Patent ID: 7745841

Claim:
A semiconductor light-emitting device comprising: an n-type cladding layer and a p-type cladding layer of a nitride-based III-V compound semiconductor material; an active layer, sandwiched by said n-type and p-type cladding layers, of a nitride-based III-V compound semiconductor material, wherein said active layer includes a plurality of barrier layers, and a plurality of well layers, said well and barrier layers being alternatingly arranged, all of said well layers of said active layer have a first bandgap energy that is substantially uniform, all of said barrier layers of said active layer have a second bandgap energy that is substantially uniform, and said active layer has a first end closer to said n-type cladding layer than to said p-type cladding layer, located adjacent one of said barrier layers, and a second end, closer to said p-type cladding layer than to said n-type cladding layer, and located adjacent one of said well layers; a final barrier layer of a nitride-based III-V compound semiconductor material, which, with said active layer, constitutes a multiple quantum well structure, and which is located between the second end of said active layer and said p-type cladding layer, said final barrier layer including at least one layer having a band gap energy that is smaller than the second band gap energy; and an electron blocking layer of a nitride-based III-V compound semiconductor material including Al and which is located between said final barrier layer and said p-type cladding layer, and which contacts said at least one layer of said final barrier layer having a band gap energy that is smaller than the second band gap energy, wherein said p-type cladding layer has a bandgap energy larger than the second bandgap energy, and said electron blocking layer has a bandgap energy larger than the bandgap energy of said p-type cladding layer.