in FIG. 3, the anodizing apparatus 200 includes a stainless steel plate 202 on which the SiC substrate 102 is placed, and a Teflon (registered) having an opening 204 disposed above the stainless steel plate 202 and formed immediately above the SiC substrate 102. (Trademark) container 206, platinum wire 208 disposed inside container 206, and DC power supply 210 that applies a voltage to SiC substrate 102 and platinum wire 208. The container 206 is provided on the stainless steel plate 202 via the hydrofluoric acid resistant sheet 212, and the inside is filled with the solution 214. In addition, the container 206 has an opening 216 at the top where the ultraviolet light 218 can be incident.

  In the present embodiment, the solution 214 is a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution obtained by diluting hydrofluoric acid with pure water, to which nitric acid as an oxidation aid is added. The concentration of hydrofluoric acid is arbitrary, but it can be, for example, 1% to 20% by mass concentration. As a solvent for hydrofluoric acid, ethanol or the like can be used in addition to water. Further, whether or not nitric acid is added is arbitrary, and the concentration in the case of adding nitric acid is arbitrary, but it can be set to 3 mol / l or less, for example. Since nitric acid has a function of promoting the chemical oxidation reaction of the SiC crystal, the formation of the porous layer 124 can be promoted by anodic oxidation. In addition to nitric acid, sulfuric acid, potassium persulfate, and the like can be used as an oxidation aid.

  In this anodizing apparatus 200, a positive voltage is applied to the ohmic electrode 201 by the DC power source 210 while the bulk layer 122 is in contact with the solution 214, and the SiC substrate 102 is placed between the SiC substrate 102 and the platinum wire 208. Apply current. When the current starts to flow, the following chemical reaction proceeds from the surface of SiC substrate 102 toward the inside.

SiC + 6OH ⁻ → SiO ₂ + CO ₂ + 2H ₂ O + 2H ⁺ + 8e ⁻ (1)
SiO ₂ + 6F ⁻ + 2H ⁺ → H ₂ SiF ₆ + 2H ₂ O + 4e ⁻ (2)

SiC changes to SiO ₂ and CO ₂ by an oxidation reaction, and SiO ₂ further changes to water-soluble H ₂ SiF ₆ by fluorine ions and melts into the solution. Since CO ₂ is a gas, it disappears as it is by vaporization. This reaction proceeds in a direction in which the SiC atom bond is relatively weak, and a cavity is formed in a direction inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the surface of the SiC substrate 102. By this. The crystals of the porous layer 124 are fibrous.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a SiC substrate on which a porous layer is formed, and FIG. 5 is an electron micrograph of a cross section of the produced porous layer.
As shown in FIG. 4, a porous layer 124 is formed from the surface side of the bulk layer 122 by an anodic oxidation reaction (anodic oxidation step). FIG. 4 shows the SiC substrate 102 from which the ohmic electrode 201 is removed after the porous layer 124 is formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, it can be seen that regular cavities cross the cross section also in the actually obtained porous layer 124. The crystal size of the fibrous porous layer 124 thus formed has a width dimension of 50 nm or less. This width dimension is an average value in the porous layer 124. Here, when the reaction proceeds on the (0001) Si side surface of the SiC substrate 102, a cavity is formed in a direction inclined by 54 degrees with respect to the surface.

The current density in SiC substrate 102 is arbitrary, but if the current value is too high, the voids in porous layer 124 approach the direction perpendicular to the surface of SiC substrate 102 and the shape thereof becomes nonuniform. A lower current density is desirable. Specifically, the current density is desirably 10 mA / cm ² or less, typically 6 mA / cm ^2. The thickness of the porous layer 124 is proportional to the anodic oxidation time, and is 50 μm in this embodiment.

  Further, by adding nitric acid, the reaction of the above formula (1) is promoted, and the number of cavities in the porous layer 124 can be increased. As a result, the average size of the crystals remaining and constituting the porous layer 124 can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, after the porous layer 124 is formed, the SiC substrate 102 is heat-treated (surface cleaning step). Specifically, C that is excessively deposited on the crystal surface of the porous layer 124 is removed by performing a heat treatment at 850 ° C. or lower in a hydrogen atmosphere.

In the present embodiment, a protective film is formed after the surface cleaning process of the porous layer 124 (protective film forming process). Specifically, by performing heat treatment at 850 ° C. or less in an atmosphere of hydrogen and ammonia, a protective film of Si ₃ N ₄ can be formed on the surface of the clean crystal, and the surface state of the porous layer 124 can be formed. The position can be stably reduced. In order to prevent C from being deposited on the crystal surface of the porous layer 124, it is preferable that the surface cleaning process and the protective film forming process are continuously performed in the same container.

