Patent Grant
11339494
The present invention relates to a rear surface incident type light receiving device used in an optical fiber communication system, and a method for manufacturing thereof.
A rear surface incident type light receiving device is known as a light receiving device used in an optical fiber communication system. The rear surface incident type light receiving device is characterized by receiving light incident from a rear surface of a substrate. For example, JP 2002-252366 A discloses such a rear surface incident type light receiving device.
A problem to be solved by the rear surface incident type light receiving device is to achieve an increase in operation speed and a reduction in cost. The achievement of an increase in operation speed is desired because the amount of data exchanged on the Internet has been continuously increasing. Also, a cost reduction is constantly required by users.
In order to increase the operation speed of the rear surface incident type light receiving device, it is effective to reduce an area of an electrode formed on a surface side of the substrate. The electrode has a parasitic capacitance generated between the electrode and a semiconductor layer, which is formed below the electrode, or the like. An increase in the parasitic capacitance inhibits an increase in operation speed. The parasitic capacitance increases as the area of the electrode increases. Accordingly, the parasitic capacitance can be reduced by reducing the area of the electrode, so that an increase in operation speed can be achieved.
To reduce the cost of the rear surface incident type light receiving device, it is effective to perform a characteristic inspection of the light receiving device in a wafer state. If the characteristic inspection can be performed in the wafer state, a device which has turned out to be defective can be prevented from being mounted on a submount or the like. Therefore, an extra manufacturing cost can be suppressed.
However, it is still difficult to achieve both an increase in operation speed and implementation of the characteristic inspection in the wafer state. If the area of the electrode is reduced to achieve an increase in operation speed, it is difficult to apply a probe for inspection to the electrode, so that the characteristic inspection in the wafer state cannot be performed. On the contrary, if the area of the electrode is increased for the characteristic inspection to be performed in the wafer state, an increase in operation speed cannot be achieved due to an increase in parasitic capacitance.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a rear surface incident type light receiving device and a method for manufacturing the rear surface incident type light receiving device which is capable of performing a characteristic inspection in a wafer state and has a small electrode parasitic capacitance.
The features and advantages of the present invention may be summarized as follows.
According to the present invention, a method for manufacturing a rear surface incident type light receiving device including a substrate, a light receiving unit formed on a surface of the substrate and an electrode formed on the light receiving unit and electrically connected to the light receiving unit includes a first step of performing, after formation of a part of the electrode, a characteristic inspection of the rear surface incident type light receiving device by applying a probe to a part of the electrode and a second step of reducing an area of the electrode in a plan view.
According to the present invention, a rear surface incident type light receiving device includes a substrate, a light receiving device formed on a surface of the substrate and an electrode formed on the light receiving unit and electrically connected to the light receiving unit, wherein an outermost diameter of a surface of an uppermost part of the electrode is larger than an outermost diameter of a surface of a lowermost part of the electrode.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description.
A configuration of a rear surface incident type light receiving device according to a first embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the light receiving device is an APD (Avalanche photodiode) and the operation speed of the light receiving device is 25 Gb/s or higher.
An AlInAs multiplication layer 14, a p-InP field alleviating layer 16, an InGaAs light absorbing layer 18, an AlInAs window layer 20, an InP window layer 22, and an InGaAs contact layer 24 are stacked on an n-InP substrate 12 in this order.
The InGaAs contact layer 24 is formed in a ring shape and used for feeding power to a p-type diffusion region 26.
The p-type diffusion region 26 is formed by diffusing impurities in the AlInAs window layer 20 and the InP window layer 22. The outermost diameter in a plan view of the P-type diffusion region 26 is set to be equal to or less than 20 μm. This is because there is a need for suppressing a junction capacitance to allow the rear surface incident type light receiving device 10 to operate at a high speed.
A guard ring region 28 is formed around the p-type diffusion region 26 which is formed in the InP window layer 22.
An SiN film 30 is formed on the InP window layer 22. The SiN film 30 is formed to be substantially antireflective to light in a band of 1.2 to 1.7 μm, which is used in an optical fiber communication system. The SiN film 30 plays a role of protecting a surface.
A contact electrode 32 is formed on the InGaAs contact layer 24. The contact electrode 32 is a ring-shaped electrode having a structure in which Pt, Ti, Pt, and Au layers are formed in this order from the bottom. A part of the contact electrode 32 is alloyed with the InGaAs contact layer 24.
A mirror electrode 34 is formed on the contact electrode 32 and the SiN film 30. The mirror electrode 34 has a structure in which Ti and Au layers are formed, and is formed to have a size larger than the outer periphery of the contact electrode 32. Specifically, the outermost diameter in a plan view of the mirror electrode 34 is, for example, 5 μm to 20 μm.
A barrier electrode 36 is formed on the mirror electrode 34. The barrier electrode 36 has a structure in which Ti, Pt, Au layers are formed, and is formed to have substantially the same size as the outer periphery of the contact electrode 32. The barrier electrode 36 includes the Pt layer, which is a barrier metal, which provides a barrier effect for solder used when the rear surface incident type light receiving device 10 is mounted on a submount or the like.
A plating power feeding layer 38 is formed on the barrier electrode 36. The plating power feeding layer 38 has a structure in which Ti and Au layers are formed.
A plating layer 40 is formed on the plating power feeding layer 38. The plating layer 40 is formed of Au.
An electrode composed of the contact electrode 32, the mirror electrode 34, the barrier electrode 36, the plating power feeding layer 38, and the plating layer 40, which are described above, is referred to as a P-electrode 46.
