JP5629814B2 - Semiconductor light emitting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting device.

  Applying nitride-based III-V group compound semiconductors such as gallium nitride (GaN), high-intensity ultraviolet to blue / green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and blue-violet to blue / green laser diodes (LDs) Semiconductor light emitting devices such as laser diodes have been developed.

In order to increase the efficiency of LEDs, it is important to increase the crystallinity of the GaN-based semiconductor and increase the internal quantum efficiency of the crystal.
In addition, since GaN-based semiconductors and sapphire used as a substrate have a very high refractive index, they are subject to multiple reflections inside the chip of the semiconductor light emitting device, and light extraction efficiency tends to be low.

Patent Document 1 discloses that the quantum well layer adjacent to the p-type nitride semiconductor layer has the energy band gap of the quantum well layer adjacent to the n-type nitride semiconductor layer in order to improve internal quantum efficiency and luminance and reduce the operating voltage. Configurations that are larger than the layers have been proposed.
However, even in this technique, there is room for improvement in improving efficiency.

JP 2007-123878 A

  The present invention provides a semiconductor light emitting device having high internal quantum efficiency and high light extraction efficiency.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an n-type semiconductor layer including a nitride semiconductor, a p-type semiconductor layer including a nitride semiconductor, and the n-type semiconductor layer and the p-type semiconductor layer are provided alternately. A light-emitting portion having a plurality of barrier layers and a plurality of well layers, and the n-type semiconductor layer is interposed between the n-type layer, the n-type layer, and the light-emitting portion. And an n-side end well layer closest to the n-type semiconductor layer among the plurality of well layers includes In _wn Ga _1-wn N and has a layer thickness t _The n-side end barrier layer that has _wn (nanometer) and is closest to the n-type semiconductor layer among the plurality of barrier layers includes In _bn Ga _1-bn N, and has a layer thickness t _bn (nanometer) And the p-side end well layer closest to the p-type semiconductor layer among the plurality of well layers is In _wp The plurality of barrier layers including Ga _1-wp N, having a layer thickness t _wp (nanometer) thicker than the layer thickness t _{wn, and} closer to the n-type semiconductor layer than the p-side end well layer The p-side end barrier layer closest to the p-type semiconductor layer includes In _bp Ga _1-bp N, has a layer thickness t _bp (nanometer), and the wn and the wp are the bn and The n-side end average In composition ratio is (wn × t _wn + bn × t _bn ) / (t _wn + t _bn ), and the p-side end average In composition ratio is (wp × t _wp + bp × t _bp). ) / (T _wp + t _bp ), the p-side end average In composition ratio is 1.9 times or more of the n-side end average In composition ratio and 2.1 times the n-side end average In composition ratio. A semiconductor light-emitting device characterized by the following is provided.

  According to the present invention, a semiconductor light emitting device having high internal quantum efficiency and high light extraction efficiency is provided.

It is a typical sectional view showing a semiconductor light emitting element. It is typical sectional drawing which shows a part of semiconductor light-emitting device. It is a graph which shows the experimental result regarding a semiconductor light-emitting device. It is a graph which shows the characteristic of the semiconductor light emitting element of embodiment and a comparative example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
The drawings are schematic or conceptual, and the relationship between the thickness and width of each part, the size ratio between the parts, and the like are not necessarily the same as actual ones. Further, even when the same part is represented, the dimensions and ratios may be represented differently depending on the drawings.
Note that, in the present specification and each drawing, the same elements as those described above with reference to the previous drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a semiconductor light emitting element according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a part of the semiconductor light emitting element according to the embodiment of the invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the semiconductor light emitting device 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an n-type semiconductor layer 10 including a nitride semiconductor, a p-type semiconductor layer 20 including a nitride semiconductor, and an n-type semiconductor layer 10. And the light emitting unit 30 provided between the p-type semiconductor layer 20 and the p-type semiconductor layer 20.

  The light emitting unit 30 includes a plurality of barrier layers 31 and a plurality of well layers 32 that are alternately stacked. For example, the light emitting unit 30 includes a plurality of barrier layers 31 and a well layer 32 provided between each of the plurality of barrier layers 31.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the n-type semiconductor layer 10, the light emitting unit 30, and the p-type semiconductor layer 20 are stacked along the Z-axis direction.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the n-type semiconductor layer 10 includes, for example, an n-type GaN layer 11 and an n-type guide layer 12 provided between the n-type GaN layer 11 and the light emitting unit 30. Can do. For the n-type guide layer 12, for example, GaN or InGaN doped with an n-type impurity such as Si is used.

