Ohmic contacts to p-type GaN for high brightness LED applications

GaN-related semiconductors are of great technological importance for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices, such as blue and ultra violet light emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, and photo-detectors. One of the most important applications of GaN-based LEDs is solid-state lighting, which could replace incandescent bulbs and ultimately fluorescent lamps. For solid-state lighting applications, the achievement of high extraction efficiency in LED structures is essential. For flip-chip LEDs (FCLEDS), the formation of low resistance and high reflective p-GaN contact is crucial. So far, a wide variety of different methods have been employed to improve the ohmic properties of p-type contacts to GaN. For example, surface treatments using different chemical solutions have been successfully used to produce high-quality ohmic contacts, Metallization schemes, such as Ta/Ti contacts to p-GaN, were also investigated. For these contacts, the removal of hydrogen atoms from the Mg atoms doped n the GaN was argued to be responsible for low contact resistances.