Semiconductor light-emitting element and method of manufacturing same

Abstract

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor light-emitting element includes a first semiconductor layer having a first conduction type, a second semiconductor layer having a second conduction type, an active layer provided between the first and second semiconductor layers. The semiconductor light-emitting element also includes a polarity inversion layer provided on the second semiconductor layer, and a third semiconductor layer provided on the polarity inversion layer. The third semiconductor layer has the second conduction type. The crystal orientations of the first through third semiconductor layers are inverted, with the polarity inversion layer serving as a boundary. The first and third semiconductor layers have uppermost surfaces that are made from polar faces having common constitutional elements. Hexagonal conical protrusions arising from a crystal structure are formed at the outermost surfaces of the first and third semiconductor layers. The first through third semiconductor layers are made from a wurtzite-structure group III nitride semiconductor, and are layered along the C-axis direction of the crystal structure. In another embodiment, the polar faces may be made from nitrogen atoms. The hexagonal conical protrusions may be formed by wet etching.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.