# US 10,312,409 B2 · Patterned sapphire substrate, light emitting diode and fabrication method thereof

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- Number: US 10,312,409 B2
- Document ID: US10312409B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/723,248
- Filed: 2017-10-03
- Published: 2018-01-25
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2015-11-03
- Assignees: Xiamen Sanan Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Xiamen Sanan Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Binbin Li; Yi-hsiang Hsu; Jingjing Wei; Yu Zhou; Zhen Wang; Kai Xu; Chia-hung Chang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10312409B2

## CPC

- H10H 20/814: having reflecting means, e.g. semiconductor Bragg reflectors
- H10H 20/01335: {the light-emitting regions comprising nitride materials}
- H10H 20/819: characterised by their shape, e.g. curved or truncated substrates
- H10H 20/82: Roughened surfaces, e.g. at the interface between epitaxial layers
- H10P 14/2921: {being crystalline insulating materials}
- H10P 14/2925: {Surface structures}
- H10P 14/3216: {Nitrides}
- H10P 14/3416: {Nitrides}
- H10P 14/36: {characterised by treatments done before the formation of the materials}
- H10H 20/825: containing nitrogen, e.g. GaN
- H10H: INORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING POTENTIAL BARRIERS
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A patterned sapphire substrate has a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, in which, the first surface of the substrate is formed by arranging a plurality of interspaced patterns, wherein, the patterns have a top surface, a bottom surface and a plurality of side surfaces and at least one concave region sandwiched between the adjacent side surfaces and the top surface, where, depth and width of the concave region gradually decrease from the top to the bottom of the pattern. The concave region on the pattern surface of the patterned sapphire substrate enlarges light reflection area, thus improving light extraction efficiency of the patterned sapphire substrate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A patterned sapphire substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, wherein:
the first surface of the substrate is formed by arranging a plurality of interspaced patterns;
the patterns have a plurality of side surfaces and at least one concave region sandwiched between adjacent side surfaces;
a width of the concave region gradually decreases, and the concave region gradually becomes shallower, from a top to a bottom of the patterns;
wherein:
the patterns further comprise a top surface and a bottom surface, and the concave region is sandwiched between the adjacent side surfaces and the top surface of the patterns;
the concave region is connected by two inclined surfaces; and
a projection of the concave region on the bottom surface of the patterns appears as a triangle.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The patterned sapphire substrate of claim 1, wherein: the two inclined surfaces appear in axial symmetry.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The patterned sapphire substrate of claim 1, wherein: an inclined angle between the two inclined surfaces is 90°-150°.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The patterned sapphire substrate of claim 1, wherein: the side surfaces comprise a first side surface and a second side surface with different inclinations that are arranged on upper and lower portions of the patterns respectively.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The patterned sapphire substrate of claim 4, wherein: the second side surface appears as an arcuation.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The patterned sapphire substrate of claim 1, wherein: the substrate pattern bottom is 4-20 μm wide.

### Claim 7

A patterned sapphire substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, wherein:
the first surface of the substrate is formed by arranging a plurality of interspaced patterns;
the patterns have a plurality of side surfaces and at least one concave region sandwiched between adjacent side surfaces;
a width of the concave region gradually decreases, and the concave region gradually becomes shallower, from a top to a bottom of the patterns;
wherein:
the side surfaces comprise a first side surface and a second side surface with different inclinations that are arranged on upper and lower portions of the patterns respectively; and
inclination of the first side surface is less than that of the second side surface.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

A fabrication method of forming the patterned sapphire substrate of claim 7, the method comprising:
S71. providing a sapphire substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, and forming a mask layer with periodically-arranged mask patterns on the first surface; wherein the mask patterns at least have an outward-extending concave region, and wherein the concave region corresponds to a lattice direction of the sapphire substrate;
S72. etching the first surface of the sapphire substrate via wet etching to form a plurality of periodically-arranged interspaced patterns so as to form the patterned sapphire substrate, wherein the concave region of the mask patterns has a higher etching rate.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The fabrication method of claim 8, wherein: the patterns also comprise a top surface and a bottom surface, and the concave region is sandwiched between the adjacent side surfaces and the top surface of the patterns.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The fabrication method of claim 8, wherein: the mask patterns formed in S71 has a plurality of outward-extending convex regions, wherein, the convex regions correspond to between the lattice directions of the sapphire substrate.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The fabrication method of claim 10, wherein: the convex regions and the concave regions are arranged alternatively with number of 3each.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The fabrication method of claim 10, wherein: the inclined angle between the adjacent convexes is 90°-150°.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The fabrication method of claim 10, wherein: the distance between the edge and the center of the mask pattern formed in S71 is 0.25-10 μm, the mask pattern is 1-10 μm high and the space between adjacent mask patterns is 0.5-10 μm.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The fabrication method of claim 8, wherein: material of the mask layer formed in S71 is a photo resistor, an oxide, or a metal.

### Claim 15 (depends on 7)

A light-emitting diode comprising:
the patterned sapphire substrate according to claim 7; and
a light-emitting epitaxial laminated layer formed thereon.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The light-emitting diode of claim 15, wherein:
an AIN layer is formed on the surface of the patterned sapphire substrate via PVD, and the light-emitting epitaxial layer is formed on the AIN layer;
the light-emitting diode is fabricated with a fabrication method including:
S11. providing a sapphire substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, and forming a mask layer with periodically-arranged mask patterns on the first surface; in which, the mask pattern at least has an outward-extending concave, wherein, the concave corresponds to the lattice direction of the sapphire substrate;
S12. etching the first surface of the sapphire substrate via wet etching to form a plurality of periodically-arranged interspaced patterns so as to form a patterned sapphire substrate, in which, the concave of the mask pattern has higher etching rate;
S13. forming an AIN layer on the first surface of the patterned sapphire substrate via PVD; and
S14. forming a light-emitting epitaxial layer at least comprising an N -type semiconductor layer, a light-emitting layer and a P -type semiconductor layer on the AIN layer via epitaxial growth;
the patterns formed in S12 have a plurality of side surfaces and at least one concave region sandwiched between adjacent side surfaces, where, depth and width of the concave region gradually decrease from the top to the bottom of the pattern;
the pattern also comprises a top surface and a bottom surface, and the concave region is sandwiched between the adjacent side surface and the top surface;
the mask pattern formed in S11 also has a plurality of outward-extending convexes corresponding between the lattice directions of the sapphire substrate;
the convexes and the concaves are arranged alternatively with number of 3each; and
the AIN layer in step S3′ is 10-200 Å thick.