Ubiquitous blue light: The integration of InGaN-based optoelectronics with dissimilar substrates by wafer bonding and laser lift-off

InGaN-based optoelectronics have been integrated with dissimilar substrate materials using a novel thin-film laser lift-off (LLO) process. Separation of InGaN-based thin-film devices from their typical sapphire growth substrates is accomplished using a pulsed-excimer laser in the ultraviolet regime incident through the transparent substrate. By employing the LLO process with wafer-bonding techniques, InGaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been integrated with Si substrates, forming vertically-structured LEDs. The LLO process has also been employed to integrate InGaN-based laser diodes (LDs) with Cu substrates. Characterization of the LEDs and LDs before and after the sapphire substrate removal revealed no measurable degradation in device performance.