7.

An introduction to
Laser Lift-Off (LLO) technology

Cross-Section of VLEDs

[Source: SemiLED Cop. Ltd.]

Wafer bonding Technology

Transient-liquid-phase bonding

Bonding and transfer process

X-ray diffraction of transferred GaN

Pattern transfer by LLO

Laser Lift-off technology

[William S. Wong, Michael Kneissl, David W. Treat, Mark Teepe,

Naoko Miyashita, and Noble M. Johnson Electronic Materials Laboratory
XEROX Palo Alto Research Center E-mail:wswong@parc.xerox.com]

10

11

Schematic view of the laser liftoff (LLO) process

High intensity laser pulses enter
the sample via the sapphire
substrate and thermally
decompose a thin GaN-layer at
the substrate interface.
The shock waves resulting from
the explosive production of
nitrogen gas during each laser
pulse are damped by placing the
GaN-sample into sapphire
powder.
A hot plate can be used to raise
the substrate temperature during
the process, in order to relieve
some of the accumulated thermal
strain.

12

A simulated temperature profile as a

function of time and depth
By solving the one- imensional heat equation, the extent of interaction at the
GaN/sapphire interface with a pulsed UV-laser is found to be highly localized to
the thin film/substrate interface.

For a single 38 ns,

600 mJ/cm2 incident pulse from a
KrF laser
The numerical solution to the onedimensional heat equation assumes
a semiinfinite slab in the sapphire
and GaN region.

Laser-induced heating

14

Enhancing microsystem functionality

through materials integration

15

Approach to integration

16

Approach to integration

17

Free-standing InGaN LEDs

18

Cross sectional SEM micrograph of a

transferred GaN film onto a Si substrate

200 m

GaN LED on Si
GaN on Si by Pd-In bonding and
laser lift-off (LLO)

Pd-In metal bilayers were used as bonding material which formed the
compound PdIn3 after the low-temperature bonding process.
Cleaving the Si substrate was performed to make the cleavage facets on
the GaN.

InGaN LEDs on Si Substrates

20

10

LLO integration process

21

Cleaved mirror facets

22

11

Continuous wave InGaN LDs on Cu

23

Continuous wave InGaN LDs on Cu

24

12

CW laser diodes on diamond

25

Improved output performance

26

13

Laser Lift-off Process

27

Laser lift-off process

Eg : E0 > E1 > h> E2 > E3

Buffer Layer
h

Sapphire
N-GaN
Ec
E0

E1

E2

E3
Ev

Undoped GaN

AlN

28

14

Laser lift-off (LLO) technique

Thermal decomposition of an interfacial layer induced by
pulse irradiation of KrF (248nm) excimer laser
Only interfacial layer of GaN reach high temperature

Laser beam
Sapphire(Al2O3)
Sapphire(Al2O3)
(900C~1000C)
(Eg 9eV)

Buffer
layer

GaN

Ga + N2

n-GaN

n-GaN

Ni

Ni

(Eg=3.4eV)

M.Q.W.
p-GaN

29

The excimer laser system

Light intensity

Time

The schematic diagram of KrF ecximer laser

Laser medium

KrF

Wavelength

248 nm

Maximum pulse energy

380~400 mJ/pulse

Maximum laser fluence

2000 mJ/cm2

Full-Width-Half-Magnitude

30 ns

Pulse repetition rate

1~100 Hz

Excimer Laser Micro-Machining System

(Excitech PS-2000)

35

15

Laser lift-off (LLO) process

Laser fluence : 850 mJ/cm2
Laser pulse time : 38 ns

Eg =

1.24
1.24
=
= 5 eV
C
0.248

Sapphire
Sapphire(Al2O3)

400 m
900C~1000C

GaN

Buffer layer
(u-GaN)

Ga + N2

n-GaN

M.Q.W.
p-GaN
Oxidized Ni/Au
& Ti/Al/Ti/Au

[W. S. Wong, et al., APL,

pp. 599-601, 1998]

80 m

Ni substrate

36

KrF
Laser beam

Copper mask: 1 cm1 cm

A block size after laser beam through

the lens (10): 1 mm1 mm
Reactive energy density:

