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US 6,014,395 AGranted
Oxidizable semiconductor device having cavities which allow for improved oxidation of the semiconductor device
AssigneePicolight Incorporated
InventorJack L. Jewell
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Abstract
A conductive element with a lateral oxidation barrier is provided for the control of lateral oxidation processes in semiconductor devices such as lasers, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers and light emitting diodes. The oxidation barrier is formed through modification of one or more layers which initially were receptive to oxidation. The quality of material directly below the oxidation barrier may be preserved. Related applications include the formation of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers on non-GaAs substrates and on GaAs substrates.
Claims10
An electrical current conducting element comprising:
- at least a first oxidizable layer;
- said first oxidizable layer being significantly oxidized in a laterally oriented first region, said first region exhibiting high electrical resistance;
- said first oxidizable layer having a second region which is not significantly oxidized and having electrical resistance significantly lower than said first region;
- at least one semiconductor layer residing above a portion of said first oxidizable layer;
- top and bottom electrical contact disposed to communicate with said second region;
- interconnect metallization deposited above at least a portion of said semiconductor layer, and in electrical communication with said top electrical contact, said interconnect metallization for injecting electrical current through said second region;
- and
- at least one basin disposed in said electrical conducting element, said basin for allowing access to said first region by an oxidizing agent so as to oxidize said first region.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.