A method of fabricating GaAs based semiconductor device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing elements of a semiconductor device structure with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate having the first type of doping and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer of the device; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the final GaAs based layer formed during the growing process, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects ele-ments of the semiconductor device structure from oxidizing when exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decomposition process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high tem-perature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of the GaAs based semiconductor device structure are grown.

A method of fabricating semiconductor optoelectronic device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxide while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a semiconductor optoelectronic device are fabricated.

A method of fabricating a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), comprising: (a) performing a grow-ing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxides while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) are fabricated, comprising: (d)(i) growing a first contact layer with the same type of doping as the DBR; (d)(ii) growing an undoped active region as gain material; (d)(iii) growing a second contact layer on the active region with different doping from the first contact layer; and (d)(iv) growing layers of an upper reflector.

A method for high-quality epitaxial regrowth of opto-electronic devices based on multiple growths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, further comprising forming a contact layer over the final GaAs based layer after the decomposition process and prior to fabricating additional layers of the semiconductor device structure.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which semiconductor devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein growing of elements of the semiconductor device structures are performed by either molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer selected from a group of phosphor con-taining materials consisting of: binary GaP, Ternary InGaP, AIGaP, InAIP, AlAsP and quaternary InGaAsP, InAlAsP.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer which is from approximately 5 to 100 nm thick.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed at a temperature of from approximately 500 to 900 degrees Celsius.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed under a flow of Tertiarybutylarsine (TBAs) or AsH3.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein desorption of said phosphor containing mate-rial cap layer occurs in response to a lack of group V phosphors in the reaction chamber, causing instability in said phosphor containing material cap layer which leads to decomposition and evaporation.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor layers beneath said phos-phor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate, upon which are the growing elements of a semiconductor device structure, is removed from the reaction chamber between the capping process and the decomposition process.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said capping process, decomposition process and regrowth process can be repeated multiple times on said semiconductor substrate during semiconductor device fab-rication.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein GaAs based layers beneath said phosphor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said upper reflector comprises either a dis-tributed Bragg reflector (DBR) or a high-contrast grating (HCG).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the multiple regrowth comprises: a first growth and a second growth (regrowth), with the wafer taken out of the chamber between first growth and regrowth, and the wafer is also taken out of the chamber between different regrowths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the first growth ends with a GaAsP cap layer.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth starts with GaAsP cap layer decomposition. After this layer is evaporated, the remaining layers are grown in the second growth.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the capping layer can be any layers that can be selectively decomposed from the substrate.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth can be repeated multiple times.

An apparatus, structure, device, device structure, or construct fabricated according to the method of any preced-ing embodiment. Embodiments of the present technology may be described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations of methods and systems according to embodiments of the technology and method steps. As used herein, the singular terms “a,” “an,” and “the” may include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Reference to an object in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” B₂ As used herein, the term “set” refers to a collection of one or more objects. Thus, for example, a set of objects can include a single object or multiple objects. As used herein, the terms “substantially” and “about” are used to describe and account for small variations. When used in conjunction with an event or circumstance, the terms can refer to instances in which the event or circumstance occurs precisely as well as instances in which the event or circumstance occurs to a close approximation. When used in conjunction with a numerical value, the terms can refer to a range of variation of less than or equal to ±10% of that numerical value, such as less than or equal to ±5%, less than or equal to ±4%, less than or equal to ±3%, less than or equal to ±2%, less than or equal to ±1%, less than or equal to ±0.5%, less than or equal to ±0.1%, or less than or equal to ±0.05%. For example, “substantially” aligned can refer to a range of angular variation of less than or equal to ±10°, such as less than or equal to ±5°, less than or equal to ±4°, less than or equal to ±3°, less than or equal to ±2°, less than or equal to ±1°, less than or equal to ±0.5°, less than or equal to ±0.1°, or less than or equal to ±0.05°. Additionally, amounts, ratios, and other numerical values may sometimes be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used for conve-nience and brevity and should be understood flexibly to include numerical values explicitly specified as limits of a range, but also to include all individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numeri-cal value and sub-range is explicitly specified. For example, a ratio in the range of about 1 to about 200 should be understood to include the explicitly recited limits of about 1 and about 200, but also to include individual ratios such as about 2, about 3, and about 4, and sub-ranges such as about 10 to about 50, about 20 to about 100, and so forth. Although the description herein contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the disclosure fully encom-passes other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the disclosed embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “means plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for”. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “step plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “step for”. What is claimed is:

A method of fabricating GaAs based semiconductor device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing elements of a semiconductor device structure with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate having the first type of doping and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer of the device; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the final GaAs based layer formed during the growing process, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects ele-ments of the semiconductor device structure from oxidizing when exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decomposition process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high tem-perature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of the GaAs based semiconductor device structure are grown.