x
y

10

850-1000 mJ/cm2
Scanning velocity:
500-800 mm/min
Z=0 mm

Pattern LLO ()
5 mm

LLO
Z= -3.74 mm

GaN wafer

-3.74 mm,0.1 mm, 38

wafer2D

16

-
Start
0.5 mm
0.5 mm

0.5 mm
Laser beam size
1 mm

2-inch wafer

1 mm

End
: Overlap for neighboring laser pulse

39

-
(overlap)
Sample

X 0.3 mm

y 0.3 mm
0.3 mm

Laser beam size

1 mm

1 mm

40

17

Patterned LLO technology

[Patent: I287309(ROC)]
Laser Beam

Mask

Patterned
Laser Beam

300300, 230230
360360, 90 90
unit: m2

10001000
unit: m2

S. J. Wang et al., Appl. Phys. Letts, vol. 87, 2005

S. L. Chen et al., IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett, vol. 19,41
2007

Die size: 300 300 m2

Die size: 1000 1000 m2

42

18

46

47

19

48

The luminous efficiency and total output power of dichromatic

white LEDs with injection currents from 5 to 50 mA

49

20

50

53

21

Substrates for III-nitride heteroepitaxy: a brief survey

Standard vapor phase epitaxy methods for GaN growth (HVPE,

MOCVD),
high growth temperatures (>1000 C)
high concentration of ammonia and hydrogen
considerably reduce the choice of possible substrates.
For device production on an industrial scale, the substrate has to fulfill further
criteria such as minimum size (2), atomically flat surfaces, and availability in
large quantities at an acceptable price.
Sapphire was and still is the most common substrate for the deposition of
GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs), because of its reasonably low cost
and wide availability, and despite the fact that it has a large lattice constant
and thermal expansion coefficient mismatch with respect to GaN.

54

57

22

Thermally induced decomposition

of GaN and the corresponding flux of nitrogen
from the GaN surface using a heating rate of 0.3 K/s

The flux of nitrogen molecules,

(N2), leaving the crystal surface in
vacuum shows an exponential
increase with temperature above
830 C, which can be parametrized
as:

61

Effect of a single shot from a Nd:YAG-laser on the

optical appearance of a GaN layer on sapphire
Effect of a single shot from a
Nd:YAG-laser on the optical
appearance of a GaN layer on
sapphire. For absorbed energy
densities below 200 mJ/cm2, no
visible effects can be observed.
For energy densities above the
sublimation threshold of approx. 250
mJ/cm2, the entire surface of the
GaN epilayer is transformed into
metallic Ga, giving rise to the dark
colour in the upper half of the
specimen pictures.
Close to the sublimation threshold,
inhomogeneities of the intensity
profile of the laser beam are clearly
visible in the irradiation patterns.

62

23

Experimentally determined decomposition depth caused by

a single pulse of a Nd:YAG laser in GaN at room
temperature as a function of the pulse intensity absorbed in
the thin GaN layer on sapphire.

The energy density of the laser shots

should be kept as close as possible
to the threshold value necessary for
GaN decomposition. Any additional
energy will lead to unwanted thermal
and mechanical stress which can
favour film spalling and peel-off after
sapphire removal.

The change in slope for pulse intensities exceeding 350 mJ/cm2 is probably
due to absorption or reflection of the laser light by the metallic Ga layer formed
63
during the process.

Dependence of the laser-induced etch depth of GaN

on the number of laser pulses with and without the
presence of HCl-vapor

The laser treatment was performed at 300 K with an absorbed pulse intensity of
290 mJ/cm2 and a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz. From the slope of the straight
64
line an average etch rate of 330 nm/s can be deduced.

24

Comparison between the maximal etch rates for GaN

achieved by laser- nduced etching and conventional
reactive ion etching methods

ICP: inductively coupled plasma

MIE: magnetron ion etching
CAIBE: chemically assisted ion
beam etching
ECR: electron cyclotron resonance
RIE: reactive ion etching

Using laser-induced thermal decomposition of GaN, much higher etch rates in

65
the range of 1 m/s can be realized.

Temporal and spatial variation of the temperature at the sapphire/GaN interface

(depth zero) during and after a Nd:YAG laser pulse (left figure, = 355 nm, = 6
ns, I = 300 mJ/cm2) and a KrF excimer laser pulse (right figure, = 248 nm, =
38 ns, I = 600 mJ/cm2).

The intensities of the two pulses were chosen such as to obtain the same
maximum temperature of 1100 K (sublimation temperature, cf. Fig. 2).

66

25

Because of the much longer pulse duration in the case of the KrF laser, a
higher pulse energy of typically 600 mJ/cm2 is necessary to heat the GaN
above the sublimation threshold, whereas pulse energies of 300 mJ/cm2 are
sufficient in the case of the Nd:YAG laser.
Since optical thermalization and relaxation processes in GaN occur on a much
faster timescale of ps or a few ns, the temperature profiles generated by the
different laser pulses can be calculated quite easily in a one-dimensional
model based on the temporal shape of the laser pulse, the known absorption
coefficients of GaN, and the thermal properties ( heat capacitance and
conductivity) of GaN and sappire.

67

Photograph of a 275 m thick free-standing GaN

film, after removal from the 2 sapphire substrate

The missing pieces at the wafer border actually had broken off right after the
HVPE growth.

68

26

Experimental results
Image of a HVPE-GaN sample with an area of about 1 cm2 and a thickness of
30 m fixed with epoxy resin to a glass holder after laser lift-off
The delaminated sapphire substrate is shown on the left.

