Method of manufacturing nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting device

1. A method of manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting device, the method comprising:

forming a sacrificial layer having a wet etching property on a substrate;

growing a protective layer by the growth of a thin film on an upper surface of the sacrificial layer, protecting the sacrificial layer in a reaction gas atmosphere for crystal growth, and facilitating epitaxial growth of a semiconductor layer to be formed on the protective layer;

forming a semiconductor device including an n-type semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a p-type semiconductor layer on the protective layer; and

removing the substrate from the semiconductor device by wet etching the sacrificial layer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sacrificial layer is formed of one material including an oxide selected from the group consisting of SiO 2 , GeO 2 , SnO, ZnO, MgO, BeO, CaO, CdO, MnO, NiO, CuO, Cu 2 O, AgO, Ag 2 O, WO 3 , Cr 2 O 3 , CrO 3 , Al 2 O 3 , In 2 O 3 , B 2 O 3 , Ga 2 O 3 , Ti 2 O 3 , CoO, indium tin oxide (ITO), In x Zn (1-x) O (IZO), Al-doped ZnO (AZO), and ZnMgO.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sacrificial layer is formed of one material selected from the group consisting of silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxynitride (SiON), and ZnS.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the sacrificial layer includes forming the sacrificial layer by vapor deposition including chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD).

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the sacrificial layer includes forming the sacrificial layer to a thickness of about 0.01 μm-about 20 μm.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protective layer is formed of one material selected from the group consisting of SiC, GaAs, AlAs, InAs, AlGaAs, Group-III-nitride, and Group-IV-nitride.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the Group-III-nitride includes at least one material selected from the group consisting of GaN, AlN, InN, TiN, BN, TiN, InGaN, and AlGaN.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the Group-IV-nitride includes at least one material selected from the group consisting of SiN, CN, and SiCN.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the protective layer includes forming the protective layer by physical vapor deposition (PVD).

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the PVD includes sputtering, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or evaporation.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the protective layer includes forming the protective layer to a thickness of about 0.01 μm-about 20 μm.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein wet etching the sacrificial layer includes using an acid- or alkali-based etchant that may etch the sacrificial layer selectively.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the acid-based etchant includes hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid or phosphoric acid.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the semiconductor device includes forming the semiconductor device by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a sapphire substrate, an Si substrate, a GaAs substrate or an SiC substrate.

16. A method of manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting device, the method comprising:

mounting a substrate in a reaction chamber;

forming a sacrificial layer having a wet etching property on the substrate;

annealing the sacrificial layer in a gas atmosphere including at least one material selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon or a vacuum atmosphere by maintaining the sacrificial layer at a temperature of about 100° C. to about 1,400° C. for about 0.1 minute to about 180 minutes and increasing a temperature of the reaction chamber at a ratio of about 1° C. to about 100° C. per second;

forming a protective layer on the sacrificial layer, protecting the sacrificial layer in a reaction gas atmosphere for crystal growth and facilitating the epitaxial growth of a semiconductor layer to be formed on the protective layer;

forming a semiconductor device including an n-type semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a p-type semiconductor layer on the protective layer; and

removing the substrate from the semiconductor device by wet etching the sacrificial layer.

17. A method of manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting device, the method comprising:

mounting a substrate in a reaction chamber;

forming a sacrificial layer having a wet etching property on the substrate;

forming a protective layer on the sacrificial layer, protecting the sacrificial layer in a reaction gas atmosphere for crystal growth and facilitating the epitaxial growth of a semiconductor layer to be formed on the protective layer;

annealing the protective layer in a gas atmosphere including at least one material selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon or a vacuum atmosphere by maintaining the sacrificial layer at a temperature of about 100° C. to about 1,400° C. for about 0.1 minute to about 180 minutes and increasing a temperature of the reaction chamber at a ratio of about 1° C. to about 100° C. per second;

forming a semiconductor device including an n-type semiconductor layer; an active layer, and a p-type semiconductor layer on the protective layer; and

removing the substrate from the semiconductor device by wet etching the sacrificial layer.