A region surrounded by a broken line in
N-electrodes 44 are formed on both the front surface and the rear surface of the rear surface incident type light receiving device 10. The N-electrode 44 formed on the front surface is formed above a groove 42. The N-electrode 44 formed on the rear surface is formed on the rear surface of the n-InP substrate 12. The N-electrodes 44 which are formed at two locations as described above are used differently depending on the implementation of the rear surface incident type light receiving device. A current is caused to flow between the P-electrode 46 and N-electrode 44, thereby feeding power to a junction region in the light receiving unit 48.
A method for manufacturing the rear surface incident type light receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
First, a structure illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
Next, a structure illustrated in
Next, a structure including the mirror electrode 34 as illustrated in
Next, the barrier electrode 36 is formed as illustrated in
Next, a characteristic inspection is performed by applying a probe for inspection to one or both of the mirror electrode 34 and the barrier electrode 36. Since the outermost diameter of the mirror electrode 34 is 40 μm or more, the area of the mirror electrode 34 is large enough to apply the probe. Accordingly, the characteristic inspection can be performed in the middle of a wafer process.
Next, the plating power feeding layer 38 is stacked as illustrated in
Next, the plating layer 40 is formed as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
The use of the method for manufacturing rear surface incident type light receiving device according to the first embodiment makes it possible to perform the characteristic inspection of the light receiving device in a wafer state. Since the electrode to which the probe is applied during the characteristic inspection in the wafer state has a multi-layer structure including the mirror electrode 34 and the barrier electrode 36, a damage to the light receiving unit can be reduced. Further, Ti is used for the layer of the mirror electrode 34 that is in contact with the SiN film 30, so that electrode peeling is less likely to occur. Since the thickness of the Ti layer is set to be equal to or less than 100 Å, a reflectance of 70% or more can be obtained. Finally, since the outermost diameter in a plan view of the P-electrode is 20 μm or less, a parasitic capacitance of the electrode decreases, which enables the rear surface incident type light receiving device 10 to operate at a high speed. Specifically, an operation at a speed of 25 Gb/s or higher can be achieved.
In this embodiment, among the layers forming the P-electrode, the area of the mirror electrode 34 is increased for the characteristic inspection in the wafer state. Alternatively, the area of the plating power feeding layer 38 may be increased. In this case, the characteristic inspection may be performed after formation of the plating power feeding layer 38, and then, the area of the plating power feeding layer 38 may be reduced by etching after formation of the plating layer 40.
A configuration of a rear surface incident type light receiving device according to a second embodiment will be described. Also in this embodiment, the light receiving device is an APD (Avalanche photodiode) and the operation speed of the light receiving device is 25 Gb/s or higher.
As illustrated in
A plating layer 142 is further formed on the plating layer 140. The plating layer 142 is formed to have a size larger than the contact electrode 32. Specifically, the outermost diameter in a plan view of the plating layer 142 is, for example, 40 μm to 100 μm.
An electrode composed of the contact electrode 32, the mirror electrode 34, the barrier electrode 36, the plating power feeding layer 38, the plating layer 140, and the plating layer 142, which are described above, is referred to as a P-electrode 146.
The barrier electrode 36 may be omitted as long as the plating layer 140 is formed of Ni or the like, which provides a barrier effect for solder, instead of using Au as a material for the plating layer 140.
A method for manufacturing the rear surface incident type light receiving device 110 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
A resist 150 is formed as illustrated in
Next, the plating layer 140 is formed as illustrated in
Next, a resist 152 is further formed and the plating layer 142 is formed in the opening as illustrated in
Next, the P-electrode 146 is formed by removing the resist 150 and the resist 152 as illustrated in
Instead of forming the plating layer 140 and the plating layer 142 as described above, the plating layer 142 may be formed after formation of the resist 150 into a T-shape as illustrated in
The use of the rear surface incident type light receiving device according to the second embodiment makes it possible to perform the characteristic inspection of the light receiving device in a wafer state. Since the plating layer 142 has a large area, the probe for characteristic inspection can be applied to the P-electrode.
In the case of mounting the rear surface incident type light receiving device 110 on a submount or the like, since the plating layer 142 has a large area, a bonding area for a bonding wire to be attached to the P-electrode 146 is increased, which leads to an increase in assembly strength.
Further, since the outer diameter in a plan view of the mirror electrode, which is located closest to the semiconductor layer formed below the P-electrode among the layers forming the P-electrode and has a largest effect on the parasitic capacitance of the P-electrode, is 20 μm or less, the rear surface incident type light receiving device 110 can perform a high-speed operation. Specifically, an operation at a speed of 25 Gb/s or higher can be performed.
In the method for manufacturing according to the present invention, the characteristic inspection is performed in the wafer state by using an electrode having an area that is large enough to apply the probe, and the area of the electrode is reduced after the inspection. Consequently, it is possible to manufacture the rear surface incident type light receiving device capable of performing the characteristic inspection in the wafer state and has a small electrode parasitic capacitance.
Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-045198 | Mar 2017 | JP | national |
This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/718,452 filed Sep. 28, 2017, which claims benefit of priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-045198 filed Mar. 9, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| H05-062858 | Mar 1993 | JP |
| H05-267708 | Oct 1993 | JP |
| 2002-252366 | Sep 2002 | JP |
| 2004-200202 | Jul 2004 | JP |
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| Entry |
|---|
| An Office Action; “Notice of Reasons for Refusal”, by the Japanese Patent Office dated Nov. 10, 2020, which corresponds to Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-045198 and is related to U.S. Appl. No. 16/888,238; with English language translation. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200292379 A1 | Sep 2020 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15718452 | Sep 2017 | US |
| Child | 16888238 | US |
