Patent ID: 8236591

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting element from a wafer in which a gallium nitride compound semiconductor has been laminated on a sapphire substrate having an orientation flat, said method comprising: laminating a semiconductor layer on a first main face of the sapphire substrate having an off angle θ in a direction Xo parallel to the orientation flat; forming a first break groove that extends in a direction Y substantially perpendicular to the direction Xo, on the semiconductor layer side; forming a second break line that is shifted by a predetermined distance in the ±Xo direction from a predicted split line within the first break groove and parallel to the first break groove in the interior of the sapphire substrate and corresponding to the inclination of the off angle θ,the second break line being spaced apart from a second main face of the sapphire substrate opposite from the first main face; and splitting the wafer along the first break groove and/or second break line.