Patent ID: 8222655

Claim:
A semiconductor light emitting device comprising: a substrate; a first nitride semiconductor layer supported by the substrate; a second nitride semiconductor layer that is located farther from the substrate than the first nitride semiconductor layer is; an active layer formed between the first and the second nitride semiconductor layers and containing InGaN; a sublimation preventing layer formed between the active layer and the second nitride semiconductor layer and containing InGaN; and an In composition gradient layer sandwiched between the sublimation preventing layer and the second nitride semiconductor layer, the In composition gradient layer having such an In composition ratio gradient that the In composition ratio decreases in a thickness direction toward the second nitride semiconductor layer; wherein the sublimation preventing layer has an In composition ratio that is constant in a thickness direction of the sublimation preventing layer, wherein a film formation temperature of the sublimation preventing layer is equal to a film formation temperature of the active layer, and the In composition ratio in the sublimation preventing layer is smaller than an In composition ratio in the active layer.