  The p-type semiconductor layer 20 includes, for example, a p-type GaN contact layer 22, a first p-type guide layer 21 a provided between the p-type GaN contact layer 22 and the light emitting unit 30, a p-type GaN contact layer 22, and a first p-type GaN contact layer 22. A second p-type guide layer 21b provided between the first p-type guide layer 21a and a third p-type guide layer 21c provided between the first p-type guide layer 21a and the second p-type guide layer 21b. be able to. The third p-type guide layer 21c functions as an electron overflow layer, for example. The p-type semiconductor layer 20 is doped with a p-type impurity such as Mg.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the semiconductor light emitting device 110 according to this embodiment includes a substrate 5 made of, for example, sapphire, a buffer layer 6 provided thereon, and an n-type GaN provided on the buffer layer 6. The layer 11 and the n-type guide layer 12 provided on the n-type GaN layer 11 can be included.

  Then, the light emitting unit 30 (the barrier layer 31 and the well layer 32) is provided on the n-type guide layer 12.

  A first p-type guide layer 21a is provided on the light emitting unit 30, a third p-type guide layer 21c is provided on the first p-type guide layer 21a, and a second p-type guide layer 21b is provided on the third p-type guide layer 21c. The p-type GaN contact layer 22 is provided on the second p-type guide layer 21b.

  Part of the n-type semiconductor layer 10, the light emitting unit 30, and the p-type semiconductor layer 20 on the first main surface on the p-type semiconductor layer 20 side of the stacked structure having the above configuration. The n-type semiconductor layer 10 is exposed on the first main surface side. An n-side electrode 71 is provided in contact with the exposed n-type semiconductor layer 10, and a p-side electrode 81 is provided in contact with the p-type semiconductor layer 20. Further, a p-side pad electrode 82 can be provided in contact with the p-side electrode 81.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the light emitting unit 30 of the semiconductor light emitting device 110, a plurality of barrier layers 31 and a plurality of well layers 32 are alternately stacked.

N-side end well layer 32n1 closest to the n-type semiconductor layer 10 among the plurality of well layers 32 _include In _{wn Ga 1-wn} N. That is, the In composition ratio of the n-side end well layer 32n1 is wn. The thickness of the n-side end well layer 32n1 along the Z-axis direction is defined as a layer thickness t _wn (n-side end well layer thickness t _wn , nanometer).

In addition, the n-side end barrier layer 31 n 1 closest to the n-type semiconductor layer 10 among the plurality of barrier layers 31 includes In _bn Ga _1-bn N. That is, the In composition ratio of the n-side end barrier layer 31n1 is bn. The thickness of the n-side end barrier layer 31n1 along the Z-axis direction is defined as a layer thickness t _bn (n-side end barrier layer thickness t _bn , nanometer).

Further, p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 among the plurality of well layers 32 _include In _{wp Ga 1-wp} N. That is, the In composition ratio of the p-side end well layer 32p1 is wp. The thickness of the p-side end well layer 32p1 along the Z-axis direction is defined as a layer thickness t _wp (p-side end well layer thickness t _wp , nanometer).

Further, the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 among the plurality of barrier layers 31 on the side of the n-type semiconductor layer 10 relative to the p-side end well layer 32p1 is In _bp Ga _1-bp N. including. That is, the In composition ratio of the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 is wp. The layer thickness of the thickness along the Z-axis direction of the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 _{t bp} (p-side end barrier layer thickness _{t bp,} nanometers) and.

  In this specific example, a p-side end opposing barrier layer 31p0 is provided as another barrier layer 32 between the p-side end well layer 32p1 and the p-type semiconductor layer 20. For this reason, the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 is second closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 among the plurality of barrier layers 31. The p-side end opposing barrier layer 31p0 is provided as necessary, and may be omitted depending on circumstances.

The n-side end average In composition ratio An is set to (wn × t _wn + bn × t _bn ) / (t _wn + t _bn ).
The p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is set to (wp × t _wp + bp × t _bp ) / (t _wp + t _bp ).
In the semiconductor light emitting device 110 according to the present embodiment, the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is set to be larger than the n-side end average In composition ratio An and not more than 5 times the n-side end average In composition ratio An. .

  Thus, by setting the In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An to be larger than 1 and 5 or less, the internal quantum efficiency can be improved and the light extraction efficiency can be improved.

  That is, by setting the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap to be larger than the n-side end average In composition ratio An, an appropriate strain is applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1. And light absorption in n side edge well layer 32n1 can be suppressed by making n side edge average In composition ratio An low. Also, the efficiency of hole injection from the p-side end well layer 32p1 to the well layer 32p2 second closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is improved. Thereby, internal quantum efficiency can be improved and light extraction efficiency can be improved.

Such a semiconductor light emitting device 110 is manufactured as follows, for example.
First, after forming the buffer layer 6 on the substrate 5 made of sapphire, the n-type GaN layer 11 doped with n-type impurities is crystal-grown. The thickness of the n-type GaN layer 11 is, for example, about 4 μm (micrometer).

For crystal growth, for example, metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is used. In addition, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or the like can be used for crystal growth. For the n-type impurity, for example, various elements such as Si, Ge, and Sn can be used. In this specific example, Si is used. For example, about 2 × 10 ¹⁸ cm ⁻³ is employed as the Si doping amount. As the substrate 5, various materials such as GaN, SiC, Si, and GaAs can be used in addition to sapphire.

