A few yield loss issues in AlInGaN-based LED manufacturing are addressed in this paper. V-defects initiated from N-type GaN, multiple quantum well region, and P-type GaN are classified by their size and depth. Their impacts on device performance are discussed and the effective ways to eliminate or reduce V-defects are presented in detail. An approach using multiple composite inter-layers in a highly doped Si-GaN layer to reduce cracks is proposed. Each individual composite inter-layer reduces the stress accumulated from the layer underneath and thus keeping the N-GaN layer free from crack. The composite inter-layer is a pair of In_xGa_1-xN/GaN thin layers grown at low temperature (LT). Design rules and growth conditions are also discussed. Other issues which may cause yield loss or troublesome in AlInGaN LED manufacturing are briefly touched such as wafer color non-uniformity, bad cut in chip dicing, wavelength and light output correlation at wafer, chip and lamp level.

Date Published: 3 July 2003
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 4996, Light-Emitting Diodes: Research, Manufacturing, and Applications VII, (3 July 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.479768

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4996:
Light-Emitting Diodes: Research, Manufacturing, and Applications VII
E. Fred Schubert; Kurt J. Linden; H. Walter Yao; Daniel J. McGraw, Editor(s)