69

Process sequence for the laser lift-off of 2 GaN

membranes

a) Laser lift-off of the GaN film covered with silicone

elastomer and mounted onto a support;
b) Sapphire removal after laser scanning;
c) Deposition of a 3 m thick layer of thermoplastic
adhesive at 120 C;
d) Peel-off of the silicone elastomer.
Subsequently, the GaN film can be easily isolated by dissolving the
thermoplastic adhesive in an acetone bath.
70

27

Process flow for bonding and transfer

71

Experimental results
Delaminated 3 m thick 2 GaN film (not structured) wafer-bonded onto GaAs
(left) and the corresponding GaN-free sapphire substrate (right)
The transferred GaN film is essentially defect free, except for some peeledoff areas at the wafer rim.

72

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Summary and conclusions

The present state-of-the-art concerning the laser-induced lift-off of both thin
and thick GaN films and heterostructures from sapphire substrates has been
reviewed.
The physical background of the laserinduced thermal decomposition of GaN by
short intense pulses of KrF excimer lasers and the third harmonic of Nd:YAG
lasers is discussed, and potential applications for rapid etching of GaN have
been outlined.
Of particular interest for future applications is the possibility to produce
freestanding GaN films by laser lift-off of heteroepitaxial layers from transparent
sapphire substrates.
Specific applications include the production of freestanding GaN
pseudosubstrates starting from thick HVPE grown epilayers, as well as the
delamination of thin GaN device heterostructures for the purpose of wafer
bonding onto foreign substrates or for flip-chip bonding in device technology.
73

Summary and conclusions

Using optimized processes, the defect free lift-off of entire 2 wafers can be
achieved for GaN film thicknesses ranging from 3 to 300 m.
Separation of thin device heterostructures from their sapphire substrates opens
up new possibilities for the formation of electrical contacts, the extraction of
photons, and for thermal management.
Thick GaN films grown by HVPE can be removed from their sapphire
substrates to obtain freestanding GaN pseudosubstrates for the homoepitaxial
growth of high quality epilayers.
The required processing steps, including surface preparation after laser lift-off,
have been described and the structural and optoelectronic properties of
homoepitaxial GaN layers deposited on freestanding pseudosubstrates have
been investigated.
All results suggest that the laser lift-off method may become a major technique
in future III-nitride device technology.
74

29

75

Schematic diagram of the YAG-LED and KrF-LED

transfer process

76

30

77

78

31

79

For higher intensities, the absorbed photon energy leads to local heating of
the layer and causes the destruction of the GaN.
Only those devices with median energy densities approximately 800
mJ/cm2 for KrF laser and 200 mJ/cm2 for YAG laser have good yields 90%.
Under a reverse bias of 5 V, the leakage current of YAG-LED was 1.65103
nA, which was 10 000 times higher than that of the KrF-LED 0.17 nA.
These degradations were caused by the laser lift-off processes, which
generated the screw dislocations. The screw dislocation density penetrated
through MQW region of YAG-LED was 2.9109 cm2, which was ten times
higher than that of the KrF-LED 3.75108 cm2.
This is because the absorption coefficient of GaN at 248 nm for KrF-LED is
2105 cm1, which is 3.33 times higher than that at 355 nm for YAG-LED.

80

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81

Process flow for bonding and transfer of InGaN SQW LED

from sapphire onto Si

82

33

Starting materialprefabricated InxGa12xN SQW LED/sapphire and Si

supporting substrate; deposit PdIn bilayer on InxGa12xN device layer and Pd
on receptor Si substrates;
(2) Bond InxGa12xN SQW LED/sapphire onto Si supporting substrate,
(3) KrF laser irradiation of the sapphire/InxGa12xN SQW LED/PdIn3 /Si
structure through the transparent sapphire substrate;
(3) Heat post laser-processed structure above melting point of Ga to release
sapphire substrate; and
(4) CAIBE etch to isolate device and deposition of n-contact metal. The inset
shows InxGa12xN SQW structure after LLO and metal contact definition.

83

Process flow for bonding and transfer of InGaN SQW LED

from sapphire onto Si

84

34

Room-temperature dc I V characteristics for a typical 250mm

3250mm InxGa12xN SQW LED on Si

Photograph of a functioning InxGa12xN SQW blue LED on Si.

The LED shows no dark-line features due to microcracking from either the
LLO process or the thermal expansion coefficient mismatch between GaN
and Si.

85

Schematic diagram of the nano-roughed LED structure

86

35

The schematic diagram of

laser etching process setup

87

SEM and AFM images of the Ni nano-mask on p-GaN

surface morphology of a nano-roughened LED sample

88

36

Forward IV curves and Room temperature EL spectra

of conventional and nano-roughened LEDs*

* with laser etching energy of 300 mJ/cm2 at a current of 20mA

89

[IEEE PTL Vol. 29, No. 3, 2008]

91

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[IEEE PTL Vol. 29, No. 3, 2008]

92

[IEEE PTL Vol. 29, No. 3, 2008]

93

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IV characteristics of chemically lifted off

vertical LED

[IEEE PTL Vol. 29, No. 3, 2008]

94

Thank You!

2007/10/29
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