Method for manufacturing a light-emitting body, and method for manufacturing a light-emitting element equipped with a light-emitting body.

Abstract

To provide a method for producing a light emitter, and a method for producing a light-emitting device having the light emitter, with increased options of raw materials for obtaining a gas including a rare earth element.SOLUTION: A method for producing a light emitter includes preparing a precursor including nitride crystal, and bringing a gas including a rare earth element into contact with the precursor to add the rare earth element to the precursor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a light-emitting element, and a method for manufacturing a light-emitting element equipped with a light-emitting element. [Background technology]

[0002] Methods for doping nitrides with rare earth elements include, for example, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy. For instance, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for forming europium-doped GaN using the MOCVD method. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-175482 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0004] There are not many options for rare earth element raw materials that can be used in the MOCVD method. Therefore, there is a need for a manufacturing method that offers a wider selection of raw materials containing rare earth elements.

[0005] One aspect of this disclosure aims to provide a method for manufacturing a light-emitting body with a wide range of raw material options including rare earth elements, and a method for manufacturing a light-emitting element comprising a light-emitting body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The first embodiment is a method for producing a light-emitting element, comprising preparing a precursor containing nitride crystals and adding the rare earth element to the precursor by contacting a gas containing a rare earth element with the precursor.

[0007] The second aspect is a method for manufacturing a light-emitting element, comprising preparing the light-emitting element, preparing an excitation source, and arranging the light-emitting element at a position where it is irradiated with light emitted from the excitation source. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a method for manufacturing a light-emitting body and a method for manufacturing a light-emitting element comprising a light-emitting body can be provided, which offers a wide range of raw material options for obtaining a gas containing rare earth elements. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a light-emitting element. [Figure 2A] This is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of an optical circuit including a resonator. [Figure 2B] This is a schematic plan view showing another example of an optical circuit including a resonator. [Figure 2C] This is a schematic plan view showing another example of an optical circuit including a resonator. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for manufacturing a light-emitting device. [Figure 4] This flowchart illustrates an example of a process for adding rare earth elements to a precursor. [Figure 5] This flowchart illustrates another example of a method for manufacturing a light-emitting device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] In this specification, the term "process" includes not only independent processes but also any process that is not clearly distinguishable from other processes, provided that its purpose is achieved. Furthermore, the content of each component in a composition refers to the total amount of any multiple substances present in the composition, unless otherwise specified, if multiple substances corresponding to each component exist in the composition.

[0011] In this specification, red light refers to light with an emission peak wavelength of 600 nm or more and 750 nm or less. Yellow light refers to light with an emission peak wavelength of 570 nm or more and less than 600 nm. Green light refers to light with an emission peak wavelength of 500 nm or more and less than 570 nm. Blue light refers to light with an emission peak wavelength of 410 nm or more and less than 500 nm. Purple light refers to light with an emission peak wavelength of 380 nm or more and less than 410 nm. Ultraviolet light refers to light with an emission peak wavelength of 200 nm or more and less than 380 nm.

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the embodiments shown below are examples of a light-emitting body and a method for manufacturing the same for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the light-emitting body and the manufacturing method shown below.

[0013] <Light-emitting body> The light-emitting body is a nitride crystal and contains a rare earth element. Thereby, it can emit light in a desired color.

[0014] The nitride crystal may be a polycrystal or a single crystal. Whether the nitride crystal is a polycrystal or a single crystal can be confirmed by X-ray diffraction.

[0015] The base material of the light-emitting body may be a binary, ternary, or quaternary mixed crystal of gallium nitride. Also, the base material of the light-emitting body may be boron nitride, aluminum nitride, or indium nitride. The composition of the light-emitting body is, for example, Al x In y Ga 1-x-y N (0 ≦ x ≦ 1, 0 ≦ y ≦ 1, 0 ≦ x + y ≦ 1). The composition of the light-emitting body is preferably Al x Ga 1-xThe material is N (0 ≤ x < 1) or AlN. Because these materials have a relatively large energy gap, they reduce the absorption of light by the light emitter itself, thereby increasing the light extraction efficiency. When boron nitride is used as the base material for the light emitter, the crystal structure of the boron nitride may be cubic or hexagonal. In this specification, "base material" refers to a material that accounts for, for example, 90% or more and less than 100% of the total amount of the material in question by volume.

