Nitride semiconductor thin film having fewer defects and method of growing the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a nitride semiconductor thin film having less defects and a method of growing the same. According to the present invention, the nitride semiconductor thin film with lower defect density can be manufactured by forming grooves on a substrate, sequentially forming a buffer layer and a first nitride semiconductor thin film on a whole surface of the substrate, etching higher defect density regions of the first nitride semiconductor thin film, and then laterally growing a second nitride semiconductor thin film. Thus, a highly crystalline nitride semiconductor thin film can be obtained. Therefore, there are advantages in that high-efficiency, high-power and high-reliability optical devices or electronic devices can be manufactured and high throughput can also be obtained by using the obtained nitride semiconductor thin film.

1 . A method of growing a nitride semiconductor thin film having fewer defects, comprising: 
 a first step of forming a buffer layer on an entire top surface of a substrate with stripe-shaped grooves periodically formed thereon;    a second step of growing a first nitride semiconductor thin film on the buffer layer;    a third step of forming a dielectric mask pattern on the first nitride semiconductor thin film such that the first nitride semiconductor thin film grown on regions of the substrate where the stripe-shaped grooves are formed are exposed and the first nitride semiconductor thin film grown on regions of the substrate where the stripe-shaped grooves are not formed are masked; and    a fourth step of laterally growing a second nitride semiconductor thin film on regions of the first nitride semiconductor thin film, which are exposed through the dielectric mask pattern, using the dielectric mask pattern.    
   
   
       2 . A method of growing a nitride semiconductor thin film having fewer defects, comprising: 
 a first step of forming a buffer layer on an entire top surface of a substrate with grooves formed thereon;    a second step of growing a first nitride semiconductor thin film on the buffer layer;    a third step of forming a dielectric mask pattern on the first nitride semiconductor thin film such that the first nitride semiconductor thin film grown on regions of the substrate where the grooves are formed are exposed and the first nitride semiconductor thin film grown on regions of the substrate where the grooves are not formed are masked; and    a fourth step of laterally growing a second nitride semiconductor thin film on regions of the first nitride semiconductor thin film, which are exposed through the dielectric mask pattern, using the dielectric mask pattern.    
   
   
       3 . A nitride semiconductor thin film having fewer defects, comprising: 
 a substrate with grooves formed thereon;    a buffer layer formed on an entire top surface of the substrate;    a first nitride semiconductor thin film formed on the buffer layer and patterned such that regions thereof formed on the grooves protrude upward; and    a second nitride semiconductor thin film laterally grown on the first nitride semiconductor thin film using the pattern of the first nitride semiconductor thin film.    
   
   
       4 . A nitride semiconductor thin film having fewer defects, comprising: 
 a substrate with grooves formed thereon;    a buffer layer formed on an entire top surface of the substrate;    a first nitride semiconductor thin film formed on the buffer layer;    a dielectric mask pattern formed on the first nitride semiconductor thin film; and    a second nitride semiconductor thin film laterally grown on regions of the first nitride semiconductor thin film which are exposed through the dielectric mask pattern.    
   
   
       5 . The nitride semiconductor thin film as claimed in  claim 3  or  4 , wherein the buffer layer is formed to have a thickness smaller than a height of an inner wall of the groove.  
   
   
       6 . The nitride semiconductor thin film as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the dielectric mask pattern is formed such that the first nitride semiconductor thin film grown on regions of the substrate where the grooves are formed are exposed and the first nitride semiconductor thin film grown on regions of the substrate where the grooves are not formed are masked.