Surface-Emitting Semiconductor Laser and Manufacturing Method of Same

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser of a surface-emitting type in which a light is emitted therefrom in a direction perpendicular to a surface of a crystalline substrate.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As an example of the conventional semiconductor laser of a surface emitting type, there has been described a laser in "Microcavity GaAlAs/GaAs Surface-Emitting Laser with Ith=6 mA", K. IGA et al, Electronics Letters, 29th Jan., 1987, Vol. 23, NO. 3, pp. 134-136. FIG. 4 shows constituent portions of the semiconductor laser described in this article, the portions being related to the present invention.

In this structure, the laser comprises an n-side ohmic metal (AuGe) 21, an n-GaAs substrate 22, a reflective multilayer of SiO.sub.2 /TiO.sub.2 23, an n-AlGaAs clad layer 24, an active layer of GaAs 25, a p-AlGaAs clad layer 26, a buried layer 27 formed by the second growth, an insulation layer 28, and a p-type ohmic electrode (AuZn) 29 also functioning as a reflection mirror.

The conventional semiconductor laser of a surface-emitting type has been attended with the following problems.

(1) There are required two crystal growth processes.

(2) Since the light is emitted from a rear surface of the substrate, this structure is not suitable for an optoelectronics integrated circuit (OEIC).

(3) A film or layer 23 having a high reflection factor is required to be fabricated on a light emitting side.

(4) A region of AuZn is employed as an electrode 29 on the side of grown layers (on the side from which the light is not emitted) and is also used as a reflection mirror. In order to prevent the electrode 29 from forming an alloy with the clad layer 26, which lowers the reflection factor, there is first disposed an insulation film 28 so as to fabricate therein a ring-shaped window to establish a contact between the clad layer 26 and the electrode 29; in consequence, the manufacturing processes become to be complicated and there cannot be developed a favorable ohmic contact, which leads to a high resistance.

The present invention solves the problems described above.

According to the present invention, there is provided a surface-emitting semiconductor laser comprising an n-type semiconductor substrate, a lower reflection mirror including a semiconductor multilayer fabricated on the substrate, an upper reflection mirror formed with TiPtAu, a double heterojunction formed in a shape of a column between the reflection mirrors, and an insulator disposed to be burried in the periphery of the double heterojunction.

A method of manufacturing the surface-emitting semiconductor laser according to the present invention is characterized in that on an n-type semiconductor substrate, there is beforehand disposed a layer of a high reflection factor as a lower reflection mirror comprising a semiconductor multilayer such that an upper reflection mirror is formed with TiPtAu also functioning as a p-side ohmic electrode and that a double heterojunction between the reflection mirrors is fabricated in a columnar shape (for example, in a cylindrical shape) so as to surround the double heterojunction with an insulator.

The following effects are attained by adopting the configuration above.

(1) There is required only one crystal growth process.

(2) Since the light is emitted from the surface in an upward direction with respect to the substrate, the structure is quite suitable for the optical electronic integration circuit (OEIC).

(3) Since the film having a high reflection factor on the substrate side is fabricated in a stage of the crystal growth, it is not additionally required to form a multilayer, for example, SiO.sub.2 /TiO.sub.2.

(4) Since a non-alloyed ohmic metal TiPtAu is employed as the p-side electrode, a high reflection factor can be obtained thorough a low contact resistance without fabricating a ring-shaped electrode by use of an insulation film. That is, the Ti region establishes an ohmic contact with the semiconductor crystal and does react therewith. In addition, the Pt region disposed between the Ti region and the Au region serves as a stopper for preventing a reaction between Ti and Au.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams showing an embodiment according to the present invention in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, which is identical to FIG. 2, useful to explain laser manufacturing processes; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIGS. 1 and 2 shows a concept of a surface-emitting semiconductor laser according to the present invention.

In these diagrams, the configuration includes an n-side electrode 1, an n-type semiconductor substrate 2, an n-type buffer layer 3 (which may be omitted in some cases), and a reflective multilayer 4 constituded with a plurality of pairs of layers each including semiconductor layers 4A and 4B, which are alternately grown. There are further included an n-type clad layer 5, an active layer 6, a p-type clad layer 7, and a circular p-type ohmic electrode 8 also functioning as an upper reflection mirror fabricated by sequentially piling or accumulating titanium (Ti), platinum (Pt), and gold (Au) each having a thickness of several tens to several hundreds of angstroms. The thickness of Ti, Pt, or Au is adjustable depending on a required reflection factor (for example, 95%). Reference numeral 9 designates an insulator formed with, for example, SiO.sub.2, SiN, polyimide, or a-Si which has a smaller refractive index as compared with the active layer 6. Reference numeral 10 indicates a bonding metal for facilitating the assembly.