  In this way, SiC substrate 102 having porous layer 124 as shown in FIG. 4 is manufactured. Thereafter, a group III nitride semiconductor is epitaxially grown on the SiC substrate 102. In the present embodiment, for example, after growing the buffer layer 104 made of AlGaN by an organic metal compound vapor phase growth method, the n-type layer 106 made of n-GaN, the multiple quantum well active layer 108, the electron block layer 110, p A mold cladding layer 112 and a p-type contact layer 114 are grown. After the nitride semiconductor layer is formed, the electrodes 116 and 118 are formed and divided into a plurality of light emitting diode elements 100 by dicing, whereby the light emitting diode element 100 is manufactured. Here, the SiC substrate 102 shown in FIG. 4 can be used as a phosphor plate instead of the substrate of the light emitting diode element 100.

  In the light emitting diode element 100 configured as described above, when a voltage is applied to the p-side electrode 116 and the n-side electrode 118, ultraviolet light is emitted radially from the multiple quantum well active layer 108. Of the ultraviolet light emitted from the multiple quantum well active layer 108, most of the ultraviolet light directed to the p-side electrode 116 is reflected by the p-side electrode 116 and travels toward the SiC substrate 102. Therefore, most of the light emitted from the multiple quantum well active layer 108 goes to the SiC substrate 102.

  The ultraviolet light incident on the SiC substrate 102 is converted from blue to green first visible light in the porous layer 124, and the rest is converted from yellow to orange second visible light in the bulk layer 122. Thus, since the porous layer 124 has a light emitting component on the short wavelength side and the bulk layer 122 has a light emitting component on the long wavelength side, white light with high color rendering can be obtained. This light is emitted from the SiC substrate 102 to the outside as white light similar to sunlight.

  As described above, according to the light emitting diode element 100 of the present embodiment, in the porous layer 124, the emission wavelength region of bulk 6H type SiC doped with B and N without doping 6H type SiC with Al. The light emission on the shorter wavelength side can be obtained. Therefore, the elements to be doped into the SiC substrate 102 are only B and N, and the SiC substrate 102 can be easily and easily manufactured, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the SiC substrate 102 and consequently the manufacturing cost of the light emitting diode element 100. it can.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the SiC substrate 102 on which the porous layer 124 is formed is heat-treated in a hydrogen atmosphere, and then heat-treated in a hydrogen and ammonia atmosphere, and a protective film is formed on the surface of the porous layer 124. Since it is formed, the surface state density can be greatly reduced. Thereby, in the porous layer 124, the ratio of non-radiative recombination due to surface recombination can be increased, and the recombination probability of the donor-acceptor pair can be prevented from lowering, thereby preventing the emission intensity from decreasing. In the porous layer 124, the smaller the average crystal size is, the greater the ratio of non-radiative recombination due to surface recombination increases as the crystal size becomes smaller. In particular, when the average size of the fibrous crystals is 50 nm or less, the effect of the protective film becomes significant.

  Here, when the porous SiC protective film is formed, if the treatment is performed at a high temperature of, for example, 1000 ° C. or more, the nitriding reaction proceeds so much that the SiC disappears and light emission cannot be obtained. In the present embodiment, since the nitriding temperature is set to 850 ° C. or lower suitable for porous SiC, excessive progress of the nitriding reaction can be suppressed. In general, the heat treatment temperature of SiC in the bulk state is 1000 ° C. to 1300 ° C. This is because the bulk crystal has only the most chemically stable (0001) plane. In the case of a porous crystal, since it is not the (0001) plane, the reaction proceeds too much on the contrary, exceeding 1000 ° C.

  In the embodiment, the porous layer 124 of the SiC substrate 102 is formed and then the semiconductor layer is stacked on the SiC substrate 102. However, the porous layer is formed after the semiconductor layer is stacked on the SiC substrate 102. 124 may be formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the SiC substrate 102 made of the bulk layer 122 is produced, and a group III nitride semiconductor is epitaxially grown on the SiC substrate 102 to form the p-side electrode 116. Then, by performing the anodic oxidation of the SiC substrate 102 using the p-side electrode 116 instead of the ohmic electrode 201 of the above embodiment, a porous layer 124 is formed on the SiC substrate 102 as shown in FIG. May be. The light emitting diode device 300 of FIG. 7 has a porous layer 124 on the opposite side of the growth surface of the semiconductor layer of the SiC substrate 102. Furthermore, the ohmic electrode 201 may not be formed on the SiC substrate 102, but a conductor substrate may be attached to perform anodization. A semiconductor layer may be formed on the conductor substrate to form a light emitting diode element.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although what obtained the bulk SiC substrate 102 by sublimation recrystallization was shown, you may make it obtain the SiC substrate 102 by CVD method etc. FIG. Moreover, although what made SiC porous by anodization was shown, the method of making porous is arbitrary, for example, you may carry out by vapor phase etching.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, what used porous SiC as a board | substrate of the light emitting diode element 100 was shown, However, It can also utilize as a fluorescent substance separate from a light source. Porous single crystal 6H type SiC to which B and N are added may be used as a powder or as a fluorescent plate for wavelength conversion. Moreover, porous SiC can be used not only for visible light but also for emitting ultraviolet light.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the light emitting diode element 100 which emits white light was shown using the SiC substrate 102 which has the bulk layer 122 and the porous layer 124, for example, as the SiC substrate 102 which has only the porous layer 124, for example, A light emitting diode element that emits green light may be used. In the above embodiment, the porous layer 124 is formed in the entire region on the surface side of the bulk layer 122. However, the porous layer 124 is formed in a partial region on the surface side of the bulk layer 122. It may be what has been done. In addition, although the porous layer 122 is partly made porous to form the porous layer 124, SiC having the bulk layer 122 and SiC having the porous layer 124 are separately formed. Also good.

