Semiconductor Light Emitting Element Spacer Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Semiconductor light emitting elements, such as thin-film LEDs, face challenges in achieving high reliability due to bonding failures and productivity issues during the manufacturing process, particularly in the bonding step between the n-type semiconductor layer and the substrate, leading to potential peeling off of the semiconductor layer during substrate removal.
Innovation Solution
The semiconductor light emitting element design incorporates spacers formed between the n-type semiconductor layer and the n-side electrode layer, which reduces the stepped portion between the electrode layers and the substrate, enhancing the bonding process by decreasing the gap and preventing bonding failures, and includes a specific metal layer configuration with tin, indium, and bismuth, along with insulation and electrode layers for improved reliability and external light extraction efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the n-type semiconductor layer is bonded to the substrate, then the semiconductor layer can be removed after substrate formation, but bonding failures and peeling occur during the process
Solution Approach 1:
A metal layer comprising tin (Sn), indium (In), and bismuth (Bi) is introduced as an intermediary between the n-type semiconductor layer and the substrate. This intermediate metal layer facilitates reliable bonding during the substrate attachment process and enables clean separation afterward, preventing both bonding failures and peeling issues. The metal layer acts as a sacrificial bonding interface that resolves the contradiction between achieving strong bonding and enabling subsequent removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The bonding process utilizes temperature parameter changes to control the bonding and release mechanisms. By heating to specific temperature ranges, the metal layer bonds the substrate to the semiconductor structure; subsequent cooling or reheating enables clean separation. This parameter-based control resolves the contradiction by making the bonding strength controllable and reversible through thermal parameters.
2Productivity
If the semiconductor layer is removed after substrate formation, then the substrate can be reused, but productivity decreases due to bonding failures
Solution Approach 1:
The metal layer comprising Sn, In, and Bi serves as a mediator that ensures high bonding success rates while maintaining manufacturing productivity. It creates a reliable bonding interface that minimizes failures, allowing continuous processing and substrate reuse without significant productivity loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The metal layer is prepared in advance on the n-type semiconductor layer before substrate attachment. This preliminary preparation ensures that when bonding occurs, the interface is already optimized for successful attachment, preventing bonding failures and maintaining high productivity through predictable, repeatable processes.
3Volume of moving object
If the electrode layers are placed close to the semiconductor layer, then device size is reduced, but stress on the semiconductor layer increases
Solution Approach 1:
The metal layer acts as a stress-absorbing intermediary between the electrode layers and the n-type semiconductor layer. It provides mechanical compliance and stress distribution, allowing the electrode layers to be positioned close to the semiconductor layer for compact device volume while preventing stress concentration that would compromise semiconductor layer integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
A light emitting element includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductive type, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductive type, a light emitting layer. The light emitting layer is between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer. A first electrode layer is on a first side of the second semiconductor layer. A second electrode layer is on the first side of the first semiconductor layer. Am insulation layer is between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. A first metal layer is between a substrate and the insulation layer and between the substrate and the second electrode layer. The second electrode layer includes a first portion contacting the first semiconductor layer and a second portion which spaced from the first semiconductor layer.