Patent Abstract:
This disclosure provides a light-emitting device including a patterned substrate and the manufacturing method thereof. The patterned substrate has a plurality of depressions and/or extrusions for scattering light emitted from a light-emitting layer. Each of the plurality of depressions and/or extrusions comprises a top portion, a bottom portion, and a sidewall portion enclosing the top portion and the bottom portion, and at least part of the sidewall portion comprises a curve. In a preferred embodiment, the light-emitting device further comprises a rough surface formed on at least one of the top portion, the bottom portion, and the sidewall portion.

Full Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     The present application claims the right of priority based on Taiwan Application Serial Number 095127924, filed Jul. 28, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.  
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0002]     This invention relates to a light-emitting device, and more particularly to a light-emitting device having a patterned substrate and the method thereof.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0003]     Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have become a symbol of energy-saving industry owing to their low power consumption and long operation life. Meanwhile, LEDs are generally expected to replace traditional fluorescent illumination devices. Whether the LEDs can be broadly implemented in a variety of lighting apparatus or not depends on their light-emitting efficiency and cost. Therefore, how to increase the light extraction efficiency becomes one of the decisive factors to improve the light-emitting efficiency.  
         [0004]     Surface roughening has been an effective means to enhance the light-extraction efficiency, whether on a substrate or on a top semiconductor layer. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,085, as shown in  FIG. 1 , Lester discloses a light-emitting device having a surface-roughened substrate. LED  10  comprises a sapphire substrate  11  and a plurality of protrusions  111  and depressions  112  formed therein for scattering light emitted from a light-emitting layer  14 . Therefore the light extraction efficiency of the light-emitting device is enhanced. The plurality of protrusions  111  and depressions  112  are formed by randomly roughening the surface of the substrate  11  by mechanically polishing or reactive-ion-etching (RIE). Although the light extraction efficiency is enhanced because of the roughened surface of the substrate  11 , the surface damages such as the alteration of the surface composition and the lattice distortion are resulted from the roughening process as well. Besides, part of the mask materials or the reactive ions are sputtered onto and even doped into a certain depth of the substrate, therefore the quality of the epitaxy layer deposited thereafter is downgraded. The mechanical polishing process also damages the lattice structure of the substrate surface, such that the quality of the successively grown semiconductor layer, such GaN, is worse, and the internal quantum efficiency is lowered.  
         [0005]     Wang et al. published a paper in Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 153(3) C182-185 studying a maskless method for Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth(ELOG) to grow GaN layer. The purpose of the paper is to simplify the complexity of the traditional ELOG process using SiO2 as a hard mark. The study focuses on growing a GaN film having a lattice structure with lower defect density on a sapphire substrate, especially with lower threading dislocation defects (TDDs) caused by the lattice mismatch between the sapphire substrate and the GaN film. Wet etching scheme is utilized to form plural trenches of V shape or U shape, and further correlate the influence of the exposed facets of the sapphire substrate formed under different etching conditions upon the TDD density of subsequently-formed ELOG GaN film.  
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0006]     One aspect of the disclosure proposes a light-emitting device having a patterned substrate. The patterned substrate comprises an uneven surface for scattering light emitted from a light-emitting layer.  
         [0007]     Another aspect of the disclosure proposes a light-emitting device having a patterned substrate comprising a plurality of protrusions and/or depressions. At least one of the depressions and/or extrusions comprises a top portion, a bottom portion, and a sidewall portion enclosing the top portion and the bottom portion, and at least part of the sidewall portion comprises a curve for facilitating the subsequent epitaxy deposition.  
         [0008]     In a preferred embodiment, the surface of the depressions and/or protrusions has fewer lattice damages. The sidewall portion comprises a plurality of symmetric planes. At least one of the top portion and the bottom portion comprises a flat plane.  
         [0009]     In another preferred embodiment, the uneven surface further comprises a rough surface formed on at least one of top portion, the bottom portion, and the sidewall portion. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a light-emitting device in accordance with the prior art.  