Next, the n-type guide layer 12 is crystal-grown on the n-type GaN layer 11. For the n-type guide layer 12, for example, GaN doped with n-type impurities at about 1 × 10 ¹⁸ cm ⁻³ is used. The thickness of the n-type guide layer 12 is, for example, about 0.1 μm.

  The growth temperature for growing the n-type GaN layer 11 and the n-type guide layer 12 is, for example, 1000 ° C. to 1100 ° C., for example.

In addition to GaN, In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N can be used as the n-type guide layer 12. The growth temperature when In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N is used for the n-type guide layer 12 is, for example, 700 ° C. to 800 ° C. Even when In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N is used for the n-type guide layer 12, for example, 0.1 μm can be adopted as the thickness of the n-type guide layer 12.

Next, the light emitting unit 30 is formed on the n-type guide layer 12. For example, the barrier layers 31 and the well layers 32 are alternately stacked. Thereby, a multiple quantum well (MQW) structure is formed. The configurations of the barrier layer 31 and the well layer 32 are set as described above. The growth temperature of the barrier layer 31 and the well layer 32 is, for example, 700 ° C. to 800 ° C. The barrier layer 31 may be doped with n-type impurities at about 1 × 10 ¹⁸ cm ⁻³ , and the barrier layer 31 may be undoped.

A first p-type guide layer 21 a is grown on the light emitting unit 30. GaN is used for the first p-type guide layer 21a. The thickness of the first p-type guide layer 21a is about 30 nm or less. The growth temperature of GaN serving as the first p-type guide layer 21a is, for example, 1000 ° C. to 1100 ° C. As the p-type impurity, for example, various elements such as Mg and Zn can be used. Here, Mg is used. The doping amount of Mg is about 4 × 10 ¹⁸ cm ⁻³ . In addition, for example, In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N can be used as the first p-type guide layer 21a. At this time, the thickness of the first p-type guide layer 21a is about 30 nm. In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N may be used. The growth temperature in the case where In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N is used as the first p-type guide layer 21 a is set to 700 ° C. to 800 ° C., for example.

Next, a third p-type guide layer 21c is formed on the first p-type guide layer 21a. Al _0.2 Ga _0.8 N doped with p-type impurities can be used for the third p-type guide layer 21c. Also at this time, Mg can be used as the p-type impurity. The doping amount of Mg is, for example, about 4 × 10 ¹⁸ cm ⁻³ . The thickness of the third p-type guide layer 21c is, for example, about 10 nm. The third p-type guide layer 21c can function as an electron overflow prevention layer. The growth temperature of Al _0.2 Ga _0.8 N used for the third p-type guide layer 21 c is 1000 to 1100 ° C.

Next, the second p-type guide layer 21b is grown on the third p-type guide layer 21c. For example, a p-type GaN layer is used for the second p-type guide layer 21b. Again, Mg can be used as the p-type impurity. Mg is doped with, for example, about 1 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ . The thickness of the second p-type guide layer 21b is, for example, about 50 nm. The growth temperature of the GaN layer used for the second p-type guide layer 21b is, for example, 1000 ° C. to 1100 ° C.

Next, the p-type GaN contact layer 22 is formed on the second p-type guide layer 21b. For the p-type GaN contact layer 22, for example, a GaN layer doped with Mg at about 1 × 10 ²⁰ cm ⁻³ is used. The thickness of the p-type GaN contact layer 22 is, for example, about 60 nm.

The following device process is performed on the wafer on which such sequential crystal growth has been performed.
A p-side electrode 81 made of indium tin oxide (ITO), for example, is formed on the p-type GaN contact layer 22. The thickness of ITO is, for example, 0.2 μm. An Au film having a thickness of, for example, 1.0 μm is formed as a p-side pad electrode 82 on a part of the ITO.

  After the formation of the p-side electrode 81 (and the p-side pad electrode 82), dry etching is performed on a part of the laminated structure to expose a part of the n-type GaN layer 11, and the n-type GaN layer 11 is exposed. An n-side electrode 71 is formed in the part. As the n-side electrode 71, for example, a composite film of titanium-platinum-gold (Ti / Pt / Au) is used. The thickness of the Ti film is, for example, about 0.05 μm, the thickness of the Pt film is, for example, about 0.05 μm, and the thickness of the Au film is, for example, about 1.0 μm.

In this way, the semiconductor light emitting device 110 is manufactured.
And in the light emission part 30, internal quantum efficiency is made by making p side edge average In composition ratio Ap larger than n side edge average In composition ratio An, and making it 5 times or less of n side edge average In composition ratio An. A semiconductor light emitting device that is high and has high light extraction efficiency can be provided.

