Xerox Corporation

Fernando A Ponce

G A Connell

David P Bour

Noble Marshall Johnson

Robert L Thornton

Ross D Bringans

Donald R Scifres

Linda T Romano

William Streifer

Werner K Goetz

David W Treat

Kevin J Beernink

The present invention relates to electronic devices formed in crystallites of III-V nitride materials. Specifically, the present invention simplifies the processing technology required for the fabrication of high-performance electronic devices in III-V nitride materials.

Semiconductor devices constructed from crystallites

Methods for defect-free impurity-induced laser disordering (IILD) of AlGaInP and AlGaAs heterostructures. Phosphorus-doped or As-doped films are used in which silicon serves as a diffusion source and silicon nitride acts as a barrier for selective IILD. High-performance, index-guided (AlGa).sub.0.5 In.sub.0.5 P lasers may be fabricated with this technique, analogous to those made in the AlGaAs material system. The deposition of the diffusion source films preferably is carried out in a low pressure reactor. Also disclosed is a scheme for reducing or eliminating phosphorus overpressure during silicon diffusion into III-V semiconducting material by adding a pre-diffusion anneal step. Defects produced during intermixing are also reduced using a GaInP or GaInP/GaAs cap.

Thermally processed, phosphorus- or arsenic-containing semiconductor

A buried-layer semiconductor structure solving the problem of defect and dislocation generation which typically results when impurity induced layer disordering occurs across interfaces where there are changes in both the column III and the column V constituents in the manufacture of III-V compound semiconductors, for use, for example, in lasers. The structure is characterized by a thin buried active layers entirely bounded by thick layers on a substrate. Defect generation is avoided by maintaining the thin layer below a critical thickness and lattice matching the thick layers to the substrate. As a further feature, the problem of relatively poor thermal conductivity in AlGaInP based laser structures is avoided by minimizing the amount of AlGaInP material contained in the laser structure, restricting these materials only to the critical active layers, and using AlGaAs for the majority of the optical guiding and carrier confining layers. As a further feature, high levels of p-type doping in AlInP, which is desired because of its low refractive index, is obtained by replacing AlInP layers with AlGaAs layers of high aluminum composition and therefore comparable refractive index.

Buried layer III-V semiconductor devices with impurity induced layer

A multilayered reflector structure deposited on the light emitting surface of a semiconductor electroluminescent device and consecutively comprising a layer of low refractive index material, a layer of intermediate refractive index material and a layer of high refractive index material. Ablative means remove and form an aperture in the outer high index layer at the region of optical radiation emission from said device whereby the level of reflectivity is highest at the center of the aperture as compared to structure regions adjacent to the aperture. In this manner, fundamental mode stabilization may be achieved. Also disclosed is a nonablated three layered reflector structure.

Apertured and unapertured reflector structures for electroluminescent

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Fernando A Ponce