WO2013090472A1

WO2013090472A1 - Process for annealing and devices made thereby

Info

Publication number: WO2013090472A1
Application number: PCT/US2012/069314
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chien-Min Sung
Original assignee: RiteDia Corp
Current assignee: RiteDia Corp
Priority date: 2011-12-12
Filing date: 2012-12-12
Publication date: 2013-06-20
Anticipated expiration: 2014-06-12

Abstract

Methods of decreasing defects in a semiconductor material, including associated devices, are provided. In one aspect, for example, a method of decreasing defects in a semiconductor material can include placing a semiconductor material into a high pressure device, applying high presser to the semiconductor material via the high pressure device, and heating the semiconductor material to a temperature that is below a thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice. The high pressure and temperature are maintained for a time sufficient to decrease crystal lattice defects in the semiconductor material as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

Description

PROCESS FOR ANNEALING AND DEVICES MADE THEREBY

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One problem that has been difficult to overcome for many types of semiconductor device relates to dislocations and other lattice defects that arise in a semiconductor during the manufacturing process. Such defects can hinder the performance of many

semiconductor devices, particularly optoelectronic devices. As one example, some LEDs are made via a heteroepitaxial process of forming a GaN material on a single crystal AI2O3 substrate (sapphire). Sapphire wafers are difficult and expensive to process due to their hardness and high melting temperature. Si wafers are much easier and less costly to work with, however such wafers are not used for many LEDs due to the large crystal lattice mismatch between GaN and Si.

Even so, sapphire has a rather large lattice mismatch with GaN (about 13%), so GaN deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on sapphire contains substantial defects, on the order of one billion per square centimeter in some cases. The defect separation across such a material is about 1-2 um. In a blue light LED, for example, the wavelength of the blue light is approximately 0.4 - 0.47 μπι (400 to 470 nm). As such, the blue light can move through the GaN layer with a fairly low chance of collision with the defects, so in some cases the emission efficacy of the LED can still be high. Defects such as dislocation can move upon heating, however, as the LED is subject to high temperature degradation. In some cases it is estimated that light emission can decay by about 18% in 6000 hours. While this rate of decay may be acceptable for some general purposes, it may not be acceptable for purposes that require a more stable illuminating brightness or color temperature (warmness).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure provides methods of decreasing defects in a semiconductor material, including associated devices. In one aspect, for example, a method of decreasing defects in a semiconductor material can include placing a semiconductor material into a high pressure device, applying high presser to the semiconductor material via the high pressure device, and heating the semiconductor material to a temperature that is below a thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice. The high pressure and temperature are maintained for a time sufficient to decrease crystal lattice defects in the semiconductor material as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment. In one specific aspect, the semiconductor material is a semiconductor layer epitaxially grown on a support substrate.

In one aspect, the high pressure is a uniformly distributed pressure. In another aspect, the uniformly distributed pressure is by hot isostatic pressing. In yet another aspect, the high pressure is from about 0.1 GPa to about 6 GPa. In a further aspect, the high pressure is from about 1 GPa to about 5 GPa. Additionally, in one aspect the temperature is at least 100° C below the thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice.

Various degrees of defects are contemplated, and any reduction in the degree of defects in a semiconductor material is considered to be within the present scope. In one aspect, the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 50% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment. In another aspect, the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 90% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

Any semiconductor material that can be improved by high pressure processing is considered to be within the present scope. Non-limiting examples of such materials include GaN, A1N, Si, GaP, GaAs, and the like, including and combinations thereof. In one specific aspect, the semiconductor material is GaN. In another specific aspect, the semiconductor material is GaN formed by MOCVD. In yet another specific aspect, the semiconductor material is formed by MOCVD. In a further aspect, the semiconductor material is formed by a liquid crystallization process.

The present disclosure additionally provides semiconductor devices having decreased defects. In one aspect, for example, a semiconductor device can include a semiconductor material having been processed by high temperature heat treatment as is disclosed herein, wherein the semiconductor material has decreased crystal lattice defects as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, various features of the invention so that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and so that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. Other features of the present invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of the invention, taken with the accompanying claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an image of a GaN on sapphire semiconductor in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the uniform distribution of high pressure across a semiconductor material in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an image of untreated GaN on sapphire (A) and hot pressed GaN on sapphire (B) after etching in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows x-ray diffraction data from untreated GaN on sapphire (A) and hot pressed GaN on sapphire (B) in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Definitions

In describing and claiming the present invention, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set forth below.

