SUSCEPTOR AND METHOD OF FORMING A LED DEVICE USING SUCH SUSCEPTOR

1 . A susceptor for holding a single crystal wafer for LED production comprising:

a susceptor body having a recess for receiving a single crystal wafer, wherein the recess has a surface having a surface roughness R max of not greater than about 10 microns, and wherein the susceptor body comprises a silicon impregnated silicon carbide; and

a nitride layer overlying the susceptor body.

2 . The susceptor of claim 1 , wherein the surface roughness Rmax is not greater than about 2.0 microns.

3 . The susceptor of claim 1 , wherein the nitride layer comprises silicon nitride.

4 . The susceptor of claim 1 , wherein the nitride layer has an average thickness of not less than about 0.2 nm.

5 . The susceptor of claim 1 , wherein the nitride layer overlies between about 2.0% and about 20% of the external surface area of the body.

6 . The susceptor of claim 1 , wherein the susceptor body has a porosity of not greater than about 15 vol %.

7 . A method of forming a semiconductor LED device comprising:

providing a susceptor comprising, (i) a susceptor body having a recess for receiving a single crystal wafer, wherein the recess has a surface having a surface roughness Rmax of not greater than about 10 microns, and wherein the susceptor body comprises a silicon impregnated silicon carbide, and (ii) a nitride layer overlying the susceptor body;

positioning a substrate within the recess of the susceptor body, the substrate having a growth surface;

forming a first semiconductor layer overlying the growth surface; and

forming a second semiconductor layer overlying the first semiconductor layer, wherein a light emitting region is formed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises forming an underlying layer overlying and in contact with the growth surface of the substrate.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the underlying layer is a buffer layer.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the buffer layer comprises an element selected from the group consisting of gallium, indium and aluminum.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein forming a first semiconductor layer is carried out by epitaxial growth of a semiconductor material.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first semiconductor layer comprises a Group III-V nitride semiconductor material.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein forming the first semiconductor layer includes doping the semiconductor material to form an n-type semiconductor material.

14 . The method of claim 7 , wherein forming the second semiconductor layer is carried out by epitaxial growth of a semiconductor material.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the second semiconductor layer comprises a Group III-V nitride semiconductor material.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein forming the second semiconductor layer is carried out at a temperature of not less than about 500° C.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein forming the second semiconductor layer includes doping the semiconductor material to form a p-type semiconductor material.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the p-type semiconductor material comprises magnesium.

19 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the providing the susceptor comprises heating the susceptor in a nitrogen-containing atmosphere.

20 . A method of forming a susceptor, comprising:

providing a porous preform comprising silicon carbide;

impregnating the porous perform with elemental silicon to form a susceptor body;

forming a nitride layer to overlie the susceptor body, wherein the susceptor body has a recess for receiving a single crystal wafer, wherein the recess has a surface having a surface roughness Rmax of not greater than about 10 microns.