The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint mold, a method of manufacturing a light emitting diode using the nanoimprint mold manufactured thereby, and the light emitting diode manufactured thereby.
Gallium nitride-based (GaN-based) white light emitting diodes (LEDs) have high energy conversion efficiency, long life time, strong directionality of emitted light, low operating voltage, short warm-up time, and simple operating circuit. Also, GaN-based white LEDs have durability against external shocks and vibration in order to realize high-grade light systems having various kinds of packages. Thus, GaN-based white LEDs may change outdoorlight sources to solid-state lighting such as incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, and mercury lamps in the near future. To utilize GaN-based LEDs as a white light source that replaces outdoor fluorescent lamps and mercury lamps, the GaN-based LEDs should emit a high efficiency of output light at a low level of consumed power and also have excellent thermal stability. Lateral type GaN-based LEDs that are widely used have a relatively low manufacturing cost and simple manufacturing process. However, they are not adapted for use as an outdoor light source because they have a high applied current and a low light output. A vertical type LEDs may solve the limitations of the lateral type LED and be easily applied to a high performance LED having a high light output in a large area. Vertical type LEDs have many advantages compared to outdoor lateral type devices. Vertical type LEDs may have a low operating voltage and a high light output because they have a low current diffused resistor and obtain a uniform current spreading. Vertical type LEDs may have a long life time and a high light output that are significantly improved because heat is easily transfer to outside through a metal or semiconductor substrate having superior thermal conductivity. Vertical type LEDs may be widely used as a white light source for lighting because they have a maximum applied current of about three or four times that of lateral type LEDs. Research and development is being actively carried out on GaN-based vertical type LED for commercialization and improved performance by leading LED companies such as NICHIA CHEMICAL CO., LTD, JAPAN, PHILIPS LUMILEDS LIGHTING COMPANY, USA, and OSRAM, GERMANY and SEOUL SEMICONDUCTOR CO., LTD, SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD, and LG INNOTEK CO., LTD, Korea.
The light output of a device may be significantly improved by an n-type semiconductor layer which is placed on the top layer on the device in the manufacturing of GaN-based vertical type LEDs. In the case where the semiconductor layer has a smooth surface, total reflection occurs at the interface between the atmosphere and the semiconductor layer by means of the refractive index difference between the semiconductor and the atmosphere (the refractive index of the n-type semiconductor layer is 2.4 or less, and the refractive index of the atmosphere is 1). The device may not have a highly extracted light output because light is emitted from an active layer—i.e., the light emitting layer does not emit to the outside. Thus, minimizing loss from light guiding on semiconductor inside is required by preventing total reflection by artificially changing the semiconductor surface.
For this, in the related art, a nano structure such as a silica (SiO2) nanosphere or polystyrene nanosphere is directly coated on a semiconductor layer to form a nano structure having a hemispherical shape on a surface of the semiconductor layer, and then the nano structure having the hemispherical shape is grown on the semiconductor layer by using a dry etching process to improve light extraction efficiency of the LED. However, in the above-described method according to the related art, when the nano structure is coated or etched, reproducibility may be deteriorated, and manufacturing costs may be increased. Thus, it may be difficult to manufacture a large-scale LED.
The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint mold that may be efficiently and economically formed for enhancing the light extraction efficiency of a light emitting diode, a method of manufacturing a light emitting diode, and a light emitting diode using the nanoimprint module.
Also, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a nanoimprinted light emitting diode structure that can efficiently and precisely form a nano-pattern for enhancing light extraction efficiency without using an additional wet etching and dry etching process.
Also, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a nanoimprinted light emitting diode systemthat can efficiently form a nano-pattern having a large area, thereby reducing costs and simplifying the process.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint mold, the method including: coating nano structures on the semiconductor substrate; forming a nano-pattern having a hemispherical shape on the semiconductor substrate through a dry etching process using the nano structures as masks; transferring the hemispherical-shaped nano-pattern formed on the semiconductor substrate onto a nanoimprint mold in a nanoimprinting manner; separating the nanoimprint mold on which the hemispherical shape is transferred from the semiconductor substrate.