The singular forms "a," "an," and, "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a dopant" includes reference to one or more of such dopants, and reference to "the diamond layer" includes reference to one or more of such layers.

As used herein, "vapor deposited" refers to materials which are formed using vapor deposition techniques. "Vapor deposition" refers to a process of forming or depositing materials on a substrate through the vapor phase. Vapor deposition processes can include any process such as, but not limited to, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD). A wide variety of variations of each vapor deposition method can be performed by those skilled in the art. Examples of vapor deposition methods include hot filament CVD, rf-CVD, laser CVD (LCVD), laser ablation, conformal diamond coating processes, metal-organic CVD (MOCVD), sputtering, thermal evaporation PVD, ionized metal PVD (IMPVD), electron beam PVD (EBPVD), reactive PVD, and the like.

As used herein, "chemical vapor deposition," or "CVD" refers to any method of chemically forming or depositing diamond particles in a vapor form upon a surface.

Various CVD techniques are well known in the art. As used herein, "physical vapor deposition," or "PVD" refers to any method of physically forming or depositing diamond particles in a vapor form upon a surface.

Various PVD techniques are well known in the art.

As used herein, "thermal stability limit" refers to the temperature limit at which a semiconductor material begins to lose structural stability. In one aspect, the thermal stability limit of a material is that material's melting point.

As used herein, the term "substantially" refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, an object that is "substantially" enclosed would mean that the object is either completely enclosed or nearly completely enclosed. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend on the specific context. However, generally speaking the nearness of completion will be so as to have the same overall result as if absolute and total completion were obtained. The use of "substantially" is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, a composition that is "substantially free of particles would either completely lack particles, or so nearly completely lack particles that the effect would be the same as if it completely lacked particles. In other words, a composition that is "substantially free of" an ingredient or element may still actually contain such item as long as there is no measurable effect thereof.

As used herein, the term "about" is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be "a little above" or "a little below" the endpoint.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary.

Concentrations, amounts, and other numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of "about 1 to about 5" should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc., as well as 1 , 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually.

This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.

The Invention

By reducing the density of defects in a semiconductor material such as GaN in the example above, rate of decay of light emission can be greatly reduced. Additionally, such a reduction in defects can allow the LED to be operated at much higher operating temperatures, thus generating more intense light emissions for longer durations. For example, one industry standard is 350 mA for a 1 W LED. If the defect density of such an LED were reduced by on order of magnitude, with all else being equivalent, such an LED can be driven by 1 A to generate a light emission equivalent to a 3 W brightness.

It has now been discovered that crystal lattice dislocations and other defects can be particularly unstable under high pressure. As such, applying a high pressure to the semiconductor material can cause a mending of at least a portion of the dislocations or defects in the crystal lattice, thus reducing the dislocation density of the material. In some cases, heat can be applied to the semiconductor material along with the pressure to further facilitate the process.

Many semiconductor materials tend to be brittle, however, and thus an uneven pressure may cause a wafer to crack and/or break. This is particularly true for epitaxial layers that may only be a few microns thick. This brittle nature can be alleviated to some extent by evenly distributing the high pressure forces around the semiconductor material. As such, in one aspect the high pressure can be a uniformly distributed pressure. The uniformly distributed pressure can be a pressure that is uniformly distributed across the entire or substantially the entire surface of the semiconductor surface being high pressure treated. Thus, under such evenly distributed, or substantially evenly distributed, high pressure conditions, lattice dislocations can be moved or diffused from the lattice. In some cases, applying heat to the semiconductor material under such high pressure conditions can further facilitate the movement of dislocations from the lattice. Without intending to be bound to any scientific theory, the dislocations may move from the lattice as a result of the pressure-induced reduction of the semiconductor material volume. As a dislocation is a perturbation in the crystal lattice and thus requires a higher material volume, compressing the volume with high pressure forces the dislocations to move, thus allowing correction of the defects. FIG. lb, for example, shows a GaN 12 on sapphire 14 material wherein the GaN 12 has a thickness of 2.2 μηι. Following high pressure treatment (FIG. la), the thickness of the GaN layer has been compressed to 1.5 μιη. It appears that such a decrease it the thickness of the GaN layer is due to the applied pressure moving the dislocations therefrom and more effectively orienting the atoms in the material as the lattice compresses. Additionally, in some cases such high pressure can facilitate the stabilization of the semiconductor lattice. As one example, GaN materials tend to sublimate at high temperatures, so the introduction of high pressure can limit the formation of vapors that cause disintegration of the lattice.