[0016] The rare earth elements contained in the light emitter may be, for example, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, or ytterbium. The rare earth elements are appropriately selected according to the desired color. The content of rare earth elements in the light emitter may be, for example, 50 ppm or less, 30 ppm or less, or 10 ppm or less. Here, ppm represents parts per million mass, calculated by (mass) / (mass). The content of rare earth elements in the light emitter can be estimated, for example, by trace analysis using a high-frequency inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission spectrometer.

[0017] The light-emitting material, for example, emits light with a peak wavelength of 350 nm to 800 nm when excited by light. For example, europium-doped GaN emits red light. In this case, the resulting red color is due to the 4f shell transition of trivalent europium ions, resulting in a narrow full width at half maximum and excellent color reproducibility. However, the light-emitting material in the embodiment is not limited to that which originates from the 4f shell transition as described above. Also, the valency of the rare earth element is not limited to trivalent. For example, divalent europium may be added.

[0018] <hibi> Next, a light-emitting device including the above-described light-emitting body will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the light-emitting device. As shown in FIG. 1, the light-emitting device 100 includes a light-emitting body 1 and an excitation source 30 that excites the light-emitting body 1. The light-emitting body 1 is disposed at a position where the light emitted from the excitation source 30 is irradiated. The light-emitting device 100 may include a light-emitting body 1, an n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2 provided on the light-emitting body 1, a p-side nitride semiconductor layer 4, and an active layer 3 disposed between the n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2 and the p-side nitride semiconductor layer 4. In this example, the excitation source 30 is a semiconductor portion including the n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2, the p-side nitride semiconductor layer 4, and the active layer 3 disposed between the n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2 and the p-side nitride semiconductor layer 4. The n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2 has, for example, a nitride semiconductor layer doped with an n-type impurity such as Si. The p-side nitride semiconductor layer 4 has, for example, a nitride semiconductor layer doped with a p-type impurity such as Mg. The active layer 3 includes a plurality of well layers and a plurality of barrier layers. The barrier layer may include a nitride semiconductor layer containing Ga, or a nitride semiconductor layer containing Al and Ga. The composition of the barrier layer is, for example, Al a Ga 1-a N (0 ≦ a ≦ 1). The Al mixing ratio of the barrier layer is preferably 0.05 ≦ a ≦ 0.15. The well layer is a nitride semiconductor layer and emits, for example, red, yellow, green, blue, purple light, or ultraviolet light. The well layer is preferably a nitride semiconductor layer and may emit purple light or ultraviolet light. In the examples, it has been confirmed that excitation occurs in purple light and ultraviolet light. The nitride semiconductor layer is, for example, a ternary compound. The composition of the well layer is, for example, In b Ga 1-bN is (0 ≤ b < 1). The In mixed crystal ratio is preferably 0 ≤ b ≤ 0.09. The light-emitting element 100 further comprises a negative electrode 5 electrically connected to the n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2 and a positive electrode 6 electrically connected to the p-side nitride semiconductor layer 4. The light-emitting element 1 may emit light in the range of 350 nm to 800 nm, for example. Since the light-emitting element 1 is positioned where it is irradiated by light emitted from the active layer 3, the light emitted from the active layer 3 can be used as excitation light. In the light-emitting element 100 shown in Figure 1, the light-emitting element 1 is a wavelength conversion member and may also be part of the growth substrate for the n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2. The light-emitting element 100 may have a substrate 7 on the side of the light-emitting element 1 opposite to the side where the n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2 is located. The substrate 7 may be, for example, a growth substrate for the base material of the light-emitting element 1. The material of the substrate 7 may be, for example, sapphire, gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, or boron nitride.

