WO2005062392A1

WO2005062392A1 - Gan-based led and manufacturing method of the same utilizing the technique of sapphire etching

Info

Publication number: WO2005062392A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/003424
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seong-Jin Kim; Yong-Seok Choi; Chang-Yeon Kim; Young-Heon Han; Soon-Jae Yu
Original assignee: Itswell Co. Ltd.
Priority date: 2003-12-24
Filing date: 2004-12-23
Publication date: 2005-07-07
Also published as: KR20050013046A; KR100576317B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a nitride-based semiconductor LED, which is designed to reduce its size, to increase the thickness of a sapphire base substrate which is lapped for the purpose of device-breaking, to improve light extraction efficiency, to form a uniformly broken section and to save manufacturing time and cost, and a fabrication method thereof. The nitride-based semiconductor LED comprises a sapphire base substrate; a first conductive contact layer formed on the sapphire base substrate; a first electrode connected to the first conductive contact layer; a first cladding layer formed on the first conductive contact layer; an active layer formed on the first conductive cladding layer; a second cladding layer formed on the active layer; a second conductive contact layer formed on the second cladding layer; and a second electrode formed on the second conductive contact layer, in which the sapphire substrate is chamferred.

Description

GAN-BASED LED AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF THE SAME UTILIZING THE TECHNIQUE OF SAPPHIRE ETCHING

Technical Field The present invention relates to an optical device. More particularly, the invention relates to a nitride-based semiconductor Light Emitting Diode (GaN-based LED) , which is designed to reduce its size, to increase the thickness of a sapphire base substrate which is lapped for the purpose of device-breaking, to improve light extraction efficiency, to form a uniformly broken facet and to save manufacturing time and chip cost, and a fabrication method thereof. A nitride-based semiconductor LED is an optical device designed to convert junction current into photons when the junction current reaches at a specific level. This LED is produced from semiconductor into a p-i-n junction diode. In this case, the wavelength of light emitted from the LED is determined to semiconductor materials such as GaN, GaAs, GaP, InP, InAs and InSb. A semiconductor LED capable of emitting visible light is generally used for a display. This LED is made generally from a semiconductor material such as GaN, GaAs and GaP so as to emit visible light which can be recognized by the human eyes. In particular, a nitride-based semiconductor LED made from GaN semiconductor is mainly used as a blue light source, and its application range is increasing since it can realize to serve as full colors. In addition, regarding applicability as a light source, future demand for the nitride-based semiconductor LED is expected to increase explosively.

Background Art It is not a difficult task to fabricate a vertical electrode LED having a p-n junction structure since a compound semiconductor LED is generally grown on a conductive substrate of for example GaP, GaAs, InP or InAs substrates. A nitride-based semiconductor LED is grown on a sapphire base substrate to reduce crystal defect in GaN-based epitaxial growth although sapphire (A1₂0₃) has a dissimilar lattice constant. This will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows: FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the structure of a conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of the conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED adopts a sapphire base substrate 20. In addition, first and second electrodes 18 and 19 exist parallel in the same side, and photons generated from an active region is emitted into the free space via a transparent second ohmic electrode 17. Such an LED is referred to as a two wire bonding type, and discriminated from a vertical electrode LED having electrodes existing on a vertical line. The two wire-bonding type LED is generally adopted in a nitride-based semiconductor LED grown on the insulator sapphire base substrate 20. However, such a conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED must have first and second electrodes grown on epitaxially grown layers due to its non electrical conductivity. As a result, this requires a larger bonding pad area at the same side, which is an obstacle against size reduction of the LED. Also the conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED adopts a rigid sapphire base substrate. So, the sapphire base substrate should be lapped thin to a thickness of 75 to 100/rnι for breaking into a individual LED. In addition, scribing lines are to be formed on the sapphire base substrate with a diamond pen or laser scriber. Furthermore, it is difficult to form the conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED into such a configuration that improves light extraction efficiency since the sapphire base substrate is not easily cut or etch. Also, in the conventional semiconductor LED, a diamond pen or laser source is utilized to form a scribing line on a sapphire base substrate and break or divide the sapphire base substrate or a chip structure into piece chips. This as a drawback requires a spacing of 40 to 50 m between adjacent chips owing to the size of the diamond pen or a laser beam. In addition, broken areas are not uniform and thus give unaesthetic appearance to resultant articles. This as a result spends large time and cost for the fabrication of conventional nitride-based semiconductor LEDs without improvement in chip yield per wafer, thereby degrading price competitiveness.