A method of fabricating semiconductor optoelectronic device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxide while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a semiconductor optoelectronic device are fabricated.

A method of fabricating a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), comprising: (a) performing a grow-ing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxides while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) are fabricated, comprising: (d)(i) growing a first contact layer with the same type of doping as the DBR; (d)(ii) growing an undoped active region as gain material; (d)(iii) growing a second contact layer on the active region with different doping from the first contact layer; and (d)(iv) growing layers of an upper reflector.

A method for high-quality epitaxial regrowth of opto-electronic devices based on multiple growths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, further comprising forming a contact layer over the final GaAs based layer after the decomposition process and prior to fabricating additional layers of the semiconductor device structure.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which semiconductor devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein growing of elements of the semiconductor device structures are performed by either molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer selected from a group of phosphor con-taining materials consisting of: binary GaP, Ternary InGaP, AIGaP, InAIP, AlAsP and quaternary InGaAsP, InAlAsP.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer which is from approximately 5 to 100 nm thick.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed at a temperature of from approximately 500 to 900 degrees Celsius.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed under a flow of Tertiarybutylarsine (TBAs) or AsH3.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein desorption of said phosphor containing mate-rial cap layer occurs in response to a lack of group V phosphors in the reaction chamber, causing instability in said phosphor containing material cap layer which leads to decomposition and evaporation.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor layers beneath said phos-phor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate, upon which are the growing elements of a semiconductor device structure, is removed from the reaction chamber between the capping process and the decomposition process.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said capping process, decomposition process and regrowth process can be repeated multiple times on said semiconductor substrate during semiconductor device fab-rication.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein GaAs based layers beneath said phosphor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said upper reflector comprises either a dis-tributed Bragg reflector (DBR) or a high-contrast grating (HCG).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the multiple regrowth comprises: a first growth and a second growth (regrowth), with the wafer taken out of the chamber between first growth and regrowth, and the wafer is also taken out of the chamber between different regrowths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the first growth ends with a GaAsP cap layer.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth starts with GaAsP cap layer decomposition. After this layer is evaporated, the remaining layers are grown in the second growth.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the capping layer can be any layers that can be selectively decomposed from the substrate.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth can be repeated multiple times.

An apparatus, structure, device, device structure, or construct fabricated according to the method of any preced-ing embodiment. Embodiments of the present technology may be described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations of methods and systems according to embodiments of the technology and method steps. As used herein, the singular terms “a,” “an,” and “the” may include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Reference to an object in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” B₂ As used herein, the term “set” refers to a collection of one or more objects. Thus, for example, a set of objects can include a single object or multiple objects. As used herein, the terms “substantially” and “about” are used to describe and account for small variations. When used in conjunction with an event or circumstance, the terms can refer to instances in which the event or circumstance occurs precisely as well as instances in which the event or circumstance occurs to a close approximation. When used in conjunction with a numerical value, the terms can refer to a range of variation of less than or equal to ±10% of that numerical value, such as less than or equal to ±5%, less than or equal to ±4%, less than or equal to ±3%, less than or equal to ±2%, less than or equal to ±1%, less than or equal to ±0.5%, less than or equal to ±0.1%, or less than or equal to ±0.05%. For example, “substantially” aligned can refer to a range of angular variation of less than or equal to ±10°, such as less than or equal to ±5°, less than or equal to ±4°, less than or equal to ±3°, less than or equal to ±2°, less than or equal to ±1°, less than or equal to ±0.5°, less than or equal to ±0.1°, or less than or equal to ±0.05°. Additionally, amounts, ratios, and other numerical values may sometimes be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used for conve-nience and brevity and should be understood flexibly to include numerical values explicitly specified as limits of a range, but also to include all individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numeri-cal value and sub-range is explicitly specified. For example, a ratio in the range of about 1 to about 200 should be understood to include the explicitly recited limits of about 1 and about 200, but also to include individual ratios such as about 2, about 3, and about 4, and sub-ranges such as about 10 to about 50, about 20 to about 100, and so forth. Although the description herein contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the disclosure fully encom-passes other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the disclosed embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “means plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for”. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “step plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “step for”. What is claimed is:

A method of fabricating GaAs based semiconductor device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing elements of a semiconductor device structure with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate having the first type of doping and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer of the device; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the final GaAs based layer formed during the growing process, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects ele-ments of the semiconductor device structure from oxidizing when exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decomposition process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high tem-perature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of the GaAs based semiconductor device structure are grown.

A method of fabricating semiconductor optoelectronic device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxide while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a semiconductor optoelectronic device are fabricated.