         [0011]      FIGS. 2A  to  2 E demonstrate the steps of an exemplary method for fabricating the light-emitting device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  shows the cross-sectional view and the corresponding top view of the patterned substrate in accordance with the first embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0013]      FIGS. 4A  to  4 D demonstrate the steps of another exemplary method for fabricating the light-emitting device in accordance with the second embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  shows the correlation curve of the output power dependent upon the various etching time in accordance with the first embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  shows the improvement of the output power of the present disclosure versus the conventional device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  shows the improvement of the external quantum efficiency of the present disclosure versus the conventional device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]      FIGS. 2A  to  2 E demonstrate an exemplary manufacturing method in accordance with the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in  FIG. 2A , a substrate  21  is firstly provided wherein the substrate  21  comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of sapphire, GaN, SiC, Si, GaAs, and other substrate material that can be used to grow III-V semiconductor on it. Subsequently, a patterned hard mask layer  22 , such as silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), is formed on the substrate  21 . The patterned mask layer  22  can be achieved by forming a photoresist layer on a hard mask layer pre-deposited on the substrate  21 , then performing lithography and etching process for defining and transferring the predetermined pattern to the hard mask layer. After removing the photoresist layer, the patterned hard mask layer  22  is formed as a protection film against the subsequent wet etching.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2B  shows the step for transferring the predetermined pattern from the patterned hard mask layer  22  to the substrate  21  to form a plurality of depressions on the surface of the patterned substrate  21   a  by a wet etching process. The wet etching process comprises the step of dipping the substrate  21  having a patterned hard mask layer  22  thereon in a phosphoric acid (HNO 3 ) based solution. It is preferred to perform the wet etching process under high temperature condition such as 250 to 350° C. It is also preferred to mix a quantity of sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) into the HNO 3  based solution to increase the boiling point of the solution. It is also preferred that the proportion of HNO 3  in the solution should be greater than H 2 SO 4  so the HNO 3  can stay as a base. A preferred ratio of HNO 3  to H 2 SO 4  is around 2:1. The proper operating temperature is set to around 250 to 350° C. Operating in lower temperature will result in lower etching rate and prolong the etching time; whereas, operating in higher temperature will render the solution easily volatile, therefore alter the concentration of the etching solution, and affect the stability of the etching rate and product performance. Furthermore, the life-cycle of the etching solution is shortened, therefore the manufacturing cost is increased. Moreover, high-temperature process is a potential risk to the public safety. According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the etching rate is around 0.6 to 1 micron/min. under the condition of operating temperature of 320° C. and the composition ratio of HNO 3  to H 2 SO 4  being 2:1. The etching time is controlled within a predetermined time range to produce the depressions having a flat bottom portion, as shown in  FIG. 2B .  
         [0019]     After wet etching, the hard mask layer  22  is removed as shown in  FIG. 2C , and the plurality of depressions is formed on the patterned substrate  21   a.  The top-view pattern of the depression comprises circle or ellipse.  
         [0020]     Next, a semiconductor buffer layer  23  is epitaxially grown on the patterned substrate  21   a  as shown in  FIG. 2D . The semiconductor buffer layer  23  comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of AlN, GaN, InGaN, AlGaN, and other III-nitride materials. The semiconductor buffer layer  23  is substantially filled the depressions without forming cavities or voids to prevent the total reflection at the interface between the semiconductor buffer layer  23  and the voids. Therefore, the light is scattered by the depressions of the patterned substrate  21   a.    
         [0021]     After the formation of the semiconductor buffer layer  23 , a light-emitting stack layer  24  and a transparent conductive layer  25  are sequentially formed thereon, as shown in  FIG. 2D . In the preferred embodiment, the light-emitting stack layer  24  is made of GaN based materials and comprises a first semiconductor layer  241  of first conductivity-type, an active layer  242 , and a second semiconductor layer  243  of second conductivity-type. The first conductivity-type is n-type or p-type, whereas the second conductivity-type is different from the first conductivity-type. The structure of the active layer  242  can be a double-heterojunction(DH) structure or a multi-quantum well(MQW) structure for achieving higher internal quantum efficiency. The transparent conductive layer  25  comprises metal or metallic oxide which is selected from the group consisting of nickel, gold, indium tin oxide, cadmium tin oxide, antimony tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, zinc aluminum oxide, and zinc tin oxide.  
         [0022]     A portion of light-emitting stack layer  24  is removed by the conventional lithography-etching process so as to expose a portion of the first semiconductor layer  241 . A first electrode  27  is formed on the exposed first semiconductor layer, and a second electrode  28  is formed on the transparent conductive layer  25 . In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises forming a reflecting layer  28  on the lower surface of the patterned substrate  21   a  for enhancing the light extracted from the sidewall of the substrate. The reflecting layer  28  comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of Sn, Al, Au, Pt, Ag, Ti, Cu, PbSn, AuZn, SiO2, Al2O3, SiNx, and TiO2.  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  shows the cross-sectional views of the depression of the patterned substrate in different wet etching times. In one embodiment, the growth surface of the substrate comprises sapphire C plane. The shape of the top pattern of the depression is circle. The weight percentage of phosphoric acid to sulfuric acid is 2:1, and the operating temperature is about 320° C. The depressions  311 ,  312 , and  313  are accordingly formed with the etching time of 60, 90, 120 seconds. The depression  311  is composed of an opening top portion  311   a,  a flat bottom portion  311   b  substantially shaped as a triangle, and a sidewall portion  311   c  comprising at least three symmetric planes. The sidewall portion  311   c  encloses the flat bottom portion  311   b.  The ratio of the bottom area of the flat bottom portion  311   b  to the top area enclosed by the opening top portion  311   a  is about 0.35. The flat bottom portion  311   b  comprises sapphire C plane, i.e. {0001} plane, and the sidewall portion  311   b  comprises sapphire R plane, i.e. {1-102} plane. The cross-section of the sidewall portion  311   b  near the top portion and the bottom portion is a curve for facilitating the subsequent epitaxy deposition, and the bottom corner of the depression is rounded. The depression  312  is similar to the depression  311  except for the ratio of the bottom area of the flat bottom portion  312   b  to the top area enclosed by the opening  312   a  being about 0.18. The depression  313 , different from the depression  311  land depression  312 , is only composed of an opening portion  313   a  and a sidewall portion  313   b.  The sidewall portion  313   b  comprises at least three symmetric planes intersected at a bottom point O. The cross-section of the sidewall portion  311   b  near the top portion is a curve for facilitating the subsequent epitaxy deposition.  