[0019] In other examples, the light-emitting element 100 may comprise, in order, a light-emitting element 1, a substrate 7, and an excitation source 30. That is, the n-side nitride semiconductor layer 2 may be grown on the surface of the substrate 7 opposite to the surface on which the base material of the light-emitting element 1 is grown. In other examples, the light-emitting element 100 may comprise, in order, a light-emitting element 1 and an excitation source 30. The light-emitting element 1 may have rare earth elements added to a gallium nitride substrate, or the substrate 7 may be removed after the light-emitting element 1 has been formed.

[0020] <Resonator> The light emitter may be used as a resonator. Figures 2A to 2C show examples of schematic plan views of an optical circuit 200 including a resonator 1R and an optical waveguide 8. The resonator 1R can take various shapes, such as a ring shape (Figure 2A), a disk shape (Figure 2B), or a polygon (Figure 2C). However, the polygon is not limited to a hexagon. Figure 2A shows the case of a ring resonator, and Figures 2B and 2C show the case of a whispering gallery mode resonator. By setting the size of the resonator 1R so that the emission wavelength of the light emitter constituting the resonator 1R satisfies the resonance conditions, light can be efficiently resonated in the resonator 1R. The light resonating in the resonator 1R can be extracted via the optical waveguide 8 which is optically coupled to the resonator 1R. The resonator 1R and the optical waveguide 8 are separated to the extent that an evanescent wave is generated. That is, they are separated by a length shorter than or equal to the wavelength of the light amplified in the resonator 1R. The resonator 1R may be excited by external light, or by light guiding through the optical waveguide 8. In Figures 2A to 2C, the resonator 1R is positioned where it is irradiated by light emitted from the excitation source 9. The arrows represent the excitation light.

[0021] <Method for manufacturing a light-emitting device> A method for manufacturing a light-emitting material includes preparing a precursor containing nitride crystals and adding the rare earth elements to the precursor by bringing a gas containing rare earth elements into contact with the precursor.

[0022] This makes it possible to provide a manufacturing method for a light-emitting body and a manufacturing method for a light-emitting element equipped with a light-emitting body, which offers a wide range of raw material options for obtaining a gas containing rare earth elements.

[0023] (Step S1: Preparing the precursor) First, prepare the precursor. The precursor may be a nitride crystal. The nitride crystal may be a nitride single crystal. The nitride crystal may be obtained by, for example, halide vapor deposition, trihalide vapor deposition, amonothermal deposition, flux deposition, MOCVD, molecular beam epitaxy, or sputtering. The composition of the precursor is Al c In dGa 1-c-d N may be (0≦c≦1, 0≦d≦1, 0≦c+d≦1). The composition of the precursor is preferably Al c Ga 1-c N(0≦c≦1). This reduces material decomposition in the process of adding rare earth elements to the precursor, as described later, and can improve the efficiency of obtaining the luminescent material.

[0024] The shape of the precursor may be, for example, a ring shape, a disk shape, or a polygon. This allows the light-emitting material obtained by the process of adding rare earth elements to the precursor, as described later, to be used as a resonator. The shape of the precursor may be obtained by selective growth when growing the nitride crystal, or by processing the grown precursor. The precursor may be patterned by, for example, photolithography or electron beam lithography, and then the desired shape may be obtained by dry etching.

[0025] When nitride crystals are used as precursors, the precursors may be prepared by, for example, the following process: That is, nitride crystals, which are the precursors, may be formed on a growth substrate by MOCVD, molecular beam epitaxy, or sputtering. The growth substrate may be, for example, boron nitride, aluminum nitride, gallium nitride, or sapphire.