Disclosure of the Invention Technical Object The present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems of the prior art and it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a nitride-based semiconductor LED, which is designed to reduce its size, to increase the thickness of a sapphire base substrate which is lapped for the purpose of device-breaking, to improve light extraction efficiency, to form a uniformly broken facet and to save manufacturing time and cost, and a fabrication method thereof.

Technical Solution According to an aspect of the present invention for realizing the above objects, there is provided a nitride-based semiconductor LED comprising: a sapphire base substrate; a first conductive contact layer formed on the sapphire base substrate; a first electrode connected to the first conductive contact layer; a first cladding layer formed on the first conductive contact layer; an active layer formed on the first conductive cladding layer; a second cladding layer formed on the active layer; a second conductive contact layer formed on the second cladding layer; and a second electrode formed on the second conductive contact layer, wherein the sapphire substrate is chamfered in order to increase the light extraction. According to another aspect of the present invention for realizing the above objects, there is provided a fabrication method of nitride-based semiconductor LEDs, the method comprising steps of: forming first and second electrodes on a nitride-based semiconductor grown on a sapphire base substrate; lapping and mirror polishing the sapphire base substrate; forming a hard mask on the first electrode and the sapphire base substrate; etching the hard mask on the sapphire base substrate via photolithography to expose a partial area of the sapphire base substrate; etching the exposed partial area of the sapphire base substrate to chamfer the sapphire base substrate or form a scribing line thereon; and braking a resultant chip structure into piece chips.

Advantageous Effects The present invention as described above has effects of reducing the size of a nitride-based semiconductor LED, potentially increasing the thickness of a sapphire base substrate which is lapped for the purpose of device-breaking, improving light extraction efficiency, forming a uniformly broken facet and saving manufacturing time and cost.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the structure of a conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of the conventional semiconductor LED; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a first embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a second embodiment of the invention; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a third embodiment of the invention; FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a fourth embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the etch rate of a sapphire base substrate according to ICP/RIE dry etching; FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating the etch rate of a sapphire base substrate according to a mixed solution of sulphuric acid (H₂S0₄) and phosphoric acid (H₃P0) ; FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating the surface configuration of a sapphire substrate etched by a mixed solution of (H₂S0₄) and phosphoric acid (H₃P0) ; FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sapphire base substrate having a pattern of various line widths etched by a mixed solution of (H₂S0 ) and phosphoric acid (H₃P0₄) ; FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating etch depths according to patterns; and FIG. 12 illustrates scribing or cleaving lines formed on a sapphire base substrate for the purpose of device-breaking via wet etching.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention Hereinafter most preferred embodiments of this invention will be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings to the extent that the invention can be readily worked by those skilled in the art. The foregoing and other objects, features, operational effects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following preferred embodiments. For reference, while the most preferred embodiments will be disclosed hereinafter so that the invention can be more apparent to those skilled in the art, they are illustrations only selected from various achievable examples. It is to be understood that the spirit and scope of the invention is in no way limited or restricted by the preferred embodiments but various modifications, additions and alterations to the preferred embodiments as well as equivalents thereof can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a first embodiment of the invention. A sapphire base substrate of a conventional nitride-based semiconductor LED is not chamferred since chamferring is a tough task in the prior art. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the nitride-based semiconductor LED according to the first embodiment of the invention has a chamferred sapphire base substrate 20. The sapphire base substrate 20 is chamferred into a generally triangular configuration, which increase the escape probability of generated photons in the active region thereby facilitating light extraction. Fabrication methods of nitride-based semiconductor LEDs according to first to fourth embodiments of the invention are as follows. First, an epitaxial substrate is prepared by forming a buffer layer 11, a first or n-conductive contact layer 12, a first cladding layer 13, an active layer 14, a second cladding layer 15 and a second or p-conductive contact layer 16 in their order on the sapphire base substrate 20 via Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) , Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) , Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) or so on. The first conductive contact layer 12, the active layer 14 and the second conductive contact layer 16 are made of nitride-based semiconductor In_x (Al_yGaι__y)N, in which x and y compositions are 0<x<l,