At least one of a size and a dry etching time of each of the nano structures coated on the semiconductor substrate is adjusted to adjust a size of the nano-pattern having the hemispherical shape.
Each of the nano structures coated on the semiconductor substrate has a size of about 100 nm to about 2,000 nm.
The nano structures coated on the semiconductor substrate have sizes different from each other.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a light emitting diode, the method including: forming an n-type nitride semiconductor layer, a light emitting layer, and a p-type nitride semiconductor layer on a temporary substrate; forming a p-type electrode on the p-type nitride semiconductor layer; forming a conductive substrate on the p-type electrode; removing the temporary substrate to expose the n-type nitride semiconductor layer; forming a nanoimprint resist layer on the n-type nitride semiconductor layer; pressing the nanoimprint mold manufactured by the method of according to the present invention on the nanoimprint resist layer to transfer the hemispherical-shaped nano-pattern formed on the nanoimprint mold onto the nanoimprint resist layer; separating the nanoimprint mold from the nanoimprint resist layer having the nano-pattern having the hemispherical-shape; and etching a portion of the nanoimprint resist layer having the nano-pattern having the hemispherical-shape to form an n-type electrode.
A refractive index adjustment layer between the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and the nanoimprint resist layer, wherein the refractive index adjustment layer may has a refractive index less than that of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and greater than that of the nanoimprint resist layer.
The refractive index adjustment layer may be formed by sequentially stacking a first refractive index adjustment layer and a second refractive index adjustment layer which refract light emitted from the light emitting layer by refractive indexes different from each other.
The first refractive index adjustment layer may be formed on the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and may have a refractive index less than that of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer, and the second refractive index adjustment layer may be formed on the first refractive index adjustment layer and may have a refractive index less than that of the first refractive index adjustment layer and greater than that of the nanoimprint resist layer.
The first refractive index adjustment layer may include at least one selected from the group consisting of ZnO, Al-doped ZnO, In-doped ZnO, Ga-doped ZnO, ZrO2, TiO2, SiO2, SiO, Al2O3, CuOX, and ITO.
The second refractive index adjustment layer may include MgO-based oxide.
The MgO-based oxide forming the second refractive index adjustment layer may be a multinary-compound formed by adding the other elements in MgO.
The n-type electrode may be formed by depositing a conductive material on an etched area after a portion of the nanoimprint resist layer having the nano-pattern may be etched to expose the n-type nitride semiconductor layer.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light emitting diode manufactured by the method according to another aspect of the present invention.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a light emitting diode, the method including: forming an n-type nitride semiconductor layer, a light emitting layer, and a p-type nitride semiconductor layer on a substrate on which a pattern scattering and reflecting incident light is formed; mesa-etching portions of the p-type nitride semiconductor layer, the light emitting layer, and the n-type nitride semiconductor layer to expose a portion of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer; forming a transparent electrode on the p-type nitride semiconductor layer; forming the nanoimprint resist layer on the transparent electrode; pressing the nanoimprint mold manufactured by the method of according to the present invention on the nanoimprint resist layer to transfer the hemispherical-shaped nano-pattern formed on the nanoimprint mold onto the nanoimprint resist layer; separating the nanoimprint mold from the nanoimprint resist layer having the hemispherical-shape pattern; and etching a portion of the nanoimprint resist layer having the nano-pattern having the hemispherical-shape pattern to form a p-type electrode and form an n-type electrode on the n-type nitride semiconductor layer.
The transparent electrode may include indium tin oxide (ITO).
The p-type electrode may be formed by depositing a conductive material on an etched area after a portion of the nanoimprint resist layer having the nano-pattern having the hemispherical-shape pattern is etched to expose the transparent electrode.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light emitting diode manufactured by the method according to another aspect of the present invention.
According to the present invention, a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint mold that can be efficiently and economically formed for enhancing the light extraction efficiency of a light emitting diode, a method of manufacturing a light emitting diode, and a light emitting diode using the nanoimprint module are made possible.
Also, the present invention allows for a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint module that can efficiently and precisely form a nano-pattern for enhancing light extraction efficiency without performing additional wet etching and dry etching processes.