[0026] (Step S2: Adding rare earth elements to the precursor) Next, a gas containing rare earth elements is brought into contact with the prepared precursor to add the rare earth elements to the precursor. This yields a light-emitting material. In the manufacturing method of this embodiment, a gas containing rare earth elements is brought into contact with a pre-prepared precursor. In the manufacturing method of this embodiment, it is sufficient to obtain a gas containing rare earth elements, so there are many options for the raw materials containing rare earth elements. The step of adding rare earth elements to the precursor may include, for example, a step S20a of preparing raw materials containing rare earth elements and a step S20b of bringing a gas containing rare earth elements into contact with the precursor, as shown in Figure 4.

[0027] (Step S20a: Preparation of raw materials containing rare earth elements) First, a raw material containing rare earth elements is prepared. The rare earth elements may be, for example, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, or ytterbium, and may be selected as appropriate. The raw material containing rare earth elements may be, for example, at least one selected from the group consisting of oxides, fluorides, nitrides, halides, or organometallic compounds containing rare earth elements, or elemental rare earth metals. Thus, according to this embodiment, there are many options for raw materials to obtain a gas containing rare earth elements. Furthermore, the raw material may preferably be an oxide, fluoride, nitride, or halide containing rare earth elements, and more preferably an oxide containing rare earth elements. This makes it easy to obtain a gas containing rare earth elements in the step of contacting the rare earth elements with the precursor, which will be described later. For example, when adding europium to a precursor, the raw materials are europium oxide, europium fluoride, europium nitride, europium chloride, Eu[C5(CH3)5]2, Eu[C5(CH3)4H]2, Eu{N[Si(CH3)3]2}3, Eu(C5H7O2)3, Eu(C 11 H 19 The element may be O2)3 or elemental europium, preferably europium oxide, europium fluoride, europium nitride, or europium chloride, and more preferably europium oxide. This makes it easy to obtain a gas containing europium in the step of contacting the precursor with rare earth elements, which will be described later.

[0028] (Step S20b: Contacting a gas containing rare earth elements with a precursor) Gases containing rare earth elements can be obtained from at least one raw material selected from the group consisting of oxides, fluorides, nitrides, halides, or organometallic compounds containing rare earth elements, or elemental rare earth metals. Since gases containing rare earth elements can be obtained from various raw materials in this way, there are many options for raw materials to obtain gases containing rare earth elements. Gases containing rare earth elements may also be obtained by reducing oxides containing rare earth elements. This allows for easy acquisition of gases containing rare earth elements. For example, when adding europium as a precursor, the oxide containing the rare earth element may be europium oxide.

[0029] In the step of contacting a precursor with a gas containing rare earth elements, the precursor may be heat-treated at a temperature between the heat treatment temperature used to produce the precursor and 2000°C, and preferably, the precursor may be heat-treated in a temperature range between the boiling point of a desired elemental metal containing rare earth elements and 2000°C. This allows for the addition of rare earth elements to the precursor to obtain a light-emitting material. For example, when the rare earth element is europium, the heat treatment may be carried out in a temperature range between 1529°C and 2000°C, preferably between 1600°C and 2000°C, and more preferably between 1700°C and 2000°C.

[0030] Furthermore, in the step of bringing a gas containing rare earth elements into contact with the precursor, the gas containing rare earth elements may be obtained by heat-treating a raw material containing rare earth elements, which is positioned in the same furnace as the precursor but not in contact with the precursor. This allows the precursor and the raw material containing rare earth elements to be heat-treated simultaneously, thereby adding the rare earth elements to the precursor and efficiently obtaining a light-emitting material.

[0031] The atmosphere used when heat-treating raw materials containing precursors and / or rare earth elements is preferably a nitrogen atmosphere. The nitrogen atmosphere may be 80% to 100% by volume, 90% to 100% by volume, or 95% to 100% by volume. The oxygen content in the nitrogen atmosphere may be 0.01% to 20% by volume, or 0.1% to 10% by volume. Alternatively, the atmosphere used when heat-treating raw materials containing precursors and / or rare earth elements may be an argon atmosphere. The argon atmosphere may be 80% to 100% by volume, or 90% to 100% by volume. The oxygen content in the argon atmosphere may be 0.01% to 20% by volume, or 0.1% to 10% by volume.