  Hereinafter, experimental results that serve as a basis for creating the configuration of the embodiment as described above will be described. The inventor manufactured two types of semiconductor light emitting devices 111 and 119 having different configurations of the light emitting unit 30 as follows, and evaluated their characteristics.

  Since the semiconductor light emitting element 111 has the configuration of this embodiment, it corresponds to one of the examples. On the other hand, since the semiconductor light emitting device 119 does not have the configuration of the present embodiment, it corresponds to the comparative example (first comparative example).

The semiconductor light emitting device 111 was manufactured by applying the above manufacturing method. The configuration of the light emitting unit 30 of the semiconductor light emitting device 111 and the manufacturing method thereof are as follows.
In the light emitting unit 30, first, an n-side end barrier layer 31 n 1 containing In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N is formed on the n-type guide layer 12, and an undoped In _0.07 Ga ₀ is formed thereon. _An n-side well layer 32n1 containing .93N was formed. Furthermore, a barrier layer 31 containing In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N and a well layer 32 containing undoped In _0.07 Ga _0.93 N are alternately formed in four pairs (a total of eight layers). did. Thus, five well layers 32 containing In _0.07 Ga _0.93 N were formed on the n-type semiconductor layer 10 side. In the above, the thickness of the well layer 32 is 2.5 nm, and the thickness of the barrier layer 31 is 5.0 nm.

Further, three pairs (6 layers in total) of barrier layers 31 containing In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N and well layers 32 containing undoped In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N are formed thereon. Formed. In this way, three well layers 32 containing In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N were formed on the p-type semiconductor layer 20 side. Then, on the well layer 32 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20, an In _0.01 Ga _0.99 N layer was further formed as the p-side end opposing barrier layer 31p0.
Thereafter, a first p-type guide layer 21a was formed thereon under the above conditions.

In such a semiconductor light emitting device 111, the In composition ratio wn of the n-side end well layer 32n1 is 0.07, and the n-side end well layer thickness t _wn is 2.5 nm. The n-side end barrier layer 31n1 has an In composition ratio bn of 0.01 and an n-side end barrier layer thickness t _bn of 5.0 nm. The In composition ratio wp of the p-side end well layer 32p1 is 0.15, and the p-side end well layer thickness _twp is 2.5 nm. Further, also, In composition ratio wp of the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 it is 0.01, the p-side end barrier layer thickness _{t bp} is 5.0 nm.

Therefore, the n-side end average In composition ratio An = (wn × t _wn + bn × t _bn ) / (t _wn + t _bn ) in the semiconductor light emitting device 111 is 0.030, and the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap = (Wp * _twp + bp * _tbp ) / ( _twp + _tbp ) is 0.057. Therefore, the In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An in the semiconductor light emitting device 111 is 1.9.

In the semiconductor light emitting device 111 described above, In ₀ having a thickness of 2.5 nm is used for the well layer 32 (including the n-side end well layer 32n1 and the like) disposed on the n-type semiconductor layer 10 side. The peak wavelength of light emitted from the _0.07 Ga _0.93 N layer is 400 nm from the evaluation result of photoluminescence. On the other hand, the In _0.15 Ga _0.8 N layer having a thickness of 2.5 nm used for the well layer 32 (including the p-side end well layer 32p1 and the like) disposed on the p-type semiconductor layer 20 side. From the evaluation result of photoluminescence, the peak wavelength of the light emitted from is 450 nm.

On the other hand, in the semiconductor light emitting device 119, all the barrier layers 31 of the light emitting unit 30 have the same configuration, and all the well layers 32 have the same configuration.
That is, the In composition ratio of the well layer 32 is 0.15, and the well layer 32 is In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N. The thickness of the well layer 32 is 2.5 nm. The In composition ratio of the barrier layer 31 is 0.01, and the barrier layer 31 is In _0.01 Ga _0.09 N. The thickness of the barrier layer 31 is 5.0 nm. Except this, it is the same as the semiconductor light emitting device 111.

In the semiconductor light emitting device 119, the In composition ratio wn and the In composition ratio wp of the well layer 32 are 0.15, the n-side end well layer thickness t _wn and the p-side end well layer thickness t _wp are 2. 5 nm. The barrier layer 31 has an In composition ratio bn and an In composition ratio bp of 0.01, and the n-side end barrier layer thickness t _bn and the p-side end barrier layer thickness t _bp are 5.0 nm. The In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An is 1.
The characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting devices 111 and 119 having such a configuration were evaluated.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the experimental results regarding the semiconductor light emitting device.
That is, FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B illustrate measurement results of characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting devices 111 and 119. In these figures, the horizontal axis is the wavelength λ (nm) and the vertical axis is the emission intensity ELI (mW / nm).

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the maximum value of the emission intensity ELI of the semiconductor light emitting device 111 is about 0.74 mW / nm. On the other hand, the maximum value of the emission intensity ELI of the semiconductor light emitting device 119 is about 0.62 mW / nm. Thus, the semiconductor light emitting element 111 has a higher emission intensity ELI than the semiconductor light emitting element 119.