It should be noted that any type of pressure delivered to the semiconductor material that does not result in significant damage (e.g. cracking or breaking) to the material is considered to be within the present scope. Generally, an evenly distributed or uniform stress across the semiconductor material may not cause significant damage as compared to a non-uniform or uneven pressure distribution. Such stress can be defined as stress that is distributed across the surface of the semiconductor material in such a way as to minimize unequal forces that would crack or otherwise damage the semiconductor material. For example, pressure applied via a gas or a liquid medium will generally result in a uniform distribution of pressure across the surface of the semiconductor material. In one aspect, the high pressure can be applied by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) using a liquid and or gas medium. In some cases a gas medium will exclusively be used as many liquids will boil at the temperatures utilized. In another aspect, the high pressure can be applied by a uniaxial pressing technique. It is noted that HIP can be limited as to reaching very high pressures (e.g. 1 Kb) that is well below ultrahigh pressure (e.g. 5 GPa or 50Kb), and as such the temperature can be reduced to avoid disintegration of the semiconductor lattice.

In many cases, solid medium pressing may stress the semiconductor material in an uneven distribution, thus leading to damage. This may not be the case with certain solid media such as certain powders, however. Powders may allow for a more uniform pressure distribution in a high pressure system. Non-limiting examples can include graphite powder, hexagonal boron nitride powder, molybdenum disulfide powder, talc powder, pyrophyllite powder, lime powder, dolomite powder, salt or the like.

The pressure treatment techniques disclosed herein can be utilized to decrease defects in semiconductor materials made from any known process, all of which are considered to be within the present scope. Non-limiting examples include liquid crystallization, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), and the like. In the case of a vapor condensed process, such as MOCVD, atoms that are deposited at mismatched locations tend to generate lattice defects. Such defects can be repaired following deposition of the layer by the high pressure treatment techniques of the present disclosure.

As such, in one aspect a method of decreasing the incidence of defects in a semiconductor material can include placing a semiconductor material into a high pressure device, applying high presser to the semiconductor material via the high pressure device, and heating the semiconductor material to a temperature that is below a thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice. The method further includes maintaining the high pressure and temperature for a time sufficient to decrease crystal lattice defects in the semiconductor material as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

Any high pressure treatment capable of reducing crystal lattice defects in a semiconductor material is considered to be within the present scope. In one aspect, the high pressure can be a high pressure that is uniformly distributed around the

semiconductor material sufficient to preclude significant damage to the material. An example of the uniform distribution of high pressure is shown in FIG. 2. A

semiconductor material 12 is shown positioned in a support material 14 in a device that generates high pressure (not shown). The high pressure is uniformly distributed 16 across the surface of the semiconductor material 12. In another aspect, the high pressure can be by hot isostatic pressing.

It is also contemplated that multiple semiconductor material layers can be stacked with appropriate pressure generating material there between so that more than one semiconductor material can be simultaneously processed. The stacks can be prepared such that pressure applied to the stack is uniformly applied to all semiconductor material layers located therein. Pressure from the surrounding stack will thus provide uniform pressure to a given semiconductor material to minimize cracking or damage. As has been described, appropriate pressure medium placed between and surrounding the

semiconductor material layers will facilitate uniform pressing.

Furthermore, the pressure exerted on the semiconductor material can vary depending on the material, the type of pressing, the degree of lattice defects, the temperature used, and the like. In one aspect, for example, the high pressure is from about 0.1 GPa to about 6 GPa. In another example, the high pressure is from about 1 GPa to about 5 GPa. In yet another aspect, the high pressure is from about 2 GPa to about 5 GPa. In yet another aspect, the high pressure is from about 0.01 GPa to about 5 GPa.