[0032] The heat treatment of raw materials containing precursors and / or rare earth elements may be carried out, for example, at atmospheric pressure or in a pressurized environment. When heat treatment is carried out in a pressurized environment, the ambient pressure may be in the range of 0.01 MPa to 0.5 MPa in gauge pressure, in the range of 0.01 MPa to 0.1 MPa in gauge pressure, or in the range of 0.01 MPa to 0.08 MPa in gauge pressure.

[0033] The time required for heat treatment of the precursor can be set as appropriate, as long as it is sufficient time for the rare earth elements to be added to the precursor containing nitride crystals. For example, it may be between 0.1 hours and 20 hours, or between 0.5 hours and 10 hours.

[0034] In the step of contacting a precursor with a gas containing rare earth elements, it is preferable that the gas containing rare earth elements is a gas obtained by reducing rare earth oxides. As a method for reducing rare earth oxides, for example, one method is to place the precursor and the rare earth oxide in a carbon furnace and calcine them in a range of above the boiling point of the elemental metal containing the rare earth elements and below 2000°C to reduce the rare earth oxide and obtain a gas containing rare earth elements. In this step, the rare earth oxide is reduced and changes into elemental rare earths, and these rare earths vaporize to produce a gas containing rare earth elements. Alternatively, a reducing agent such as carbon may be placed in a furnace containing the precursor and the rare earth oxide, and the rare earth oxide may be reduced by calcining in a range of above the boiling point of the elemental metal containing the rare earth elements and below 2000°C to obtain a gas containing rare earth elements.

[0035] The method for manufacturing the light-emitting body is not limited to the method described above. After obtaining the light-emitting body, at least one of the following steps may be performed, for example, as shown in Figure 5: step S3 to remove any attached material, step S4 to process the light-emitting body, and step S5 to separate the light-emitting body into individual pieces. The order in which these steps are performed may also be changed.

[0036] (Step S3: Removal of attached material) After heat treatment, deposits on the surface of the light-emitting material can be removed. These deposits may be, for example, metallic components of added rare earth elements or metallic components in the precursor. Removing these deposits can improve the light extraction efficiency. Methods for removing deposits from the surface of the light-emitting material may include polishing, including mechanical polishing and chemical mechanical polishing, as well as wet etching.

[0037] (Process S4 for processing the light-emitting material) The light-emitting material may be processed to obtain a predetermined shape. For example, the process may further include processing the light-emitting material into a ring shape, a disk shape, or a polygon. This allows the light-emitting material to be used as a resonator. The light-emitting material may be patterned, for example, by photolithography or electron beam lithography, and then the desired shape may be obtained by dry etching.

[0038] (Process S5 for separating into individual pieces) The resulting light-emitting material may be fragmented. The light-emitting material may be fragmented to a desired size. Fragmentation of the light-emitting material can be performed, for example, by dicing, laser scribing, etc.

[0039] (Variation 1) A modified method for manufacturing a light-emitting material is described below. Matters not described are the same as in other examples. In the step of contacting a gas containing rare earth elements with a precursor, the gas containing rare earth elements may be obtained by heat-treating a raw material placed in direct contact with the precursor in the same furnace in which the precursor is contained. This allows for the addition of rare earth elements to the precursor by simultaneously heat-treating the precursor and the raw material containing rare earth elements, thus enabling the efficient production of a light-emitting material.

