Gallium nitride material devices and methods of forming the same

Abstract

The invention provides gallium nitride material devices, structures and methods of forming the same. The devices include a gallium nitride material formed over a substrate, such as silicon. Exemplary devices include light emitting devices (e.g., LED's, lasers), light detecting devices (such as detectors and sensors), power rectifier diodes and FETs (e.g., HFETs), amongst others.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 650,122, filed Aug. 25, 2003, and entitled “Gallium Nitride Material Devices and Methods of Forming the Same”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 792,414 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,002), filed Feb. 23, 2001, and entitled “Gallium Nitride Material Devices and Methods Including Backside Vias”. All of the above-mentioned disclosures are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] The invention relates generally to semiconductor materials and, more particularly, to gallium nitride materials and methods of producing gallium nitride materials. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0003] Gallium nitride materials include gallium nitride (GaN) and its alloys such as aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN), and aluminum indium gallium nitride (AlInGaN). These materials are semiconductor compounds that have a relatively wide, direct...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This approach enhances the conduction and reduces defect formation in gallium nitride materials on silicon substrates, improving the efficiency and reliability of semiconductor devices by addressing lattice and thermal stress issues, and enabling the formation of high-quality gallium nitride material regions for various device applications.

Problems solved by technology

However, forming gallium nitride materials on silicon substrates to produce semiconductor devices presents challenges which arise from differences in the lattice constant, thermal expansion, and band gap between silicon and gallium nitride.

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