0<y<l and x + y> 1. In particular, the active layer 14 may be of a single or multiple quantum well structure having an In_x (Al_yGaι__y) N barrier layer and an In_x(Al_yGaι__y) N well layer. Adjustment of In, Ga and Al components allows fabrication of various LEDs, which range from a long wavelength LED of an InN (about l.δeV) band gap to a short wavelength LED of an AIN (about 6.2eV) band gap. Therefore, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to a blue nitride-based semiconductor LED having a light wavelength of 460nm but can be applied to all nitride-based semiconductor LEDs fabricated on a sapphire base substrate. Then, an ohmic layer or a transparent second ohmic electrode 17 is formed on the p-conductive contact layer 16, and a second electrode 19 is formed on the second ohmic electrode 17. The second ohmic electrode 17 and the second electrode 19 are formed according to at least one of Electron beam (E-beam) deposition, thermal evaporation and sputtering. The second ohmic electrode 17 is formed as a metal film via deposition of at least one selected from the group consisting of NiO, NiAu, Ti, Ni, Au, Pd, Rh, Pt, Al, Cr, Ta and alloys containing at least one thereof. The metal film can be heat annealed at a temperature ranging from about 200 to 700 °C in an atmosphere containing oxygen or nitrogen to achieve ohmic contact properties. In this case, the second electrode can be formed into a transparent electrode or a mesh structure. The first and second electrodes 17, 18, and 19 are formed via at least one of E-beam deposition, thermal evaporation and sputtering. In this case, ohmic contact is adapted to reduce the contact resistance betweenmetal electrodes and semiconductor layers. After the second electrode 19 is formed via deposition of Ti/Ni/Au or Pd/Au, heat treatment is performed in a furnace (rapid thermal annealing chamber) of an atmosphere containing oxygen or nitrogen at a temperature ranging from about 300 to 700 °C, and preferably, 500 to 600°C so as to form a transparent ohmic contact with respect to the second electrode 19 to reduce contact resistance against the semiconductor layer. Then, the first conductive contact layer 12 is mesa etched to expose a partial area of the first conductive layer 12, and the first electrode 18 is deposited on the exposed a part area of the first conductive contact layer 12. After the first electrode 18 is deposited, heat treatment is performed in a furnace in an atmosphere of nitrogen or oxygen at a temperature ranging from about 300 to 700°C, and preferably, 500 to 600°C to reduce contact resistance against the semiconductor layer. The first electrode 18 is formed to have a single layer or multiple layers via deposition of metal or alloy such as Ti, Al, Cr, Cr/Ni/Au, Ti/Al, Al, TiAl/Ti/Au, Ti/Ni/Au and Ta. Then, the first electrode 18 can be annealed in an atmosphere containing oxygen or nitrogen at a temperature ranging from about 200 to 700°C to achieve ohmic contact property. Then, the sapphire base substrate 20 is dry etched via Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP) /Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) and mechanically lapped. The lapped side of the sapphire substrate 20 is mirror polished to form a smooth surface. It is more desirable for the sapphire substrate 20 to have a smaller thickness. However, since extremely small thickness may cause bending to the sapphire substrate 20 or worsen its process, the sapphire substrate 20 preferably has a thickness of about 40 to 500 m. The above mechanical polishing and wet etching are performed to the sapphire substrate 20 in order to save time and cost. That is, the mechanical polishing has a high polishing rate but can hardly form a mirror surface in the sapphire base substrate 20. On the other hand, the wet etching can easily form a mirror surface although it has a low etching rate. Then, based upon etching characteristics of the sapphire base substrate 20, the sapphire base substrate 20 can be provided with chamferring or cleaving lines 26 at which it is to be broken into unit chips. In this case, a protective layer made of for example spin-on glass, SiN or SiO is deposited on the sapphire base substrate 20 to act as a hard mask for protecting semiconductor surfaces and electrodes during the etching of the sapphire base substrate 20. That is, after mirror polishing, the hard mask or protective layer made of for example spin-on glass, SiN or SiO is deposited via PECVD or thermal CVD on the sapphire base substrate 20 and then a temporary substrate is attached thereto. The protective layer is formed on epitaxial layers preferably before the polishing of the sapphire base substrate in order to protect the epitaxial layers from wafer contamination. Then, the protective layer formed on the sapphire base substrate

20 is etched via Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) or Buffer Oxide Etchant (BOE) to expose a predetermined area of the sapphire base substrate

20 in which chamferring, scribing or cleaving lines are to be formed.

