Light emitting semiconductor device with GaInNAs active layer and GaAs spacer layers

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to light emitting semiconductor devices having excellent carrier confinement capabilities.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#The present invention together with its various features and advantages, can be more easily understood from the following more detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a light emitting semiconductor device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a light emitting semiconductor device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, in which an active layer is tensile strained;

#In the description which follows, specific embodiments of the present invention advantageously used in light emitting device applications are described. It is understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, it is appreciated that the structure and methods for fabrication of light emitting semiconductor devices are adaptable to any form of semiconductor devices. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

#In obtaining the present invention, rigorous and extensive experimentation has been conducted with semiconductor laser devices having GaInNAs layers which are lattice-matched to, or tensile strained with, GaAs substrates provided with cladding layers. As a result, it was found to be difficult for the GaInNAs active layers to be provided directly onto the above-mentioned AlzGa1-zAs (0<z≦1) or GatIn1-tPuAs1-u (0<t<1 and 0<u≦1).

#Since almost all of nitrogen-containing alloy semiconductors are in the non-miscible region in the solid solubility diagram, the growth of these alloy semiconductors are generally quite difficult by conventional crystal growth methods and a minute amount of nitrogen can be incorporated in semiconductor crystals only by non-equilibrium growth methods such as, for example, metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).