III-Nitride light emitting devices with low driving voltage

US6630692B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Lumileds Lighting US, LLC · US

Inventors

• Werner Goetz · Palo Alto, US
• Nathan Gardner · Mountain View, US
• Richard Scott Kern · Grenoble, FR
• Andrew Y. Kim · Hayward, US
• Anneli Munkholm · Corona, US
• Stephen A. Stockman · معلمی نژاد, US
• Christopher Kocot · Redwood City, US
• Richard P. Schneider · Mountain View, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 29, 2001
• Grant date: Oct 7, 2003
• Expiry date: May 29, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10H20/01335
• WIPO field: Semiconductors
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

III-Nitride light emitting diodes having improved performance are provided. In one embodiment, a light emitting device includes a substrate, a nucleation layer disposed on the substrate, a defect reduction structure disposed above the nucleation layer, and an n-type III-Nitride semiconductor layer disposed above the defect reduction structure. The n-type layer has, for example, a thickness greater than about one micron and a silicon dopant concentration greater than or equal to about 1019 cm−3. In another embodiment, a light emitting device includes a III-Nitride semiconductor active region that includes at least one barrier layer either uniformly doped with an impurity or doped with an impurity having a concentration graded in a direction substantially perpendicular to the active region.