  Further, comparing FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the full width at half maximum FWHM of the emission intensity ELI of the semiconductor light emitting device 111 is smaller than that of the semiconductor light emitting device 119.

  As described above, the semiconductor light emitting element 111 exhibits better characteristics than the semiconductor light emitting element 119. This is considered to be because the semiconductor light emitting device 111 has high internal quantum efficiency and high light extraction efficiency.

  On the other hand, when the characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting device 111 and the semiconductor light emitting device 119 are further compared, the semiconductor light emitting device 111 illustrated in FIG. 3A has a peak with a small emission intensity ELI at a wavelength λ of about 400 nm. Only.

As described above, since the peak wavelength of the In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N layer is 450 nm, it is natural that the peak wavelength of the semiconductor light emitting device 119 is 450 nm. On the other hand, a semiconductor light emitting device having a configuration in which three In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N layers having a peak wavelength of 450 nm and five In _0.07 Ga _0.93 N layers having a peak wavelength of 400 nm are stacked. In the element 111, the height of the emission peak at 400 nm is significantly smaller than the height of the emission peak at 450 nm.

In the semiconductor light emitting device 111, the number of In _0.07 Ga _0.93 N layers having a peak wavelength of 400 nm is larger than the number of In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N layers having a peak wavelength of 450 nm. First, the emission intensity ELI at 450 nm, which is the peak wavelength of the In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N layer disposed on the p-type semiconductor layer 20 side, is remarkably high. Thus, the characteristics of the well layer 32 adjacent to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 are dominant in the light emission characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting device.

  From this, it can be presumed that recombination of electrons and holes is dominant in the well layer 32 adjacent to the p-type semiconductor layer 20.

  This phenomenon is a phenomenon found for the first time from the result of actual measurement of the characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting devices 111 and 119 performed by the inventors.

  The configuration of the semiconductor light emitting device according to the present embodiment is constructed based on this newly found phenomenon. That is, the characteristics (for example, peak wavelength) of the well layer 32 adjacent to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 are matched with the characteristics (for example, peak wavelength) required as a semiconductor light emitting element, and the well layer 32 away from the p-type semiconductor layer 20 The configuration is controlled so that light emission efficiency is improved and light absorption is reduced. Thereby, the internal quantum efficiency can be improved and the light extraction efficiency can be improved without adversely affecting the light emission characteristics such as the peak wavelength of the semiconductor light emitting device.

  That is, in the semiconductor light emitting device 110 (semiconductor light emitting device 111) according to the present embodiment, the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is larger than the n-side end average In composition ratio An, and the n-side end average In composition ratio is set. Set to 5 times or less than An. As a result, an appropriate strain is generated in the p-side end well layer 32p1, and the recombination of electrons and holes is further promoted. And light absorption in n side edge well layer 32n1 is suppressed by making n side edge average In composition ratio An low. Further, the efficiency of hole injection from the p-side end well layer 32p1 to the well layer 32p2 second closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is improved. Thereby, internal quantum efficiency can be improved and light extraction efficiency can be improved.

For example, in the semiconductor light emitting device 119 of the first comparative example, the In _0.15 Ga _0.85 N layer used for the well layer 32 has an absorption coefficient of 5 × 10 ⁴ cm ^{−1 at} a wavelength of 450 nm. Therefore, the absorption of about 1.2% per one well layer 32 occurs, and the light absorption is large. In contrast, in the semiconductor light emitting device 111, an In _0.07 Ga _0.93 N layer having a small In composition ratio is used as the well layer 32 on the n-type semiconductor layer 10 side (for example, the n-side end well layer 32n1). By using it, the energy level in these well layers 32 is shifted to the short wavelength side (to the high energy side). As a result, the absorption coefficient at a wavelength of 450 nm is about 5 × 10 ³ cm ⁻¹ , and only about 0.12% of absorption occurs per well layer 32. Thereby, in the semiconductor light emitting device 111, the light extraction efficiency is increased.

  When the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is equal to or less than the n-side end average In composition ratio An, a large strain is applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20, and the light emission efficiency is lowered. In addition, light absorption increases and light extraction efficiency decreases. On the other hand, when the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is larger than 5 times the n-side end average In composition ratio An, for example, the crystallinity is likely to deteriorate, and the light emission efficiency decreases.

  Patent Document 1 proposes a configuration in which the energy band gap of the quantum well layer adjacent to the n-type nitride semiconductor layer is made larger than that of the quantum well layer adjacent to the p-type nitride semiconductor layer. No attention is paid to the relationship between the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap and the n-side end average In composition ratio An. For this reason, with the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is considered difficult to obtain a high internal quantum efficiency and a high light extraction efficiency that can be realized by the semiconductor light emitting device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting devices of the embodiment and the comparative example.
That is, this figure illustrates the simulation results of the characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting devices 110a to 110d according to the embodiments described below and the semiconductor light emitting device 119a of the second comparative example.

