Solid state lighting (“SSL”) devices are used in a wide variety of products and applications. For example, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), digital cameras, MP3 players, and other portable electronic devices utilize SSL devices for backlighting. SSL devices are also used for signage, indoor lighting, outdoor lighting, and other types of general illumination. SSL devices generally use light emitting diodes (“LEDs”), organic light emitting diodes (“OLEDs”), and/or polymer light emitting diodes (“PLEDs”) as sources of illumination, rather than electrical filaments, plasma, or gas. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a conventional indium-gallium nitride (InGaN) LED 10 including a substrate material 12 (e.g., silicon), N-type gallium nitride (GaN) 14, GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells (“MQWs”) 16, and P-type GaN 18. The LED 10 also includes a first contact 20 on the P-type GaN 18 and a second contact 22 on the N-type GaN 14. During manufacturing, the N-type GaN 14, the GaN/InGaN MQWs 16, and the P-type GaN 18 are formed on the substrate material 12 via metal organic chemical vapor deposition (“MOCVD”), molecular beam epitaxy (“MBE”), liquid phase epitaxy (“LPE”), hydride vapor phase epitaxy (“HVPE”), and/or other epitaxial growth techniques, each of which is typically performed at elevated temperatures.
One aspect of the LED 10 shown in FIG. 1 is that an electrostatic discharge (“ESD”) event can cause catastrophic damage to the LED 10, and render the LED 10 inoperable. Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the effects of ESD events. However, conventional approaches for mitigating the effects of ESD typically include connecting a protection diode to the SSL device, which requires additional connection steps and can compromise the electrical integrity of the resulting structure. Accordingly, there remains a need for reliably and cost-effectively manufacturing LEDs with suitable protection against ESD.