         [0024]     It is clear from  FIG. 3  that the flat bottom portion is gradually diminished and the sidewall portion is enlarged as the etching time increases. It is caused by the difference between the etching rate of sapphire C plane and that of sapphire R plane. More specifically, the etching rate of sapphire C plane is higher than that of sapphire R plane.  
         [0025]      FIGS. 4A  to  4 D demonstrate another method for forming a patterned substrate in accordance with the second embodiment of the present disclosure. A substrate  41  is provided wherein the substrate  41  comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of sapphire, GaN, SiC, Si, GaAs, and other substrate material that can be used to grown III-V semiconductor. Subsequently, a patterned photoresist layer  42  is formed on the substrate  41  as shown in  FIG. 4A . The patterned photoresist layer  42  is prebaked on a hot plate with a temperature around 160° C. for reflowing and reshaping the patterned photoresist into a plurality of hemispheres, then performing etching process such as dry etching for defining and transferring the predetermined hemispherical pattern to the substrate as shown in  FIG. 4B . After removing the remaining photoresist layer, a patterned substrate  41   a  is formed as shown in  FIG. 4C . It is clear from  FIG. 4C  that the patterned substrate  41   a  comprises an uneven surface composed of a plurality of extrusions. The top-view pattern of the extrusion comprises circle or ellipse. Each of the plurality of extrusions comprises a top portion, a bottom portion, and a sidewall portion. The top portion and the bottom portion are both flat and substantially parallel. The sidewall portion is a curve for facilitating the subsequent epitaxy deposition. In a preferred embodiment, the top portion is further roughened by randomly etching the surface of the top portion to form an irregular pattern. The patterned substrate  41   b,  as shown in  FIG. 4D , includes additionally an irregular pattern on part of the uneven surface capable of further improving the light extraction efficiency. It is also preferred to form a regular pattern replacing the irregular pattern. Still, it is optional to form either the regular or irregular pattern on at least one of the bottom portion, the top portion, and the sidewall portion, or the entire uneven surface of the patterned substrate in both the first and second embodiments.  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  shows how the output power of the light-emitting device been affected by the patterned sapphire substrate formed under various etching times in accordance with the first embodiment. It is clear from the figure that comparing with the flat substrate, the patterned substrates formed under the etching time of 30, 60, 90, 120 seconds respectively have about 24%, 16%, 15%, and 5% improvement in the output power of the light-emitting device accordingly. The depression formed under the etching time of 120 seconds has only 5% improvement due to the near V-shape profile of such depression that does not facilitate the subsequent deposition of the semiconductor buffer layer. Nevertheless, it is conquerable for one with ordinary skill in the art by tuning the related parameters that are critical to the issue in the epitaxy deposition. It is preferred to form a depression having a flat bottom portion by controlling the etching time within a predetermined time. For example, the flat bottom portion of the depression can be formed under the etching time of about 15 to 100 seconds, and the ratio of the bottom area of the flat bottom portion to the top area enclosed by the opening of the depression is substantially between 0.15 and 0.75. Consequently, the output power is improved at least 10%.  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  show another experimental results of the improvement of the external quantum efficiency and the output power by the effect of the patterned substrate according the present disclosure, which are compared with the conventional flat substrate under various driving current conditions. It is clear from the figures that the light-emitting device in accordance with the present disclosure can achieve consistent enhancement no matter in external quantum efficiency or in output power while comparing with the conventional light-emitting device with a flat substrate under the driving current of 0 to 200 mA.  
         [0028]     It should be noted that the proposed various embodiments are not for the purpose to limit the scope of the disclosure. Any possible modifications without departing from the spirit of the disclosure may be made and should be covered by the disclosure.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7