  In addition, it is needless to say that specific conditions such as the surface cleaning process and the protective film forming process can be changed as appropriate. Furthermore, although the thing using N and B as a donor and an acceptor was shown, of course, another element may be sufficient.

Next, an example of porous single crystal 6H type SiC that has been subjected to heat treatment will be described with reference to FIGS.
A single crystal 6H type SiC doped with B and N was prepared by a sublimation method, and a plurality of sample bodies made porous by anodization were prepared. Here, the concentration of B and N in SiC is 2 × 10 ¹⁸ / cm ³ for the concentration of B and 4 × 10 ¹⁸ / cm ³ for the concentration of N so that stable light emission can be obtained. . In the anodic oxidation, the hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution was 5% by mass concentration. Here, the anodic oxidation was performed under the conditions that the current density was 6 mA / cm ² , the energization time was 200 minutes, and the thickness of the obtained porous SiC was 20 μm. In the surface cleaning step, heat treatment was performed at 850 ° C. for 5 minutes in a hydrogen atmosphere. In the subsequent protective film forming step, heat treatment was performed at 850 ° C. for 10 minutes in a hydrogen and ammonia atmosphere.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the emission wavelength and emission intensity of the sample body 1. FIG. 8 shows the emission wavelength and emission intensity of the bulk SiC before the porous formation, the porous SiC immediately after the porous formation, and the porous SiC after the heat treatment in the surface cleaning step and the protective film formation step.
The sample body 1 was produced without adding an oxidizing aid to the hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution. As shown in FIG. 8, immediately after the formation of the porous material, the emission intensity is remarkably reduced, and the emission intensity is recovered by the heat treatment. Further, the emission peak wavelength was 610 nm before the porous formation, but became 470 nm immediately after the porous formation, and 595 nm by the heat treatment. Although the peak wavelength is 595 nm by the heat treatment, the emission intensity on the short wavelength side is improved even before the porous formation, and the emission intensity on the short wavelength side is also improved after the heat treatment than before the porous formation. .

  FIG. 9 is a graph showing the emission wavelength and emission intensity of the sample body 1. FIG. 9 shows the emission wavelength and emission intensity after the heat treatment for 0 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, and 60 minutes after the heat treatment. As shown in FIG. 9, it was confirmed that the emission intensity of the sample body 1 improved with time after the heat treatment.

  Next, sample bodies 2 and 3 were prepared by changing the heat treatment temperature of the sample body 1 and the surface cleaning process and the protective film forming process. The sample body 2 was heat-treated at 900 ° C., and the sample body 3 was heat-treated at 1100 ° C. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the elapsed time and emission intensity after the formation of the protective film of the sample bodies 1 to 3. In FIG. 10, the sample bodies 1 and 3 have the emission intensity in the entire wavelength region. For sample body 2, the emission intensity at a wavelength of 408 nm and the emission intensity at 670 nm are separately shown.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the emission intensity of the sample body 1 heat-treated at 850 ° C. increases with time. On the other hand, the luminous intensity of the sample body 3 heat-treated at 1100 ° C. decreases with time. Further, the sample body 2 heat-treated at 900 ° C. has a light emission intensity that decreases with time at a wavelength of 670 nm, and hardly changes with time at a wavelength of 408 nm. Accordingly, it is understood that the emission intensity improves with time in the entire wavelength region at 850 ° C. or lower.

  Next, sample bodies 4 and 5 in which a protective film was formed using an organic solvent without surface cleaning were prepared. The sample body 4 was subjected to the same conditions as the sample body 1 until it was made porous, and then impregnated with 1-decene as an organic solvent for 12 hours while being kept at 90 ° C. to form a protective film. The sample body 5 was prepared by using an aqueous solution containing hydrofluoric acid having a mass concentration of 5% and nitric acid having a mass concentration of 2% for anodizing the porous body, and maintaining the temperature of 1-decene as an organic solvent at 90 ° C. A protective film was formed by impregnation for a period of time.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the elapsed time and emission intensity after forming the protective film of the sample bodies 4 and 5. In FIG. 11, the sample body 4 is shown before and after the protective film is formed. About the sample body 5, it is a thing after protective film formation.
As shown in FIG. 11, in the sample body 4, deterioration with time is suppressed by forming a protective film. In the sample body 5, the light emission intensity hardly changes with time. Therefore, it is understood that deterioration with time is effectively suppressed when nitric acid is added as an oxidation auxiliary agent to perform anodic oxidation.