In the semiconductor light emitting device 110a, the In composition ratio wn of the n-side end well layer 32n1 is 0.07, and the n-side end well layer thickness t _wn is 2.5 nm. The n-side end barrier layer 31n1 has an In composition ratio bn of 0.01 and an n-side end barrier layer thickness t _bn of 5.0 nm. In addition, the In composition ratio wp of the p-side end well layer 32p1 is 0.15, and the p-side end well layer thickness _twp is 2.5 nm. Further, In composition ratio wp of the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 it is 0.01, the p-side end barrier layer thickness _{t bp} is 5.0 nm.

  The number of all well layers 32 (the number including the n-side end well layer 32n1 and the p-side end well layer 32p1) is eight. The number of all barrier layers 31 (the number including the n-side end barrier layer 31n1, the p-side end barrier layer 31p1, and the p-side end opposing barrier layer 31p0) is nine. The configuration of the other well layers 32 excluding the n-side end well layer 32n1 and the p-side end well layer 32p1 is the same as that of the n-side end well layer 32n1. The configuration of the p-side end opposing barrier layer 31p0 is the same as that of the p-side end barrier layer 31p1. The configuration of the barrier layer 31 excluding the n-side end barrier layer 31n1, the p-side end barrier layer 31p1, and the p-side end opposing barrier layer 31p0 is the same as that of the n-side end barrier layer 31n1.

Thus, in the semiconductor light emitting device 110a, the In composition ratio wp in the p-side end well layer 32p1 is higher than the In composition ratio wn in the n-side end well layer 32n1.
In the semiconductor light emitting device 110a, the n-side end average In composition ratio An is 0.030, and the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is 0.057. Therefore, the In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An in the semiconductor light emitting device 110a is 1.9.

In the semiconductor light emitting device 110b, in the semiconductor light emitting device 110a, the p-side end well layer 32p1 is made of In _0.13 Ga _0.87 N having a thickness of 3.5 nm.
As described above, in the semiconductor light emitting device 110b, the p-side end well layer thickness t _wp is larger than the n-side end well layer thickness t _wn .
In the semiconductor light emitting device 110b, the n-side end average In composition ratio An is 0.030, and the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is 0.059. Therefore, the In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An in the semiconductor light emitting device 110b is 2.0.

In the semiconductor light emitting device 110c, the In composition ratio bp of the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 is 0.03 in the semiconductor light emitting device 110a.
Thus, in the semiconductor light emitting device 110c, the In composition ratio bp in the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 is higher than the In composition ratio bn in the n-side end barrier layer 31n1.
In the semiconductor light emitting device 110c, the n-side end average In composition ratio An is 0.030, and the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is 0.070. Therefore, the In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An in the semiconductor light emitting device 110d is 2.3.

In the semiconductor light emitting device 110d, the thickness of the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 in the semiconductor light emitting device 110a is 4.0 nm.
Thus, in the semiconductor light emitting device 110d, the p-side end barrier layer thickness _{t bp} is thinner than the n-side end barrier layer thickness _{t bn.}
In the semiconductor light emitting device 110d, the n-side end average In composition ratio An is 0.030, and the p-side end average In composition ratio Ap is 0.064. Therefore, the In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An in the semiconductor light emitting device 110d is 2.1.

  On the other hand, in the semiconductor light emitting device 119a of the second comparative example, all the barrier layers 31 of the light emitting unit 30 have the same configuration, and all the well layers 32 have the same configuration. That is, the In composition ratio of the well layer 32 is 0.15, and the thickness of the well layer 32 is 2.5 nm. The In composition ratio of the barrier layer 31 is 0.01, and the thickness of the barrier layer 31 is 5.0 nm. Thus, in the semiconductor light emitting device 119a of the second comparative example, the In average composition ratio pn ratio Ap / An is 1.

  FIG. 4 illustrates the characteristics of the semiconductor light emitting devices 110a to 110d and the semiconductor light emitting device 119a of the second comparative example. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the current If applied to each semiconductor light emitting element, and the vertical axis represents the light emission efficiency Eff.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, any of the semiconductor light emitting devices 110 a to 110 d according to the present embodiment has higher luminous efficiency Eff than the semiconductor light emitting device 119 a of the second comparative example.

  In the semiconductor light emitting device 119a of the second comparative example, a large strain is applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 that contributes most to the light emission, and this is considered to reduce the quantum efficiency. It is done.

In contrast, the semiconductor light emitting device 110a in which the In composition ratio wp in the p-side end well layer 32p1 is higher than the In composition ratio wn in the n-side end well layer 32n1, and the p-side end well layer thickness t _wp is the n-side end well In the semiconductor light emitting device 110b thicker than the layer thickness t _{wn, the} strain applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is optimized, and the well on the n-type semiconductor layer 10 side is optimized. Light absorption in the layer 32 (for example, including the n-side end well layer 32n1) is suppressed.

