PASSIVATION STRUCTURES FOR LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE CHIPS

Solid-state lighting devices including light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and more particularly passivation structures for LED chips are disclosed. LED chips include active LED structures, typically formed of epitaxial semiconductor layers, that include mesas with mesa sidewalls. Passivation structures include a passivation layer that bounds the mesa sidewalls. The passivation layer includes a material that is robust to etchants of active LED structures when forming the mesas to reduce damage in underlying portions of the LED chip. The passivation layer effectively forms a seal along the mesa sidewalls that reduces unwanted undercutting or erosion during etching, thereby providing improved reliability, reduced moisture ingress, and the flexibility to enable additional chip structures, such as light extraction features.