[0040] (Modification 2) The gas containing the rare earth element may be obtained by heat treatment in a furnace different from the one containing the precursor. This allows the precursor and the raw material containing the rare earth element to be heat-treated under different conditions. For example, since the heat treatment conditions can be set to different temperatures, the rare earth element can be efficiently added to the precursor. For example, within a predetermined temperature range, the heat treatment temperature of the precursor may be higher or lower than the heat treatment temperature of the raw material containing the rare earth element. The predetermined temperature range may be, for example, above the heat treatment temperature used to produce the precursor and below 2000°C, and preferably above the boiling point of the elemental metal containing the rare earth element and below 2000°C. For example, when the rare earth element is europium, the predetermined temperature range may be 1529°C to 2000°C, 1600°C to 2000°C, or 1700°C to 2000°C.

[0041] <Method for manufacturing luminescent elements> The light-emitting element includes preparing a light-emitting element of the embodiment, preparing an excitation source for the light-emitting element, and arranging the light-emitting element at a position where it is irradiated by light emitted from the excitation source. The light-emitting element may be, for example, the light-emitting element 100 shown in Figure 1. [Examples]

[0042] The present invention will be described in detail below using examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0043] <Example 1> First, the precursor was prepared. The precursor was Al formed on an aluminum nitride substrate by the MOCVD method. 0.6 Ga 0.4 The material was N crystal. After forming the precursor, the aluminum nitride substrate and the precursor were both mirror-polished. The combined dimensions of the mirror-polished aluminum nitride substrate and precursor were 10 mm × 10 mm × 0.8 mm. Next, 0.3 g of europium oxide powder was prepared. Then, the precursor formed on the aluminum nitride substrate was placed on a boron nitride setter set in a boron nitride crucible. The europium oxide powder was placed in the same crucible. The crucible was introduced into a carbon furnace, and the precursor and europium oxide powder were heat-treated. The heat treatment was carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere at a gauge pressure of 30 kPa and a temperature of 1900 °C for 2 hours. A light-emitting body was obtained by the heat treatment. The front and back surfaces of the heat-treated light-emitting body were polished to remove deposits from the surface of the light-emitting body. The deposits had a glossy appearance and were presumed to be metallic components of europium, gallium, or aluminum.

[0044] <Rating> (Confirmation of light emission due to photoexcitation) For each of the precursor, the phosphor before polishing, and the phosphor after polishing, light was irradiated and the presence or absence of luminescence was confirmed. The irradiated light was the light of a white fluorescent lamp, the light with a peak wavelength of 254 nm, and the light with a peak wavelength of 365 nm. No luminescence could be confirmed for the precursor when irradiated with any of the lights. For the phosphor before polishing and the phosphor after polishing, no luminescence could be confirmed even when irradiated with the light of a white fluorescent lamp. On the other hand, it was visually confirmed that the phosphor before polishing and the phosphor after polishing emitted green light when irradiated with the light with a peak wavelength of 254 nm and the light with a peak wavelength of 365 nm.

[0045] In addition, the phosphors before and after polishing were irradiated with light having a wavelength of 380 nm from the side of the aluminum nitride substrate. In each phosphor, green luminescence was visually confirmed from the surface opposite to the surface irradiated with the light.

[0046] <EDX analysis> Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis was performed on the phosphor after polishing the surface. As a result of the EDX analysis, europium, aluminum, nitrogen, oxygen, and boron were detected. Although the energy of the characteristic X-ray of gallium overlaps with that of europium, a signal was detected at the position of the energy of the characteristic X-ray of gallium even after polishing, suggesting the possibility of containing gallium. Boron was expected to be due to the crucible during firing or materials such as the setter.

