Patent ID: 8735192

Claim:
A method of fabricating a nitride semiconductor light emitting device having a light emitting portion coated with a coating film, comprising: forming a stack including at least a substrate, an active layer, and a clad layer, the substrate being formed of GaN; cleaning said light emitting portion; and coating said light emitting portion with said coating film such that said coating film is in contact with said light emitting portion, said coating film formed of an oxynitride, said oxynitride being in contact with said light emitting portion, wherein said cleaning is performed before said coating and includes exposing said light emitting portion to a plasma of argon, nitrogen, or a combination thereof, wherein said nitride semiconductor light emitting device is a nitride semiconductor laser device and said light emitting portion is a facet of a cavity, the facet being formed by cleaving the stack, and wherein the light emitting portion is first exposed to a plasma of nitrogen followed by exposure to a plasma of argon.