Method of making a laser diode
AssigneeRCA Corporation
InventorsFrank Z. Hawrylo, Henry Kressel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In making a laser diode by a method which includes epitaxially depositing a plurality of layers of a semiconductor material on a substrate, the final outermost layer deposited is of a material which has a band-gap lower than the preceding adjacent layer, which readily accepts a conductivity modifier, which can be selectively etched from the preceding adjacent layer and which preferably has a lattice parameter substantially equal to that of the preceding adjacent layer. A conductivity modifier is then diffused along a narrow stripe into and through the outermost layer, into the preceding adjacent layer. The outermost layer is then etched away to expose the surface of the preceding adjacent layer and a metal contact is applied to the exposed surface.
Claims6
In a method of making a semiconductor laser in which a plurality of layers of single crystal semiconductor material are epitaxially deposited in succession on a substrate to form an active region having heterojunctions on each side thereof and a conductivity modifier is diffused along a narrow stripe into the outermost of the epitaxial layers to a depth adjacent the active region, the improvement comprising:
- (a) depositing as the outermost layer a layer of a material which (1) readily accepts the conductivity modifier, (2) has a band-gap lower than the preceding adjacent layer, and (3) can be selectively etched from the preceding adjacent layer,
- (b) diffusing the conductivity modifier through the said outermost layer into the preceding adjacent layer, and then
- (c) etching away said outermost layer to expose the surface of the preceding adjacent layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.