In this case, the hard mask is etched via RIE or with a BOE solution. The procedure of etching the exposed area of the sapphire substrate 20 may combine at least one dry etching technique such as Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) , ICP/RIE and RIE, or utilize a wet etching technique together. The dry etching uses ICP/RIE or RIE, in which the power of ICP and RIE may be advantageously raised to rapidly etch the sapphire base substrate 20, but attention should be paid since it may damage the nitride-based semiconductor epitaxial layers. In case of the wet etching, the sapphire base substrate 20 can be immersed into mixed solution containing at least one selected from a group consisting of HC1, HN0₃, KOH, NaOH, H₂S0₄, H₃P0, 4H₃P0-t-4CH₃COOH+HN0₃+H₂0 (aluetch) and combinations thereof. The sapphire base substrate 20 is etched to a predetermined level via the dry etching with ICP/RIE or RIE or the wet etching with a mixed solution containing at least one selected from a group consisting of HC1, HN0₃, KOH, NaOH, H₂S0₄, H₃P0₄, 4H₃P0+4CH₃COOH+HN0₃+H₂0 and combinations thereof. When used as a hard mask in the above etching, a protective layer of for example glass, SiN or SiO is rarely etched by the mixed solution containing at least one selected from a group consisting of HCl, HN0₃, KOH, NaOH, H₂S0₄, H₃P0₄, 4H₃P0₄+4CH3COOH+HNθ₃+H₂0 and combinations thereof. The protective layer also has a high resistance against the dry etching such as ICP/RIE. So, the protective layer has a wide application range. FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the etch rate of a sapphire base substrate according to ICP/RIE dry etching. As shown in FIG. 7, the etch rate of the sapphire base substrate 20 increases in proportion to ICP and RIE power (i.e. , DC Bias Voltage) . Under specific etching conditions, the etch rate is about 0.6zm/min at 320°C, which spends about two minutes to form cleaving lines 26 and scribing line 27 to a depth of ljum. FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating the etch rate of a sapphire base substrate according to a mixed solution of sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid. As shown in FIG.8, the etch rate of sapphire becomes over ljC/m/min at H₂S0₄ : H₃P0₄ = 3:1 and 350°C. This indicates that the method of the invention is more advantageous than that of the prior art in view of production cost, productivity, process stability and process facilitation. FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating the surface configuration of a sapphire substrate etched by a mixed solution of sulphuric acid (H₂S0₄) and phosphoric acid (H₃P0₄) . As shown in FIG. 9, the etched surface is clean and inclined at a specific angle. The sapphire base substrate was etched to 22.4 m for 20 minutes, thereby showing an etch rate of l.lm/min. This etch rate is a considerable result that can be matched with that of dry etching, and satisfactory in view of chip mass production. The wet etching has more advantages than any other approaches in view of mass production since it is not restricted to the productivity of equipments. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sapphire base substrate having a pattern of various line widths etched by a mixed solution of sulphuric acid (H₂S0₄) and phosphoric acid (H₃P0₄) . As shown in FIG. 10, the etched levels of the sapphire base substrate are varied according to opened pattern widths, and become deeper in proportion to the opened line widths. A pattern of an opened line width 57/zm is etched to a depth 24jtαn, thereby showing an aspect ratio of 0.4. On the other hand, a pattern of an opened line width lO m is etched only to 1.5μm, thereby showing an aspect ratio of 0.1. That is, the sapphire base substrate 20 has an orientation with respect to the wet etching so that etch depth depends on a patterned line width and etching is self-stopped at a specific depth. In particular, at the specific depth, etching is not only stopped but also does not proceed in lateral directions anymore. That is, most available ones of the sapphire base substrate 20 are of C-plane or (0001) plane, so that an etched surface generally forms an inclination of about 45 or 25 degrees as shown in FIG. 9. This phenomenon results from different etch rate between (0001) plane and an etched facet of etched R, M and A surfaces. The above result indicates that the etch depth is determined by the opened line width so that adjusting the opened line width can determine the etch depth. For example, when the opened line width is decreased, the etch depth can be adjusted to a depth of l[m or less. Whereas 1/im line width and depth may be sufficient for the cleaving or scribing lines 26, 27, the chamferring depth of the sapphire base substrate 20 may be preferably about 5 to 100/tm in order to raise extraction efficiency. A device can be easily fabricated by utilizing such wet etching properties since etching is stopped at a specific depth enabling chamferring or forming the scribing lines 26. In particular, regarding that a specific etching surface is determined according to the orientation of the sapphire base substrate 20 and the etch rate is varied according to the orientation, it is possible to fabricate a vertical electrode LED by growing nitride-based semiconductor on the specific surface and then producing a first electrode 18 through the formation of a via hole via wet etching on the sapphire base substrate 20. Also, wet etching the sapphire base substrate 20 in (0001) plane can form a line width in the form of a V-shaped groove, so that a new nitride-based semiconductor structure such as a quantum wire can be expectedly produced. Nitride-based semiconductor films grown on various patterns can realize fine qualities of few crystal defects and improved light extraction efficiency. The wet etching to a sapphire base substrate is performed as follows : A sapphire substrate etch rate by an etching solution is measured with a test sapphire substrate, and then the sapphire substrate is immersed into the etching solution for a predetermined time period in which it can be etched for 120% in its thickness. Since the etch rate depends on the temperature of the etching solution, the temperature of the etching solution is preferably maintained at a temperature of 60 °C or more, and more preferably, 200 to 350°C in order to shorten process time. In order to maintain the etching solution at 60 °C or more, it can be heated directly or indirectly. In the direct heating, the etching solution is placed on a heater or directly contacted by the heater. In the indirect heating, optical absorption is adopted to heat the etching solution. In addition, pressure may be increased into the atmospheric pressure or more in order to raise the temperature of the etching solution over its boiling temperature. Forming the scribing or cleaving lines 26, 27 on the sapphire base substrate 20 may utilize at least one of dry etching techniques such as ICP/RIE and RIE. FIG. 12 illustrates chamferring or scribing lines 26, 27 formed on the sapphire base substrate for the purpose of breaking a device structure into unit devices via wet etching. In case of forming the chamferring lines, it is unnecessary to additionally form the scribing lines or cleaving line 26, 27. As shown in FIG. 12, the scribing or cleaving lines 26, 27 can be formed via wet etching in positions where the sapphire base substrate is to be divided or broken into unit LEDs. In this step, the sapphire base substrate 20 may be chamferred simultaneously with the formation of the scribing or cleaving lines 26, 27. In this case, the etching has to be performed in view of the thickness of the sapphire base substrate 20 and the chamferring depth. For example, if a protective layer in use for an etch mask has a too small opening width, etching will be automatically stopped in a specific depth. This will prevent the sapphire base substrate from breaking into pieces according to unit LEDs. The scribing lines or cleaving lines 26, 27 preferably have a depth of about 1 to 3/m. However, when are utilized as the scribing or cleaving lines 26, 27, the chamferring areas of the sapphire base substrate 20 may have a depth of 20m, and preferably 0.1 to lOOμm or more. While conventional fabrication methods of nitride-based semiconductor LEDs perform scribing with a chip spacing of 40 to 50 m at which a sapphire base substrate is broken into a dice according to unit LEDs, this invention can reduce the chip spacing or the scribing or cleaving line 26, 27 to lOjUm or less thereby to increase chip yield per wafer. In addition, the semiconductor LED of the invention may further comprise a reflective layer 21 formed on the sapphire base substrate 20 in order to increase light extraction efficiency. A reflective layer 21 is formed as follows: A chamferring or scribing line 26, 27 is formed. A hard mask of SiN or SiO is etched via BOE. Then, a metal film is formed via deposition of a conductive material having excellent light reflectivity and capable of forming an ohmic contact. The conductive material is at least one selected from the group consisting of NiO, NiAu, Ti, Ni, Au, Pd, Rh, Pt, Al, Cr, Ta and alloys thereof or the group consisting Ti/Al, Ti/Al/Au, Rh/Au, Rh/Au/Pt/Au, Pd/Au, Ti/Al/Pt/Au and alloys thereof. Then, lift-off is performed to produce the reflective layer 21. After that, a resultant chip structure is broken into unit devices.