  Here, in the sample body 5 in which nitric acid was added to the porous aqueous solution, the peak wavelength was shortened with respect to the sample body 4 and the emission intensity increased. This is considered to be due to the quantum size effect.

12A and 12B are diagrams for explaining donor-acceptor pair emission, wherein FIG. 12A shows a state in the bulk crystal, and FIG. 12B shows a state in the porous crystal.
The transition energy E _DA due to the recombination of the donor-acceptor pair is generally
_{E DA = E g - (E} D + E A) + e 2 / εR DA
It is represented by Here, E _g is the band gap energy of the crystal, E _D is the ionization energy of the donor, E _A is the ionization energy of the acceptor, e is the electron charge, epsilon is the dielectric constant, R _DA is the distance between the average donor-acceptor is there. As the crystal size decreases, _Eg increases as is generally known. In addition, the actual distance between the donor and acceptor is unchanged, but the electrons captured by the donor and the holes captured by the acceptor circulate around the orbit with a Bohr radius centered on each impurity. As shown in FIG. 12B, the trajectory is affected by the reduction in crystal size.

In the case of a bulk crystal, as shown in FIG. 12A, both electrons captured by the donor and holes captured by the acceptor circulate around a spherical orbit around each impurity. The overlap of electron and hole trajectories is proportional to the recombination probability of the donor-acceptor pair.
On the other hand, in the porous crystal, as shown in FIG. 12B, the crystal partially disappears, so that the electrons captured by the donor and the holes captured by the acceptor cannot maintain a spherical shape, and the impurity has a center of gravity. It becomes an elliptical orbit deviated from. As a result, the overlap of both trajectories increases and the recombination probability increases. Then, when the _{R DA} of the above formula were _{R1 DA} before pore formation is _{R DA} by pore formation becomes smaller _{R2 DA} than _{R1 DA} is substantially. Thereby, the transition energy is further increased due to the porous structure.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Light emitting diode element 102 SiC substrate 104 Buffer layer 106 N-type layer 108 Multiple quantum well active layer 110 Electron block layer 112 p-type cladding layer 114 p-type contact layer 116 p-side electrode 118 n-side electrode 200 Anodizing device 202 Stainless steel plate 204 Opening 206 Container 208 Platinum wire 210 DC power supply 212 Hydrofluoric acid resistant sheet 214 Solution 216 Opening 218 Ultraviolet light 300 Light emitting diode element

Claims (9)

A semiconductor light emitting unit;
A porous SiC portion made of porous single crystal 6H-type SiC to which a donor and an acceptor are added, which emits visible light when excited by light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting portion;
A protective film covering the surface of the porous SiC part,
The protective film is made of nitride,
The porous SiC part is a light emitting diode element that is heat-treated at 850 ° C. or less to form the protective film.   The light emitting diode element according to claim 1, wherein the porous SiC portion is a fibrous crystal having a width dimension of 50 nm or less.   The light emitting diode device according to claim 2, wherein the donor is N and the acceptor is B.   The bulk SiC part which consists of a bulk single crystal 6H type SiC with which N and B were added, and emits visible light whose wavelength is longer than the porous SiC part when excited by the light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting layer. 4. The light-emitting diode element according to 3. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting diode element according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An electrode forming step of forming an electrode on a bulk single crystal 6H-type SiC to which a donor and an acceptor are added;
Anodizing the single crystal 6H type SiC on which the electrode is formed by anodizing to form the porous SiC part;
A surface cleaning step of heat-treating the porous SiC portion at a predetermined temperature for surface cleaning;
A method for manufacturing a light-emitting diode element, comprising: a protective film forming step in which a heat treatment is performed at 850 ° C. or less to form a protective film on the porous SiC portion subjected to surface cleaning.   The method for manufacturing a light-emitting diode element according to claim 5, wherein heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere of hydrogen and ammonia in the protective film forming step.   The method for manufacturing a light-emitting diode element according to claim 6, wherein heat treatment is performed in a hydrogen atmosphere in the surface cleaning step.   The method for manufacturing a light-emitting diode element according to claim 7, wherein a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution to which an oxidation assistant is added is used as a solution to be reacted with the single crystal 6H-type SiC in the anodic oxidation step.   The method for manufacturing a light-emitting diode element according to claim 9, wherein the oxidation auxiliary agent is nitric acid.

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