Partial laser liftoff process during die transfer and structures formed by the same

1. A transfer method, comprising:

providing a first light emitting diode comprising a semiconductor material including gallium and nitrogen on a first substrate;

performing a partial laser liftoff of the first light emitting diode from the first substrate, wherein performing the partial liftoff of the first light emitting diode from the first substrate comprises irradiating the semiconductor material including gallium and nitrogen of the first light emitting diode with a detachment laser beam through the first substrate;

laser bonding the first light emitting diode to a backplane after performing the partial laser liftoff; and

separating the first substrate from the first light emitting diode after the laser bonding.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first light emitting diode contains an amorphous buffer layer comprising gallium and nitrogen between the first substrate and a crystalline semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type; and

irradiating the first light emitting diode with the detachment laser beam converts the amorphous buffer layer into liquid gallium-rich drops.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the liquid gallium-rich drops solidify into gallium-rich material portions comprising at least 55 atomic percent gallium which connect the first light emitting diode to the first substrate; and

separating the first substrate from the first light emitting diode comprises heating the light emitting diode above a melting temperature of the gallium-rich material portions.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a first source coupon including the first light emitting diode and additional first light emitting diodes located over the first substrate, wherein each of the first light emitting diodes comprises a respective buffer layer comprising gallium and nitrogen at an interface with the first substrate;

providing the backplane including an array of bonding pads;

disposing the first light emitting diodes over the array of bonding pads such that at least one bonding material portion is disposed between each vertically neighboring pair of a respective one of the bonding pads and a respective one of the first light emitting diodes;

converting a subset of the buffer layers of a first subset of the first light emitting diodes into gallium-rich material portions including gallium atoms at an atomic concentration greater than 55% by the partial laser liftoff;

laser bonding the first subset of the first light emitting diodes to a respective underlying one of the bonding pads by localized laser irradiation onto a respective underlying set of at least one bonding material portion; and

separating a first assembly of the backplane and the first subset of the first light emitting diodes from a second assembly of the first substrate and a second subset of the first light emitting diodes by melting the gallium-rich material portions.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each of the gallium-rich material portions includes gallium atoms at an atomic concentration of greater than 90%.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

each of the first light emitting diodes comprises a first conductivity type semiconductor layer comprising gallium and nitrogen that is spaced from the first substrate by the respective buffer layer; and

each of the buffer layers consists essentially of gallium nitride.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising pressing the first source coupon to the backplane during the partial laser liftoff.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

forming a diode-side bonding material portion on each of the first light emitting diodes; and

forming a backplane-side bonding material portion on each of the bonding pads; and

pressing each mating pair of a respective diode-side bonding material portion and a respective backplane-side bonding material portion against each other with a first force prior to the partial laser liftoff.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising coining the diode-side bonding material portions and the backplane-side bonding material portions by pressing each mating pair of a respective diode-side bonding material portion and a respective backplane-side bonding material portion against each other with a second force that is greater than the first force prior to the laser bonding.

10. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

providing a second source coupon including second light emitting diodes located over a second substrate, wherein each of the second light emitting diodes comprises a respective additional buffer layer at an interface with the second substrate, and the second light emitting diodes are arranged in a pattern including vacancies that include a mirror image pattern of the first subset of the first light emitting diodes in the first assembly;

disposing the second light emitting diodes over the first assembly such that at least one additional bonding material portion is disposed between each vertically neighboring pair of a respective one of the bonding pads and a respective one of the second light emitting diodes; converting a subset of the additional buffer layers into additional gallium-rich material portions including gallium atoms at an atomic concentration greater than 55% by another partial laser liftoff; laser bonding a first subset of the second light emitting diodes to a respective underlying one of the bonding pads by localized laser irradiation onto a respective underlying set of at least one additional bonding material portion; and

separating a third assembly of the backplane, the first subset of the first light emitting diodes and the first subset of the second light emitting diodes from a fourth assembly of the second substrate and a second subset of the first light emitting diodes by melting the additional gallium-rich material portions.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a first source coupon including the first light emitting diode and additional first light emitting diodes located over the first substrate, wherein each of the first light emitting diodes comprises a respective buffer layer comprising gallium and nitrogen at an interface with the first substrate;

pressing the first light emitting diodes against a flat surface;

converting a first subset of the buffer layers within a first subset of the first light emitting diodes into gallium-rich drops by a first laser irradiation;

solidifying the gallium-rich drops into gallium-rich material portions including gallium atoms at an atomic concentration greater than 55%;

converting the gallium-rich material portions into gallium-rich adhesion portions having a higher adhesion strength than the gallium-rich material portions by a second laser irradiation;

removing the first light emitting diodes from the flat surface;

providing a backplane including an array of bonding pads;

disposing the first light emitting diodes over the array of bonding pads such that at least one bonding material portion is disposed between each vertically neighboring pair of a respective one of the bonding pads and a respective one of the first light emitting diodes;

laser bonding the first subset of the first light emitting diodes to a respective underlying one of the bonding pads by localized laser irradiation onto a respective underlying set of at least one bonding material portion; and

separating a first assembly of the backplane and the first subset of the first light emitting diodes from a second assembly of the first substrate and a second subset of the first light emitting diodes by melting the gallium-rich adhesion portions.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the second subset of the first light emitting diodes is attached to the first substrate in the second assembly by a second subset of the buffer layers after being detached from the first assembly.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising forming a diode-side bonding material portion on each of the first light emitting diodes.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the diode-side bonding material portions are pressed against the flat surface during the step of first laser irradiation, and the first laser irradiation coins the diode-side bonding material portions.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

each of the first light emitting diodes comprises a first conductivity type semiconductor layer comprising gallium and nitrogen that is spaced from the first substrate by the respective buffer layer; and

each of the buffer layers consists essentially of gallium nitride.

16. A light emitting diode assembly, comprising:

a backplane containing bonding pads; and

first light emitting diodes attached to a first subset of the bonding pads through a respective bonding material portion,

wherein each of the first light emitting diodes comprises:

a first conductivity type semiconductor layer; and

a gallium-rich material portion located on a surface of the first conductivity type semiconductor layer and including gallium at an atomic concentration greater than 90%.

17. The light emitting diode assembly of claim 16 , wherein each of the gallium-rich material portions includes an atomic concentration of nitrogen atoms that is less than 5%.

18. The light emitting diode assembly of claim 16 , wherein the first conductivity type semiconductor layer comprises a crystalline gallium nitride layer.

19. The light emitting diode assembly of claim 16 , further comprising second light emitting diodes attached to a second subset of the bonding pads on the backplane through a respective bonding material portion,

wherein each of the second light emitting diodes is configured to emit light of a different peak wavelength than each of the first light emitting diodes; and

wherein each of the second light emitting diodes comprises:

another first conductivity type semiconductor layer; and

another gallium-rich material portion located on a surface of the first conductivity type semiconductor layer and including gallium at an atomic concentration greater than 55%.

20. A transfer method, comprising:

providing a first light emitting diode on a first substrate;

performing a partial laser liftoff of the first light emitting diode from the first substrate;

laser bonding the first light emitting diode to a backplane after performing the partial laser liftoff; and

separating the first substrate from the first light emitting diode after the laser bonding,

wherein:

performing the partial laser liftoff of the first light emitting diode from the first substrate comprises irradiating the first light emitting diode with a detachment laser beam through the first substrate;

the first light emitting diode contains an amorphous buffer layer comprising gallium and nitrogen between the first substrate and a crystalline semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type; and

irradiating the first light emitting diode with the detachment laser beam converts the amorphous buffer layer into liquid gallium-rich drops.