Embodiments FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a second embodiment of the invention. The nitride-based semiconductor LED of the second embodiment of the invention has a structure similar to that of the first embodiment except that a reflective layer 21 is deposited on the entire chamferred area of a sapphire base substrate 20 as shown in FIG. 4. With the reflective layer 21, light incident into the sapphire base substrate 20 is directed upward thereby raising light extraction efficiency. The reflective layer 21 of Al deposition increases light extraction efficiency for about 50%. The reflective layer 21 covering the entire surface of the sapphire base substrate 20 prevents light from leaking laterally thereby raising light extraction efficiency due to an increase of escape probability. In addition, the reflective layer 21 can prevent the metal reflective layer from separating from the sapphire base substrate 20 owing to weak bonding force therebetween. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a third embodiment of the invention. In the nitride-based semiconductor LED according to the third embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG.5, an LED chip is connected to a first lead frame 23 and a second lead frame 24. That is, a conductive silver paste 22 is adapted to bond the LED chip to the first lead frame 23, and a wire 25 is adapted to connect a second electrode 19 of the LED chip to the second lead frame 24. A reflective layer 21 is deposited on the sapphire base substrate 20 contacting the conductive silver paste 22 while wrapping the sapphire base substrate 20. Packaging the LED in such a fashion can prevent photons generated by an active layer 14 from reacting with the silver paste 22. This as a result can protect the silver paste 22 from aging, and thus improve the reliability of the LED. This is especially effective to LEDs in UV range. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a nitride-based semiconductor LED according to a fourth embodiment of the invention, in which an LED chip is mounted in a flip chip type. As shown in FIG. 6, the nitride-based semiconductor LED according to the fourth embodiment of the invention is so designed that light is emitted through a sapphire base substrate 20 to the outside. In addition, first and second electrodes 18 and 19 are mounted on lead frames 23 and 24. The sapphire base substrate 20 is provided with projections via wet etching, which are adapted to induce scattered reflection thereby raising light extraction efficiency. This structure can be applied to not only blue nitride-based semiconductor LEDs of 470nm wavelength but also all nitride-based semiconductor LEDs of In_x(Ga_yAlι-_y) N (0<x<l, 0<y<l, x + y>l) which are grown on a sapphire base substrate.

