Patent ID: 8105857
Filing Date: 2012-01-31
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
1. A method for fabricating a III-nitride semiconductor laser device, comprising the steps of: forming a substrate product having a laser structure, the laser structure including a substrate and a semiconductor region, the substrate comprising a hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor and having a semipolar primary surface, and the semiconductor region being formed on the semipolar primary surface; scribing a first surface of the substrate product to form a scribed mark on the first surface, the scribed mark extending along a reference line indicative of a direction of an a-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor; mounting the substrate product on a breaking device such that first and second support portions of the breaking device support first and second regions of the substrate product, respectively, after forming the scribed mark; and carrying out breakup of the substrate product by press in alignment with the scribed mark in a third region of the substrate product, without supporting the third region, to form another substrate product and a laser bar, the third region being located between the first and second regions, the third region of the substrate product being adjacent to the first and second regions, the press being implemented against a second surface of the substrate product, a first edge of the first support portion being separated from a second edge of the second support portion, the substrate product being mounted on the breaking device so that the reference line is apart from a center line defining a center between the first edge and the second edge, the first surface being a surface opposite to the second surface, the semiconductor region being located between the first surface and the substrate, the laser bar has first and second end faces extending from the first surface to the second surface and being made by the breakup, the first and second end faces forming a laser cavity of the III-nitride semiconductor laser device, the substrate product comprising an anode electrode and a cathode electrode provided on the laser structure, the semiconductor region including a first cladding layer, a second cladding layer, and an active layer provided between the first cladding layer and the second cladding layer, the first cladding layer comprising a first conductivity type GaN-based semiconductor, and the second cladding layer comprising a second conductivity type GaN-based semiconductor, the first cladding layer, the second cladding layer, and the active layer being arranged along a normal axis normal to the semipolar primary surface, a c-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor of the substrate being inclined at an angle ALPHA with respect to an axis normal to the semipolar primary surface toward an m-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor, and the first and second end faces intersecting with an m-n plane defined by the m-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor and the normal axis normal to the semipolar primary surface.