Furthermore, the semiconductor material can be heated to any temperature below the thermal stability of the material that allows the defect density to be decreased. Thus, the thermal stability of a semiconductor material need only be noted or calculated, and a temperature that is less than this value can be utilized. In one specific aspect, the temperature can be at least 50° C below the thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice. In another specific aspect, the temperature can be at least 100° C below the thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice. In some aspects, the temperature applied can be a result of the temperature increase due to the high pressure. In other aspects, heat can be provided to the interior of the high pressure apparatus in order to increase the temperature therein. As one specific example for GaN materials, the temperature can be from about 950°C to about 1500°C. In another aspect, the

temperature can be from about 1000°C to about 1300°C.

The degree of reduction of defects in the semiconductor material can vary, depending at least in part on the nature of the semiconductor material, the configuration of the pressure apparatus and the amount of pressure utilized, the applied temperature, and the like. In one aspect, however, the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 50% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment. In another aspect, the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 90% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment. In yet another aspect, the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced from between about 10⁸/cm² and 10⁹/cm² prior to high pressure treating, to between about 10⁴/cm² andl0⁶/cm² following high pressure treating.

Additionally, in some aspects the high pressure and/or temperature can be cycled or otherwise varied over time. In one aspect, for example, multi-stage heating and/or pressure variation can be performed. Heating and/or pressure can be ramped up or stepped from one stage to the next. Furthermore, the time durations of various stages can be the same or different, depending on the desire results of the annealing process.

In addition, in some aspects the semiconductor material can be vibrated while being subjected to high pressure and high temperature. This vibration can be applied to the pressing device, applied by rapidly varying the pressure within the pressing device, or applied by any other useful technique. In some aspects, the vibration source can be a vibrator coupled to the high temperature furnace. The amplitude and frequency of the vibration source can be selected according to material characteristics of the

semiconductor material. If, for example, the semiconductor material is GaN, the amplitude of the vibration source can be between about lOum and about 30um, with a frequency of between about 20 kHz and about 40kHz. With the aid of vibration, movement of defects in the semiconductor material can be accelerated, thus decreasing the time period to achieve a lower defect density.

FIG. 3 shows a comparison of hot pressed and non-hot pressed materials. FIG. 3A shows a GaN on sapphire material that has been acid etched with an acid. Etching pits initiate at crystal dislocations and other defects in the GaN material, and thus are further etched to expose the underlying sapphire material. FIG. 3B shows a material of GaN on sapphire that has been hot pressed at about 5 GPa at 1300°C in a cubic press, followed by etching with the acid. As can be seen in FIG. 3B, the GaN material did not have sufficient defects or dislocations to allow etching by the acid. FIG. 4 shows x-ray diffraction peaks of the untreated (FIG. 4A) and the hot pressed (FIG. 4B) materials. Note that the hot pressed material shows a much higher peak intensity, indicating that crystallinity is improved compared to the non-hot pressed material.

A variety of semiconductor materials and material configurations can be high pressure treated in order to reduce crystal lattice defects such as dislocations. In one aspect, for example, the semiconductor material can be a wafer. In another aspect, the semiconductor material can be a semiconductor layer that is epitaxially grown on a substrate. Additionally, combinations of semiconductor materials are contemplated. For example, multiple semiconductor layers can be high pressure treated to reduce defects. This can be accomplished simultaneously following the deposition of one or more layers on a substrate, or the high pressure treatment can be performed sequentially following the deposition of each layer. In one aspect, a wafer can be high pressure treated to reduce defects in the wafer, following which an epitaxial layer can be deposited thereon. The wafer and epitaxial layer can subsequently be high pressure treated to reduce defects in the epitaxial layer. In addition, an epitaxial layer and/or a wafer can have additional layers or features deposited thereon prior to high pressure treatment. Non-limiting examples can include reflective layers, passivation layers, circuitry features, and the like.

Various semiconductor materials are contemplated that can benefit from the high pressure processing techniques described herein. Thus, the specific semiconductor material can include any material having undesirable defects that can be reduced due to the application of high pressures thereto. Many semiconductors are based on silicon, gallium, indium, and germanium. However, suitable materials for the semiconductor layer can include, without limitation, silicon, silicon carbide, silicon germanium, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, germanium, zinc sulfide, gallium phosphide, gallium

antimonide, gallium indium arsenide phosphide, aluminum phosphide, aluminum arsenide, aluminum gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, boron nitride, aluminum nitride, indium arsenide, indium phosphide, indium antimonide, indium nitride, and composites thereof. In one aspect, however, the semiconductor layer can include silicon, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, gallium phosphide, aluminum nitride, indium nitride, indium gallium nitride, aluminum gallium nitride, or composites of these materials.