Industrial Applicability The present invention forms a scribing line via wet etching on a sapphire base substrate and then deposits a reflective metal layer on the sapphire base substrate in order to protect the silver past damage as well as to increase reflectivity, potentially improve light extraction efficiency, facilitate process and save manufacturing cost, thereby enabling mass production. The invention also adopts any one of mechanical polishing, dry etching and wet etching to perform lapping, mirror polishing and cleaving line-formation for the purpose of device-breaking to thereby significantly improving productivity. In addition, conventional scribing can be substituted by wet etching and/or dry etching so that the device-breaking can be performed only via photolithography and wet etching. This as a result can standardize a process and facilitate mass production. Furthermore, the fabrication method proposed by the invention can form a triangular scribing line in an area for device-breaking via dry or wet etching so as to facilitate device-breaking. This also forms the sapphire base substrate into a triangular configuration in order to increase escape probability of photons generated in the active layer thereby improving light extraction efficiency.

Claims

1. A nitride-based semiconductor Light Emitting Diode (LED) comprising: a sapphire base substrate; a first conductive contact layer formed on the sapphire base substrate; a first electrode connected to the first conductive contact layer; a first cladding layer formed on the first conductive contact layer; an active layer formed on the first conductive cladding layer; a second cladding layer formed on the active layer; a second conductive contact layer formed on the second cladding layer; and a second electrode formed on the second conductive contact layer, wherein the sapphire base substrate is chamferred.

2. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 1, wherein the sapphire base substrate has a reflective layer formed on a side without a thin film structure.

3. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 2, wherein the reflective layer is made of one selected from a group consisting of Ti, Al, Rd, Pt, Ta, Ni, Cr, Au, Rh, Pd and alloys thereof .

4. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sapphire base substrate is chamferred to form a triangular chip structure thereby facilitating light extraction.

5. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sapphire base substrate has a roughened configuration.

6. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sapphire base substrate has a thickness of 40 to 500/iUl.

7. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the buffer layer, the first conductive contact layer, the first cladding layer, the active layer, the second cladding layer and the second conductive contact layer are made of In_x (Ga_yAlι__y) N, wherein 0<x<l, 0<y<l and x + y>l.

8. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first electrode has a metal structure of Ti/Ni/Au or Al.

9. The nitride-based semiconductor LED according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second electrode has a metal structure of Ti/Ni/Au or Pd.

10. A fabrication method of nitride-based semiconductor Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), the method comprising steps of: forming first and second electrodes on a nitirde semiconductor grown on a sapphire base substrate; lapping and mirror polishing the sapphire base substrate; forming a protective layer on the first electrode and the sapphire base substrate; etching the protective layer on the sapphire base substrate via photolithography to expose a partial area of the sapphire base substrate; etching the exposed partial area of the sapphire base substrate to chamfer the sapphire base substrate or form a scribing line thereon; and braking a resultant chip structure into piece chips.

11. The fabrication method according to claim 10, further comprising a step of forming a reflective layer to wrap the sapphire base substrate after the chamfering or scribing line-forming step.

12. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the lapping and mirror polishing step comprises at least one of a group consisting of mechanical polishing, wet etching and dry etching .

13. The fabrication method according to claim 12, wherein the wet etching comprises applying an etching solution, which is a mixed solution containing at least one selected from a group consisting of HC1, HN0₃, KOH, NaOH, H₂S0₄, H₃P0₄, 4H₃P0₄+4CH₃COOH+HN0₃+H₂0 (aluetch) and combinations thereof.

14. The fabrication method according to claim 13, wherein the wet etching comprises heating the etching solution to a temperature of over 200°C before application thereof.

15. The fabrication method according to claim 14, wherein the etching solution is heated directly with a heater.

16. The fabrication method according to claim 14, wherein the etching solution is heated indirectly via optical absorption.

17. The fabrication method according to claim 14, wherein the heating comprises a higher pressure than an atmospheric pressure in order to elevate the etching solution to a higher temperature.

18. The fabrication method according to claim 12, wherein the dry etching adopts ICP/RIE or RIE.

19. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the breaking step comprises adopting at least one of wet etching and dry etching to form a scribing line for sapphire base substrate-breaking.

20. The fabrication method according to claim 19, wherein the wet etching comprises applying an etching solution, which is a mixed solution containing at least one selected from a group consisting of HCl, HN0₃, KOH, NaOH, H₂S0₄, H₃P0₄, 4H₃P0₄+4CH3COOH+HNθ3+H₂0 and combinations thereof.

21. The fabrication method according to claim 19, wherein the dry etching adopts ICP/RIE or RIE.

22. The fabrication method according to claim 19, wherein the dry etching adopts at least one of a group consisting of BC1₃, Cl₂, HBr and Ar as an etching gas.

23. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the chamferring or scribing line-forming step performs etching to the extent that the sapphire base substrate has a V-shaped groove as a chamferred area or scribing line.

24. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the chamferring or scribing line-forming step performs etching to the extent that the sapphire base substrate has a trench as a chamferred area or scribing line.

25. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the scribing line-forming is performed simultaneously with the chamferring for the purpose of more light extraction.

26. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the chamferring and scribing line-forming step comprises adopting at least one of wet etching and dry etching.

27. The fabrication method according to claim 25, wherein the wet etching comprises applying an etching solution, which is a mixed solution containing at least one selected from a group consisting of HCl, HN0₃, KOH, NaOH, H₂S0₄, H₃PO₄, 4H₃PO₄+4CH₃COOH+HNO₃+H2O and combinations thereof.

28. The fabrication method according to claim 25, wherein the dry etching adopts ICP/RIE or RIE.

29. The fabrication method according to claim 25, wherein the dry etching adopts at least one of a group consisting of BC1₃, Cl₂, HBr and Ar as an etching gas.

30. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the protective layer comprises one selected from a group consisting of epoxy, spin-on-glass (SOG) , SiN and SiO.

31. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the lapping and mirror polishing step comprises providing the sapphire base substrate with a thickness ranging from 40 to 400/I11.

32. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the chamferring step comprises providing the sapphire base substrate with a chamferred area in a thickness ranging from 0.1 to 100 tm .

33. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the scribing line-forming step comprises etching the sapphire base substrate in a range from 0.01 to lOOjcan.

34. The fabrication method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the lapping and mirror polishing step provides the sapphire base substrate with a roughness of lO m or less.