Further, the semiconductor light emitting device 110c in which the In composition ratio bp in the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 is higher than the In composition ratio bn in the n-side end barrier layer 31n1, and the p-side end barrier layer thickness _tbp is the n-side end barrier layer thickness. In the semiconductor light emitting device 110d that is thinner than t _{bn, the} strain applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is optimized, and is second from the p-side end well layer 32p1. The efficiency of hole injection into the well layer 32p2 close to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 (the well layer 32 adjacent to the p-side end well layer 32p1 on the n-type semiconductor layer 10 side) is improved.

Incidentally, the In composition ratio wp of the p-side end well layer 32p1 is set higher than the In composition ratio wn of the n-side end well layer 32N1, and, the p-side end well layer thickness _{t wp} the n-side end well layer thickness _{t wn} When the thickness is set to be thicker, the strain applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is optimized.

At this time, the In composition ratio wp of the p-side end well layer 32p1 is 0.10 or more and 0.00 in the case of a blue LED (emission peak wavelength is, for example, 445 nm to 455 nm) in consideration of the target emission wavelength. It is preferable that the p-side end well layer thickness t _wp is not less than 20 and not more than 1.0 nm and not more than 5.0 nm. At this time, when the In composition ratio wp is relatively high, the p-side end well layer thickness _twp is set to be relatively thin. For example, the In composition ratio wp of the p-side end well layer 32p1 is set to 0.15, and the p-side end well layer thickness _twp is set to about 2.5 nm.

  Further, the In composition ratio wp in the p-side end well layer 32p1 is set to be higher than the In composition ratio wn in the n-side end well layer 32n1, and the In composition ratio bp in the p-side end barrier layer 31p1 is set to the n-side end barrier layer. When the In composition ratio bn is set higher than 31n1, the strain applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is optimized, and from the p-side end well layer 32p1, Second, the efficiency of hole injection into the well layer 32p2 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is improved. Furthermore, light absorption in the well layer 32 on the n-type semiconductor layer 10 side can be suppressed.

Furthermore, the In composition ratio wp of the p-side end well layer 32p1 is set higher than the In composition ratio wn of the n-side end well layer 32N1, and, the p-side end barrier layer thickness _{t bp} the n-side end barrier layer thickness _{t bn} Even when set to be thinner, the strain applied to the p-side end well layer 32p1 closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 is optimized, and the p-type semiconductor is second from the p-side end well layer 32p1. The efficiency of hole injection into the well layer 32p2 close to the layer 20 is improved. Furthermore, light absorption in the well layer 32 on the n-type semiconductor layer 10 side can be suppressed.

It is assumed that the light emitting unit 30 has N (N is an integer of 2 or more) well layers 32 and N barrier layers 31. Here, the i-th well layer 32 (i is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) as viewed from the n-type semiconductor layer 10 is referred to as “well layer 32 _i ”. In view of the n-type semiconductor layer 10, the i-th barrier layer 31 is expressed as “barrier layer 31 _i ”. Then, the barrier layer 31 _i is at the side of the n-type semiconductor layer with respect to the well layer 32 _i, it is assumed that adjacent to the well layer 32 _i. A p-side end opposing barrier layer 31p0 can be provided between the well layer 32 _N closest to the p-type semiconductor layer 20 (that is, the p-side end well layer 32p1) and the p-type semiconductor layer 20, and p The side end opposing barrier layer 31p corresponds to the barrier layer 31N _{+ 1} .

Using this notation, the well layer 32 _{1 comprises} a In _{wn Ga 1-wn} N, has an n-side end well layer thickness _{t wn,} the barrier layer 31 _{1 comprises} a In _{bn Ga 1-bn} N, The n-side end barrier layer thickness t _bn has a well layer 32 _N containing In _wp Ga _1-wp N, has a p-side end well layer thickness t _wp , and the barrier layer 32 _N has In _bp Ga _{1 -Bp} N is included, and the p-side end barrier layer thickness t _bp is included. And as already demonstrated, Ap / An is set to 5 or less larger than 1 using these values.

In the present embodiment, the configurations of the well layer 32 and the barrier layer 31 corresponding to i being 2 or more and (N−1) or less are arbitrary. For example, when viewed from the n-type semiconductor layer 10, the j-th well layer 32 _j (j is an integer not less than 2 and not more than (N−1)) includes In _wj Ga _1-wj N, and the well layer thickness t _wj is The jth barrier layer 31 _j includes In _bj Ga _1-bj N and has a barrier layer thickness t _wbj . At this time, if the average In composition ratio A _j is (wj × t _wj + bj × t _bj ) / (t _wj + t _bj ), the average In composition ratio A _j is arbitrary. The average In composition ratio _{A j} is, for example, in the n-side end average In composition ratio An above, it is desirable to set the following values p-side end average In composition ratio Ap.

