Radiation-emitting semiconductor device with an intermediate barrier layer

U.S. Patent Number: 5381024

Abstract: Radiation-emitting semiconductor diodes in the form of a laser diode or in the form of an LED form important components in data-processing systems. There is a particular need for diodes which emit in the visible part of the spectrum, which have a low starting current and which can be manufactured at low cost. A radiation-emitting semiconductor diode comprising above the active layer a cladding layer and a GaAs contact layer, into which a mesa-shaped strip is etched, and provided on the upper and the lower side with a conductive layer, which forms outside the mesa-shaped strip a junction forming a barrier with a subjacent semiconductor layer, partly satisfies the aforementioned requirements. Such a diode may further advantageously include an active layer and cladding layers, which contain (Al) GaInP, and an intermediate layer between the cladding layer and the contact layer, which extends outside the mesa-shaped strip and forms at these areas current-limiting regions due to the junction forming a barrier with the conducting layer. This intermediate layer offers the possibility to optimize the barrier effect, independent of the properties of the remaining semiconductor layers. The intermediate layer can include InGaP, InAlGaP or AlGaAs.

Inventors: Valster; Adriaan (Eindhoven, NL)

Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation (New York, NY)

Application Number: 08/246,392

Issued: 1995-01-10

Expired: 2007-01-10

Classes: 257/97 ; 257/13; 257/472; 257/81; 257/95; 257/96; 372/45.01; 372/46.01

Field of search: 357/16,17,30 372/45,46 437/5 257/13,94,97,95,99,472

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