[0047] As described above, embodiments, examples, etc. of the phosphor of the present disclosure have been described, but the present disclosure can also have the following configurations. (Item 1) Preparing a precursor containing nitride crystals, Bringing a gas containing a rare earth element into contact with the precursor to add the rare earth element to the precursor, A method for manufacturing a phosphor comprising: (Item 2) The step of adding the rare earth element to the precursor includes the step of preparing at least one raw material selected from the group consisting of oxides, fluorides, nitrides, halides, organometallic compounds, or elemental metals of the rare earth element, The gas containing the rare earth element is obtained from the raw material. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body as described in item 1. (Section 3) The method for producing a light-emitting body according to item 1 or 2, wherein the gas containing the rare earth element is obtained by reducing an oxide containing the rare earth element. (Section 4) The method for producing a light-emitting material according to item 2 or 3, wherein the oxide containing the rare earth element is europium oxide. (Section 5) The composition of the precursor is Al x In y Ga 1-x-y A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body as described in any one of items 1 to 4, where N is (0 ≤ x ≤ 1, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1, 0 ≤ x + y ≤ 1). (Section 6) A method for producing a light-emitting element according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising the step of adding the gas containing the rare earth element to the precursor, wherein the precursor is heat-treated in a temperature range of above the heat treatment temperature used to produce the precursor and below 2000°C. (Section 7) In the step of adding the gas containing the rare earth element to the precursor, the gas containing the rare earth element is obtained by heat-treating the raw material, which is placed in the same furnace as the furnace containing the precursor, so as not to come into direct contact with the precursor. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body as described in any one of items 1 to 6. (Section 8) The shape of the precursor is ring-shaped, disk-shaped, or polygonal. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body as described in any one of items 1 to 7. (Section 9) The process further includes shaping the light-emitting body into a ring shape, a disc shape, or a polygon. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body as described in any one of items 1 to 7. (Section 10) Prepare a light-emitting body manufactured by the manufacturing method described in any one of items 1 to 9, Preparing the excitation source, A method for manufacturing a light-emitting element, comprising arranging the light-emitting element at a position where it is irradiated with light emitted from the excitation source. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0048] 1. Light-emitting element 1R resonator 2 n-side nitride semiconductor layer 3 Active layer 4 p-side nitride semiconductor layer 5 negative electrode 6. Positive electrode 7 circuit boards 8 Optical waveguide 9 Excitation source 30 Excitation source 100 light-emitting elements 200 Optical circuit

Claims

1. The process involves preparing a precursor containing nitride crystals, The process involves bringing a gas containing rare earth elements into contact with the precursor to add the rare earth elements to the precursor, Includes, A method for manufacturing a light-emitting element, characterized in that, in the step of adding the gas containing the rare earth element to the precursor, the precursor is heat-treated in a temperature range of 2000°C or higher than the heat treatment temperature used to produce the precursor.

2. The step of adding the rare earth element to the precursor includes the step of preparing at least one raw material selected from the group consisting of oxides, fluorides, nitrides, halides, organometallic compounds, or elemental metals of rare earth elements, The gas containing the rare earth element is obtained from the raw material. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body according to claim 1.

3. The method for producing a light-emitting body according to claim 2, wherein the gas containing the rare earth element is obtained by reducing an oxide containing the rare earth element.

4. The method for producing a light-emitting material according to claim 3, wherein the oxide containing the rare earth element is europium oxide.

5. The composition of the precursor is Al ｘ In ｙ Ga １－ｘ－ｙ A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein N is (0 ≤ x ≤ 1, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1, 0 ≤ x + y ≤ 1).

6. In the step of adding the gas containing the rare earth element to the precursor, the gas containing the rare earth element is obtained by heat-treating the raw material, which is placed in the same furnace as the furnace containing the precursor, so as not to come into direct contact with the precursor. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

7. The shape of the precursor is ring-shaped, disk-shaped, or polygonal. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

8. The process further includes shaping the light-emitting body into a ring shape, a disc shape, or a polygon. A method for manufacturing a light-emitting body according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

9. A light-emitting body is prepared by the manufacturing method described in any one of claims 1 to 4, Preparing the excitation source, A method for manufacturing a light-emitting element, comprising arranging the light-emitting element at a position where it is irradiated with light emitted from the excitation source.

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