A method of fabricating a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), comprising: (a) performing a grow-ing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxides while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) are fabricated, comprising: (d)(i) growing a first contact layer with the same type of doping as the DBR; (d)(ii) growing an undoped active region as gain material; (d)(iii) growing a second contact layer on the active region with different doping from the first contact layer; and (d)(iv) growing layers of an upper reflector.

A method for high-quality epitaxial regrowth of opto-electronic devices based on multiple growths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, further comprising forming a contact layer over the final GaAs based layer after the decomposition process and prior to fabricating additional layers of the semiconductor device structure.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which semiconductor devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein growing of elements of the semiconductor device structures are performed by either molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer selected from a group of phosphor con-taining materials consisting of: binary GaP, Ternary InGaP, AIGaP, InAIP, AlAsP and quaternary InGaAsP, InAlAsP.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer which is from approximately 5 to 100 nm thick.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed at a temperature of from approximately 500 to 900 degrees Celsius.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed under a flow of Tertiarybutylarsine (TBAs) or AsH3.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein desorption of said phosphor containing mate-rial cap layer occurs in response to a lack of group V phosphors in the reaction chamber, causing instability in said phosphor containing material cap layer which leads to decomposition and evaporation.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor layers beneath said phos-phor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate, upon which are the growing elements of a semiconductor device structure, is removed from the reaction chamber between the capping process and the decomposition process.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said capping process, decomposition process and regrowth process can be repeated multiple times on said semiconductor substrate during semiconductor device fab-rication.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein GaAs based layers beneath said phosphor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said upper reflector comprises either a dis-tributed Bragg reflector (DBR) or a high-contrast grating (HCG).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the multiple regrowth comprises: a first growth and a second growth (regrowth), with the wafer taken out of the chamber between first growth and regrowth, and the wafer is also taken out of the chamber between different regrowths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the first growth ends with a GaAsP cap layer.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth starts with GaAsP cap layer decomposition. After this layer is evaporated, the remaining layers are grown in the second growth.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the capping layer can be any layers that can be selectively decomposed from the substrate.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth can be repeated multiple times.

An apparatus, structure, device, device structure, or construct fabricated according to the method of any preced-ing embodiment. Embodiments of the present technology may be described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations of methods and systems according to embodiments of the technology and method steps. As used herein, the singular terms “a,” “an,” and “the” may include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Reference to an object in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” B₂ As used herein, the term “set” refers to a collection of one or more objects. Thus, for example, a set of objects can include a single object or multiple objects. As used herein, the terms “substantially” and “about” are used to describe and account for small variations. When used in conjunction with an event or circumstance, the terms can refer to instances in which the event or circumstance occurs precisely as well as instances in which the event or circumstance occurs to a close approximation. When used in conjunction with a numerical value, the terms can refer to a range of variation of less than or equal to ±10% of that numerical value, such as less than or equal to ±5%, less than or equal to ±4%, less than or equal to ±3%, less than or equal to ±2%, less than or equal to ±1%, less than or equal to ±0.5%, less than or equal to ±0.1%, or less than or equal to ±0.05%. For example, “substantially” aligned can refer to a range of angular variation of less than or equal to ±10°, such as less than or equal to ±5°, less than or equal to ±4°, less than or equal to ±3°, less than or equal to ±2°, less than or equal to ±1°, less than or equal to ±0.5°, less than or equal to ±0.1°, or less than or equal to ±0.05°. Additionally, amounts, ratios, and other numerical values may sometimes be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used for conve-nience and brevity and should be understood flexibly to include numerical values explicitly specified as limits of a range, but also to include all individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numeri-cal value and sub-range is explicitly specified. For example, a ratio in the range of about 1 to about 200 should be understood to include the explicitly recited limits of about 1 and about 200, but also to include individual ratios such as about 2, about 3, and about 4, and sub-ranges such as about 10 to about 50, about 20 to about 100, and so forth. Although the description herein contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the disclosure fully encom-passes other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the disclosed embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “means plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for”. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “step plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “step for”. What is claimed is:

A method of fabricating GaAs based semiconductor device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing elements of a semiconductor device structure with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate having the first type of doping and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer of the device; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the final GaAs based layer formed during the growing process, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects ele-ments of the semiconductor device structure from oxidizing when exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decomposition process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high tem-perature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of the GaAs based semiconductor device structure are grown.

A method of fabricating semiconductor optoelectronic device structures, comprising: (a) performing a growing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs based layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxide while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; and (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a semiconductor optoelectronic device are fabricated.