Particularly, in the case the above j is (N-3) below, by the average In composition ratio A _j substantially the same as the n-side end average In composition ratio An (low In composition ratio), n-type This is desirable because the average In composition ratio on the semiconductor layer 10 side can be lowered and light absorption can be suppressed.

In this specification, “nitride semiconductor” means B _x In _y Al _z Ga _1-xyz N (0 ≦ x ≦ 1, 0 ≦ y ≦ 1, 0 ≦ z ≦ 1, x + y + z ≦ 1) Semiconductors having all compositions in which the composition ratios x, y, and z are changed within the respective ranges are included. Furthermore, in the above chemical formula, those further including a group V element other than N (nitrogen) and those further including any of various dopants added for controlling the conductivity type are also referred to as “nitride semiconductors”. Shall be included.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples. For example, the shape, size, material, and arrangement relationship of the specific configuration of each element of the n-type semiconductor layer, p-type semiconductor layer, light-emitting portion, well layer, barrier layer, electrode, substrate, and buffer layer included in the semiconductor light-emitting device Even if the person skilled in the art has made various changes with respect to the above, etc., as long as the person skilled in the art can implement the present invention in the same manner by selecting appropriately from the well-known range and obtain the same effect, Included in the range.
Moreover, what combined any two or more elements of each specific example in the technically possible range is also included in the scope of the present invention as long as the gist of the present invention is included.

  In addition, all semiconductor light-emitting elements that can be implemented by those skilled in the art based on the semiconductor light-emitting elements described above as embodiments of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention as long as they include the gist of the present invention. Belonging to.

  In addition, in the category of the idea of the present invention, those skilled in the art can conceive of various changes and modifications, and it is understood that these changes and modifications also belong to the scope of the present invention. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... Substrate 6 ... Buffer layer 10 ... n-type semiconductor layer 11 ... n-type GaN layer 12 ... n-type guide layer 20 ... p-type semiconductor layer 21a ... 1st p-type guide layer 21b ... 2nd p-type Guide layer, 21c ... third p-type guide layer, 22 ... p-type GaN contact layer, 30 ... light emitting portion, 31 ... barrier layer, 31n1 ... n-side end barrier layer, 31p0 ... p-side end opposing barrier layer, 31p1 ... p-side End barrier layer, 32, 32p2 ... well layer, 32n1 ... n-side end well layer, 32p1 ... p-side end well layer, 71 ... n-side electrode, 81 ... p-side electrode, 82 ... p-side pad electrode, 110, 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 111, 119, 119a ... semiconductor light emitting device, If ... current, ELI ... emission intensity, Eff ... emission efficiency, _tbn ... layer thickness (n-side end barrier layer thickness), _tbp ... layer thickness ( p-side end barrier layer thickness), t _wn ... layer thickness (n-side end well layer thickness), t _wp ... layer thickness (p-side end well layer thickness)

Claims (4)

An n-type semiconductor layer including a nitride semiconductor;
A p-type semiconductor layer including a nitride semiconductor;
Provided between the n-type semiconductor layer and the p-type semiconductor layer;
A plurality of barrier layers and a plurality of well layers stacked alternately,
A light emitting unit having
With
The n-type semiconductor layer includes an n-type layer, and a nitride semiconductor layer containing In provided between the n-type layer and the light emitting unit,
The n-side end well layer closest to the n-type semiconductor layer among the plurality of well layers includes In _wn Ga _1-wn N and has a layer thickness t _wn (nanometers).
The n-side end barrier layer closest to the n-type semiconductor layer among the plurality of barrier layers includes In _bn Ga _1-bn N, and has a layer thickness t _bn (nanometer),
Nearest p-side end well layer on the p-type semiconductor layer among the plurality of well layers _comprises In _{wp Ga 1-wp} N, the layer thickness _{t wn} thicker than the layer thickness _{t wp} a (nm) Have
The p-side end barrier layer closest to the p-type semiconductor layer among the plurality of barrier layers includes In _bp Ga _1-bp N on the side of the n-type semiconductor layer relative to the p-side end well layer, Having a layer thickness t _bp (nanometers),
The wn and the wp are larger than the bn and the bp,
The n-side end average In composition ratio is (wn × t _wn + bn × t _bn ) / (t _wn + t _bn ),
When the p-side end average In composition ratio is (wp × t _wp + bp × t _bp ) / (t _wp + t _bp ),
The p-side end average In composition ratio is not less than 1.9 times the n-side end average In composition ratio and not more than 2.1 times the n-side end average In composition ratio.   2. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor light emitting element is 2.0 times or less of the n-side end average In composition ratio.   3. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein an In composition ratio wp in the p-side end well layer is higher than an In composition ratio wn in the n-side end well layer.   4. The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1, wherein an In composition ratio bp in the p-side end barrier is higher than an In composition ratio bn in the n-side end barrier layer.

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