In another aspect, the semiconductor material can include gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon, gallium phosphide, gallium arsenide, indium gallium nitride, indium nitride, or a combination thereof. In yet another aspect, the semiconductor material can include gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon, gallium phosphide, gallium arsenide, or a combination thereof. In one specific aspect, the semiconductor material is gallium nitride. In another specific aspect, the semiconductor material can include a gallium nitride layer on a silicon wafer. As has been described, the atomic mismatch in such a case results in a gallium nitride layer having substantial numbers of defects. In this case, however, the substantial number of defects obtained when forming gallium nitride on silicon can be reduced via high temperature processing, thus rendering such a cost effective combination of materials viable. In another specific aspect, the semiconductor material is aluminum nitride. It should be noted that the semiconductor material can be doped as is well known in the art

Additionally, semiconductor materials may be of any structural configuration known, for example, without limitation, cubic (zincblende or sphalerite), wurtzitic, rhombohedral, graphitic, turbostratic, pyrolytic, hexagonal, amorphous, or combinations thereof. The semiconductor material can be formed by any method known to one of ordinary skill in the art Various known methods of vapor deposition, physical deposition, liquid crystallization, and the like, can be utilized to form such layers. One non-limiting example of a deposition process can be MOCVD.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, materials having a cubic crystal lattice can be created via hot pressing according to the present aspects. In one aspect, for example, cubic GaN having a low to zero dislocation density can be created. As one technique, GaN can be deposited onto the 100 face of a Si substrate. The 100 face of Si thus is used as a template to deposit the GaN as cubic GaN. The size disparity of the crystalline structure between Si and GaN will produce a number of crystal dislocations and defects in the cubic GaN. By hot pressing the GaN on Si, however, the crystal dislocations can be reduced or eliminated, resulting in a high quality low-lo-no defect cubic GaN on Si.

Various types of semiconductor devices are contemplated that incorporate the reduced defect semiconductor materials according to aspects of the present disclosure, and any semiconductor device that would benefit from such semiconductor materials is considered to be within the present scope. Exemplary devices can include optoelectronic devices such as LEDs, solar cells, laser diodes, and the like, CPUs, graphics ICs, memory ICs, filters such as SAW, B AW, and the like, as well as any other known semiconductor device or device configuration.

Of course, it is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the present invention has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method of decreasing defects in a semiconductor material, comprising:

placing a semiconductor material into a high pressure device;

applying high pressure to the semiconductor material via the high pressure device; heating the semiconductor material to an elevated temperature that remains below a thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice; and

maintaining the high pressure and temperature for a time sufficient to decrease crystal lattice defects in the semiconductor material as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the high pressure is a uniformly distributed pressure.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the uniformly distributed pressure is by hot isostatic pressing or a uniaxial pressing method.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the high pressure is from about 0.1 GPa to about 6 GPa.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the high pressure is from about 1 GPa to about 5 GPa MPa.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature is at least 100° C below the thermal stability limit of the semiconductor material lattice.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 50% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 90% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor material includes a member selected from the group consisting of GaN, A1N, Si, GaP, GaAs, and combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor material is a semiconductor layer epitaxially grown on a support substrate.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor layer includes a member selected from the group consisting of GaN, A1N, Si, GaP, GaAs, and combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor layer is GaN.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor material is formed by a vapor phase deposition process.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor material is formed by MOCVD.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor material is formed by a liquid crystallization process.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor material is vibrated during heating and high pressure treatment.

17. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a semiconductor material having been processed by high temperature heat treatment as in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor material has decreased crystal lattice defects as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

18. The device of claim 16, wherein the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 50% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

19. The device of claim 16, wherein the defects in the semiconductor material lattice are reduced by at least 90% as compared to the semiconductor material prior to high pressure treatment.

20. The device of claim 16, wherein the semiconductor material is a semiconductor layer epitaxially grown on a support substrate.

21. The device of claim 16, wherein the semiconductor material includes a member selected from the group consisting of GaN, A1N, Si, GaP, GaAs, and combinations thereof.

22. The device of claim 16, wherein the semiconductor material is GaN.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the GaN is formed by MOCVD.