Assuming here, energy gaps and refractive indexes respectively of the semiconductor films 4A and 4B, the clad layer 5, the active layer 6, and the clad layer 7 to be represented as (E.sub.4A, n.sub.4A), (E.sub.4B, n.sub.4B), (E.sub.5, n.sub.5), (E.sub.6, n.sub.6), and (E.sub.7, n.sub.7); the value of n.sub.6 is set to be greater than the values of n.sub.4A, n.sub.4B, n.sub.5, and n.sub.7, respectively; furthermore, the value of E.sub.6 is set to be smaller than the values of E.sub.4A, E.sub.4B, E.sub.5, and E.sub.7, respectively. In addition, for the light emitting wavelength .lambda.(nm)=1239.8/E.sub.6 (eV) in the active layer 6, the values of thickness of the semiconductor layers 4A and 4B are selected to be .lambda./4n.sub.4A and .lambda./4n.sub.4B, respectively. Several tens of pairs of layers each including the semiconductor layers 4A and 4B are accumulated to form the reflective multilayer 4, which causes at least 90% of the light emitted downward to be reflected thereon to the upward direction.

In the constitution above, holes injected from the upper electrode 10 (or 8) are transferred via the clad layer 7 to the active layer 6, whereas electrons injected from the lower electrode 1 are passed to the active layer 6 via the substrate 2, the buffer layer 3, the reflective multilayer 4, and the clad layer 5; in consequence, these holes and electrons are recombined to emit light. The light is reflected and is amplified between the upper reflection mirror 8 and the lower reflection mirror 4 such that a laser light beam is emitted in the upward direction.

In this situation, the clad layer 7, the active layer 6, and a portion of the clad layer 5 form a cylinderical shape having a diameter which is substantially equal to the diameter of the circular electrode 8; and since the insulator layer 9 surrounds the cylindrical region, an electric current flows only through this cylindrical portion.

According to the present invention as described above, there are attained the following effects.

(1) There is required only one crystal growth process.

(2) Since the light is emitted from the surface in an upward direction with respect to the substrate, the structure is quite suitable for an optical electronic integration circuit (OEIC).

(3) Since the film having a high reflection factor on the substrate side is fabricated in a stage of the crystal growth, it is not additionally necessary to form a multilayer, for example, Si.sub.2 /TiO.sub.2 as required in the prior art.

(4) Since a non-alloyed ohmic metal TiPtAu is employed as the p-side electrode, a high reflection factor can be obtained through a low contact resistance without fabricating a ring-shaped electrode by use of an insulation film, which is employed in the conventional example. The Ti region establishes an ohmic contact with the p-type clad layer and does react therewith. In addition, the Pt region disposed between the Ti region and the Au region serves as a stopper for preventing a reaction between Ti and Au.

The respective layers above may be obtained through a bulk growth or may be configured in a superlattice structure or a quantum well structure.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, description will be given of an example of a method of manufacturing the surface-emission semiconductor laser. The semiconductor laser is of a type of AlGaAs/GaAs as an example.

First, on an n-type GaAs substrate, an n-Al.sub.0.4 Ga.sub.0.6 As buffer layer 3 is grown such that on the buffer layer 3, there is formed a reflective multilayer 4 including 20 pairs of layers each constituted with an n-Al.sub.0.9 Ga.sub.0.1 As film 4A and an n-Al.sub.0.1 Ga.sub.0.9 As film 4B, which are alternately grown so as to each has a quarter of a wavelength in the crystal in thickness. In addition, on the reflection multilayer 4, there are consecutively fabricated an n-Al.sub.0.4 Ga.sub.0.6 As clad layer 5, a p-GaAs active layer 6, and a p-Al.sub.0.4 Ga.sub.0.6 As clad layer 7.

Thereafter, a 200 .ANG. thick Ti film, a 200 .ANG. thick Pt film, and a 500 .ANG. thick Au film are formed in this order through an etching or lift-off process, thereby configuring a circular p-side electrode 8 also serving as a reflection mirror. The circular electrode 8 is further employed as an etching mask in the subsequent process.

This wafer is installed in a reactive ion etching apparatus using, for example, boron trichloride (BCl.sub.3) so as to be etched with the electrode 8 used as a mask such that the periphery thereof is etched up to the clad layer 5, thereby fabricating a cylinder shape having substantially the same diameter as the circular electrode 8. Thereafter, the periphery of the double heterojunction of the cylindrical shape is filled with an insulating material 9 such as polyimide, and then there is disposed a bonding metal 10.