A method of fabricating a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), comprising: (a) performing a grow-ing process in a reaction chamber by growing a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) stack with a first type of doping over a semiconductor substrate also having the first type of doping, and ending with growing a final GaAs layer; (b) performing a capping process by depositing a phosphor containing material cap layer over the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer protects the DBR from forming oxides while exposed to atmospheric conditions; (c) performing a decom-position process by selectively decomposing the phosphor containing material cap layer by using high temperature desorption; (d) performing a regrowing process in which other layers of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) are fabricated, comprising: (d)(i) growing a first contact layer with the same type of doping as the DBR; (d)(ii) growing an undoped active region as gain material; (d)(iii) growing a second contact layer on the active region with different doping from the first contact layer; and (d)(iv) growing layers of an upper reflector.

A method for high-quality epitaxial regrowth of opto-electronic devices based on multiple growths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, further comprising forming a contact layer over the final GaAs based layer after the decomposition process and prior to fabricating additional layers of the semiconductor device structure.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which semiconductor devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein growing of elements of the semiconductor device structures are performed by either molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer selected from a group of phosphor con-taining materials consisting of: binary GaP, Ternary InGaP, AIGaP, InAIP, AlAsP and quaternary InGaAsP, InAlAsP.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said phosphor containing material cap layer comprises a layer which is from approximately 5 to 100 nm thick.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed at a temperature of from approximately 500 to 900 degrees Celsius.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said high temperature desorption of said phosphor containing material cap layer is performed under a flow of Tertiarybutylarsine (TBAs) or AsH3.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein desorption of said phosphor containing mate-rial cap layer occurs in response to a lack of group V phosphors in the reaction chamber, causing instability in said phosphor containing material cap layer which leads to decomposition and evaporation.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor layers beneath said phos-phor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate, upon which are the growing elements of a semiconductor device structure, is removed from the reaction chamber between the capping process and the decomposition process.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said capping process, decomposition process and regrowth process can be repeated multiple times on said semiconductor substrate during semiconductor device fab-rication.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein GaAs based layers beneath said phosphor containing material cap layer remain stable and are not decomposed.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said upper reflector comprises either a dis-tributed Bragg reflector (DBR) or a high-contrast grating (HCG).

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein said semiconductor substrate is contained on a semiconductor wafer upon which vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) devices are being fabricated.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the multiple regrowth comprises: a first growth and a second growth (regrowth), with the wafer taken out of the chamber between first growth and regrowth, and the wafer is also taken out of the chamber between different regrowths.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the first growth ends with a GaAsP cap layer.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth starts with GaAsP cap layer decomposition. After this layer is evaporated, the remaining layers are grown in the second growth.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the capping layer can be any layers that can be selectively decomposed from the substrate.

The apparatus or method of any preceding embodi-ment, wherein the regrowth can be repeated multiple times.

An apparatus, structure, device, device structure, or construct fabricated according to the method of any preced-ing embodiment. Embodiments of the present technology may be described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations of methods and systems according to embodiments of the technology and method steps. As used herein, the singular terms “a,” “an,” and “the” may include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Reference to an object in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” B₂ As used herein, the term “set” refers to a collection of one or more objects. Thus, for example, a set of objects can include a single object or multiple objects. As used herein, the terms “substantially” and “about” are used to describe and account for small variations. When used in conjunction with an event or circumstance, the terms can refer to instances in which the event or circumstance occurs precisely as well as instances in which the event or circumstance occurs to a close approximation. When used in conjunction with a numerical value, the terms can refer to a range of variation of less than or equal to ±10% of that numerical value, such as less than or equal to ±5%, less than or equal to ±4%, less than or equal to ±3%, less than or equal to ±2%, less than or equal to ±1%, less than or equal to ±0.5%, less than or equal to ±0.1%, or less than or equal to ±0.05%. For example, “substantially” aligned can refer to a range of angular variation of less than or equal to ±10°, such as less than or equal to ±5°, less than or equal to ±4°, less than or equal to ±3°, less than or equal to ±2°, less than or equal to ±1°, less than or equal to ±0.5°, less than or equal to ±0.1°, or less than or equal to ±0.05°. Additionally, amounts, ratios, and other numerical values may sometimes be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used for conve-nience and brevity and should be understood flexibly to include numerical values explicitly specified as limits of a range, but also to include all individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numeri-cal value and sub-range is explicitly specified. For example, a ratio in the range of about 1 to about 200 should be understood to include the explicitly recited limits of about 1 and about 200, but also to include individual ratios such as about 2, about 3, and about 4, and sub-ranges such as about 10 to about 50, about 20 to about 100, and so forth. Although the description herein contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the disclosure fully encom-passes other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the disclosed embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “means plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for”. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “step plus function” element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “step for”. What is claimed is: