Semiconductor structures having electrically insulating and conducting portions formed from an AlSb-alloy layer
US5726462A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 7, 1996 |
| Grant date | Mar 10, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 7, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E10/544
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure comprises a plurality of semiconductor layers formed on a substrate including at least one layer of a III-V compound semiconductor alloy comprising aluminum (Al) and antimony (Sb), with at least a part of the AlSb-alloy layer being chemically converted by an oxidation process to form superposed electrically insulating and electrically conducting portions. The electrically insulating portion formed from the AlSb-alloy layer comprises an oxide of aluminum (e.g. Al.sub.2 O.sub.3), while the electrically conducting portion comprises Sb. A lateral oxidation process allows formation of the superposed insulating and conducting portions below monocrystalline semiconductor layers for forming many different types of semiconductor structures having particular utility for optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, edge-emitting lasers, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, photodetectors and optical modulators (waveguide and surface normal), and for electronic devices such as heterojunction bipolar transistors, field-effect transistors and quantum-effect devices. The invention is expected to be particularly useful for forming…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.