SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT-EMITTING ELEMENT MANUFACTURING METHOD

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a reduction in luminous efficiency and a degradation of reliability when a semiconductor light-emitting element is formed on top of a continuous film semiconductor layer having a different lattice constant or heat expansion coefficient than a substrate which is formed by making use of a partial growth inhibition structure.SOLUTION: The manufacturing method includes a first process of forming a structure 450 in lattice shape on a sapphire substrate 400, a second process of forming a GaN continuous film semiconductor layer 401 so as to continuously cover the surface of the sapphire substrate which has had the structure formed thereon by using a vapor phase epitaxy method, and a third step of forming multilayer structures 402 to 406 on the GaN continuous film semiconductor layer, which each contain an active layer to generate light. The second process, since the GaN continuous film semiconductor layer in an early growth period cannot be grown as a flat plane because of the above structure, is carried out so as to have in effect a growth inhibition structure of slow growth. Then, as the growth layer gains in thickness, the process is carried out in such a way that the surface of the GaN continuous film semiconductor layer becomes flattened by a growth from the wall portion of the above structure.