Also, the present invention allows for a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint module that can efficiently form the nano-pattern having a large area, thereby reducing costs and simplifying the process.
An effect of improving light extraction efficiency according to the present invention will be described with reference to
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Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
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As a result, the nanoimprint mold 60 on which the nano-pattern of the hemispherical shape is formed may be manufactured. The nanoimprint mold 60 is used as a master template for forming the nano-pattern in a process of manufacturing a light emitting diode that will be described later.
The nano-pattern having the hemispherical shape may be adjusted in size by adjusting at least one of a size and a dry etching time of the nano structure 50 coated on the semiconductor substrate 40.
Also, since the nano structure 50 is used as a mask in the dry etching process, the nano structure 50 coated on the semiconductor substrate 40 may have a size of about 100 nm to about 2,000 nm in consideration that a size of the nano structure 50 affects a size of the nano-pattern having the hemispherical.
Also, the nano structures 50 coated on the semiconductor substrate 40 may have sizes different from each other to form the hemispherical-shaped nano-pattern having irregular sizes.
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Also, the first embodiment of the present invention may include a process of additionally forming a refractive index adjustment layer 180 for enhancing the light extraction efficiency.
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The refractive index adjustment layer 180 is sequentially formed by stacking the first refractive index adjustment layer 181 and the second refractive index adjustment layer 182 which reflect emitted light from the light-emitting layer 120 and having the same refractive index.
The first refractive index adjustment layer 181 is formed on the n-type nitride semiconductor layer 110 such that the refractive index of the first refractive index adjustment layer 181 is lower than the refractive index of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer 110, the second refractive index adjustment layer 182 is formed on the first refractive index adjustment layer 181 such that the refractive index of the second refractive index adjustment layer 182 is lower than the refractive index of the first refractive index adjustment layer 181 and is higher than the refractive index of the nanoimprint resist layer 160. The first refractive index adjustment layer 181 and the second refractive index adjustment layer 182 have an intermediate refractive index between those of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer 110 and the nanoimprint resist layer 160 to perform the function of a buffer layer, thereby further enhancing light extraction efficiency.
For example, the first refractive index adjustment layer 181 may include at least one selected from the group consisting of ZnO, Al-doped ZnO, In-doped ZnO, Ga-doped ZnO, ZrO2, TiO2, SiO2, SiO, Al2O3, CuOX, and ITO, and the second refractive index adjustment layer 182 may include MgO-based oxide. The MgO-based oxide forming the second refractive index adjustment layer 182 may be a multinary compound formed by adding the other elements in MgO. All of the materials have a refractive index between the refractive index of the n-type nitride semiconductor layer 110 and the refractive index of the nanoimprint resist layer 160 selected from the first refractive index adjustment layer 181 and the second refractive index adjustment layer 182.
As described in detail above, the present invention allows for a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint mold that can be efficiently and economically formed for enhancing the light extraction efficiency of a light emitting diode, a method of manufacturing a light emitting diode, and a light emitting diode using the nanoimprint module.
Also, the present invention allows for a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint module that can efficiently and precisely form a nano-pattern for enhancing light extraction efficiency without using an additional wet etching and dry etching process.
Also, the present invention allows for a method of manufacturing a nanoimprint module that can efficiently form a nano-pattern having a large area, thereby reducing costs and simplifying the process.
In more detail, the technique of the present invention, as a process for forming a hemispherical nanostructure using a method of nanoimprinting a large area, may be immediately applicable to a manufacturing process of the light emitting diode. Moreover, the technique of the present invention may be applicable to a vertical or lateral type light emitting diode. According to the technique of the present invention, a manufacturing process may become simpler, and the light output of a light emitting diode may be drastically improved. The present invention relates to an energy saving eco friendly technique that welcomes a solid-state lighting age using white light GaN-based LEDs.
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As described above, although the preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to specific embodiments. Also, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and imitation in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2010-0139089 | Dec 2010 | KR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/KR2011/008157 | 10/28/2011 | WO | 00 | 1/28/2013 |