US Patent 7910935 Group-III nitride-based light emitting device

Disclosed is a group-III nitride-based light emitting diode. The group-III nitride-based light emitting diode includes a substrate, an n-type nitride-based cladding layer formed on the substrate, a nitride-based active layer formed on the n-type nitride-based cladding layer, a p-type nitride-based cladding layer formed on the nitride-based active layer, and a p-type multi-layered ohmic contact layer formed on the p-type nitride-based cladding layer and including thermally decomposed nitride. The thermally decomposed nitride is obtained by combining nitrogen (N) with at least one metal component selected from the group consisting of nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), indium (In) and tin (Sn). An ohmic contact characteristic is enhanced at the interfacial surface of the p-type nitride-based cladding layer of the group-III nitride-based light emitting device, thereby improving the current-voltage characteristics. In addition, since the light transmittance of the transparent electrode is improved, light efficiency and brightness of the group-III nitride-based light emitting device are also improved.