Method for producing integrated semiconductor light emitter
AssigneeUniversity of Illinois Foundation
InventorsNick Holonyak, Jr., Wyn D. Laidig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A multilayer, III-V semiconductive structure can be disordered and shifted up in energy gap into a single crystalline form by a Zinc diffusion. More specifically, all or selected portions of a multilayer of either gallium arsenide/aluminum arsenide or gallium arsenide/aluminum gallium arsenide can be converted into single crystal aluminum gallium arsenide having a higher energy gap than that of the original structure by the process of a Zinc diffusion at low temperature. Other active devices can then be constructed in the higher energy gap material using established semiconductor processing steps.
Claims11
A method for converting a multilayer structure comprising first active semiconductor regions interposed between second semiconductor barrier layers, to a disordered mixture of both said first and second semiconductors, said mixture exhibiting a higher energy gap than said first active semiconductor region, said regions being sufficiently thin that they exhibit quantum well effects, the method comprising:
- disordering said regions by the introduction of Zinc atoms into said multilayer structure.
A method for integrating semiconductor devices into a monolithic structure, at least some of said devices being light emitting and including heterojunction multilayer structure, the method comprising:
- constructing a heterojunction light emitting semiconductor device which include multiple layers of interspersed active and barrier semiconductor regions, said active regions being 500 Angstroms or less in thickness;
- masking portions of said device;
- and
- introducing Zinc atoms into unmasked portions of said device at a temperature sufficient to cause said active and barrier regions to compositionally disorder to a higher energy gap material than said active semiconductor region.
A method for integrating a semiconductor device into a monolithic structure, at least some of said device including heterojunction multilayer structures, the method comprising:
- constructing a heterojunction semiconductor device which includes multiple layers of thin interspersed active and barrier semiconductor regions;
- masking portions of said device;
- and
- introducing zinc atoms into unmasked portions of said device to cause said active and barrier regions in said unmasked portions to compositionally disorder to a higher energy gap material than said active semiconductor region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.