Sandia Corporation

Other

Emcore Corporation

Sandia National Laboratories

Kevin L Lear

Kent D Choquette

Robert P Bryan

Kevin P Killeen

Scott A Chalmers

Jack L Jewell

Richard P Schneider, Jr

Gregory R Olbright

G Ronald Hadley

Peter Esherick

Wenlin Luo

Olga B Spahn

John R Joseph

Adelbert Awyoung

This invention relates to a method of improving the fabrication of etched semiconductor devices by using a patterned adhesion promoter layer over a hydrocarbon planarization material. More specifically, the present invention improves the bonding of a metal interconnect layer to a hydrocarbon planarization material, such as polyimide, by inserting an adhesion promotion layer, such as silicon nitride, between the hydrocarbon planarization material and the metal interconnect layer. A process for improving the fabrication of etched semiconductor devices, comprises the steps of: (1) depositing a hydrocarbon planarization material over a substrate; (2) depositing an adhesion promoter over the hydrocarbon planarization material; (3) defining a first mask and etching back the adhesion promoter so as to form an adhesion promoter pad over a portion of the hydrocarbon planarization material; and (4) depositing a first metal over the adhesion promoter pad.

Method of improving the fabrication of etched semiconductor devices

A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device. The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) device comprises one or more VCSELs with each VCSEL having a mode-control region thereabout, with the mode-control region forming an optical cavity with an effective cavity length different from the effective cavity length within each VCSEL. Embodiments of the present invention can be formed as single VCSELs and as one- or two-dimensional arrays of VCSELs, with either an index-guided mode of operation or an index anti-guided mode of operation being defined by a sign of the difference in the two effective cavity lengths.

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device

A semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure comprises a plurality of semiconductor layers formed on a substrate including at least one layer of a III-V compound semiconductor alloy comprising aluminum (Al) and antimony (Sb), with at least a part of the AlSb-alloy layer being chemically converted by an oxidation process to form superposed electrically insulating and electrically conducting portions. The electrically insulating portion formed from the AlSb-alloy layer comprises an oxide of aluminum (e.g. Al.sub.2 O.sub.3), while the electrically conducting portion comprises Sb. A lateral oxidation process allows formation of the superposed insulating and conducting portions below monocrystalline semiconductor layers for forming many different types of semiconductor structures having particular utility for optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, edge-emitting lasers, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, photodetectors and optical modulators (waveguide and surface normal), and for electronic devices such as heterojunction bipolar transistors, field-effect transistors and quantum-effect devices. The invention is expected to be particularly useful for forming light-emitting devices for use in the 1.3-1.6 .mu.m wavelength range, with the AlSb-alloy layer acting to define an active region of the device and to effectively channel an electrical current therein for efficient light generation.

Semiconductor structures having electrically insulating and conducting

A unitary lens semiconductor device and method. The unitary lens semiconductor device is provided with at least one semiconductor layer having a composition varying in the growth direction for unitarily forming one or more lenses in the semiconductor layer. Unitary lens semiconductor devices may be formed as light-processing devices such as microlenses, and as light-active devices such as light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, and resonant cavity photodetectors.

Unitary lens semiconductor device

A monolithically integrated optoelectronic device is provided which integrates a vertical cavity surface emitting laser and either a photosensitive or an electrosensitive device either as input or output to the vertical cavity surface emitting laser either in parallel or series connection. Both vertical and side-by-side arrangements are disclosed, and optical and electronic feedback means are provided. Arrays of these devices can be configured to enable optical computing and neural network applications.

Integration of photoactive and electroactive components with vertical

A compound-semiconductor optical device and method. The optical device is provided with one or more asymmetrically-graded heterojunctions between compound semiconductor layers for forming a distributed Bragg reflector mirror having an improved electrical and thermal resistance. Efficient light-emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes, resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes, and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers may be formed according to the present invention, which may be applied to the formation of resonant-cavity photodetectors.

Optical device with low electrical and thermal resistance bragg

A semiconductor light-emitting device and method. The semiconductor light-emitting device is provided with at least one control layer or control region which includes an annular oxidized portion thereof to channel an injection current into the active region, and to provide a lateral refractive index profile for index guiding the light generated within the device. A periodic composition grading of at least one of the mirror stacks in the device provides a reduced operating voltage of the device. The semiconductor light-emitting device has a high efficiency for light generation, and may be formed either as a resonant-cavity light-emitting diode (RCLED) or as a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL).

Efficient semiconductor light-emitting device and method

We report a method for accurate growth of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The method uses a single reflectivity spectrum measurement to determine the structure of the partially completed VCSEL at a critical point of growth. This information, along with the extracted growth rates, allows imprecisions in growth parameters to be compensated for during growth of the remaining structure, which can then be completed with very accurate critical dimensions. Using this method, we can now routinely grow lasing VCSELs with Fabry-Perot cavity resonance wavelengths controlled to within 0.5%.

Method for accurate growth of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

A method is described for reproducibly controlling layer thickness and varying layer composition in an MBE deposition process. In particular, the present invention includes epitaxially depositing a plurality of layers of material on a substrate with a plurality of growth cycles whereby the average of the instantaneous growth rates for each growth cycle and from one growth cycle to the next remains substantially constant as a function of time.

Growing community of inventors

Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

Kevin L Lear