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US4563368A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Passivation for surfaces and interfaces of semiconductor laser facets or the like

Assignee: Xerox Corp
•
Filing: 1984-09-04
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Granted: 1986-01-07
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Expires: 2004-09-04
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Abstract

Abstract A method of making a facet coating for a semiconductor light emitting device, such as a semiconductor laser or the like, comprising the steps of depositing a thin layer of a reactive material on the cleaved facet to getter oxygen and other reactive contaminants therefrom, and controlling the thickness of the deposition to be sufficiently thick to react with an optimum amount of said contaminants but sufficiently thin in order that the reactive material is sufficiently consumed in the gettering process to render the thin layer electrically nonconductive if conductive in nature. The reactive material may be selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, Ta, V, Sb, Mn, Cr and Ti. Al has been found to be particularly good as a passivating layer with a preferred thickness for the layer being in the range of about 20 Å to 75 Å, depending upon whether the layer is for purposes of surface passivation or interface passivation.

Inventors

  • 👤 Peter Tihanyi
  • 👤 Robert S. Bauer

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-28 22:06
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10H; H10H20/00; H10H20/01; H10H20/011; H10H20/013; C; C23; C23C; C23C30/00; H10H20/80; H10H20/81; H10H20/811; H10H20/822; H10H20/824; H01; H01S; H01S5/00; H01S5/0014; H01S5/02; H01S5/022; H01S5/02235; H01S5/028; H01S5/0282; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S148/00; Y10S148/06

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 5
Claim 1
Independent Claim 122 words
The method of making a facet coating for a semiconductor light emitting device, such as a semiconductor laser or the like, comprising the steps of: depositing a thin layer of a reactive material selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, Ta, V, Sb, Mn, Cr and Ti on the cleaved facet to getter oxygen and other reactive contaminants therefrom, the thickness of the deposition of said layer characterized to be sufficiently thick to react with an optimum amount of said contaminants but sufficiently thin in order that the reactive material is sufficiently consumed in the gettering process and to render the thin layer electrically nonconductive, if initially conductive in nature, and depositing at least one protective overlayer over said thin layer.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 122 words
The method of making a facet coating for a semiconductor light emitting device, such as a semiconductor laser or the like, comprising the steps of: depositing a thin layer of a reactive material selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, Ta, V, Sb, Mn, Cr and Ti on the cleaved facet to getter oxygen and other reactive contaminants therefrom, the thickness of the deposition of said layer characterized to be sufficiently thick to react with an optimum amount of said contaminants but sufficiently thin in order that the reactive material is sufficiently consumed in the gettering process and to render the thin layer electrically nonconductive, if initially conductive in nature, and depositing at least one protective overlayer over said thin layer.
Claim 3
Independent Claim 118 words
The method of making a facet coating for a semiconductor light emitting device, such as a semiconductor laser or the like, comprising the steps of: depositing a thin layer of a reactive material on the cleaved facet to getter oxygen and other reactive contaminants therefrom, and controlling the thickness of the deposition to be sufficiently thick to react with an optimum amount of said contaminants but sufficiently thin in order that the reactive material is sufficiently consumed in the gettering process to render the thin layer electrically nonconductive if conductive in nature. said reactive material comprising Al and the thickness of said Al layer is preferably controlled to be within the range of 20 Å to 75 Å.
Claim 4
Independent Claim 118 words
The method of making a facet coating for a semiconductor light emitting device, such as a semiconductor laser or the like, comprising the steps of: depositing a thin layer of a reactive material on the cleaved facet to getter oxygen and other reactive contaminants therefrom, and controlling the thickness of the deposition to be sufficiently thick to react with an optimum amount of said contaminants but sufficiently thin in order that the reactive material is sufficiently consumed in the gettering process to render the thin layer electrically nonconductive if conductive in nature. said reactive material comprising Al and the thickness of said Al layer is preferably controlled to be within the range of 20 Å to 75 Å.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 22 words
The method of claim 2 including the step of depositing a layer of Al 2 0 3 on said thin Al layer.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4178564A Cited
US4337443A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1989-01-06 1989-07-08 1990-01-07 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1993-01-06 1993-07-08 1994-01-07 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1997-01-06 1997-07-08 1998-01-07 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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