There is provided a semiconductor light emitting semiconductor device including an n-side electrode which has a structure capable of stably suppressing the contact resistance between the n-side electrode and a nitride semiconductor layer. Further, there is provided a light emitting device and a manufacturing method wherein an ohmic contact between the n-side electrode and the nitride semiconductor layer can be obtained by a simple manufacturing process, and the n-side electrode has an Au layer on a top surface to facilitate wire bonding. Semiconductor layers (2-8) to form a light emitting layer are laminated on a surface of a substrate (1) made of, for example, a sapphire (Al2O3 single crystal) or the like and a p-side electrode (10) is formed on the surface thereof thorough a light transmitting conductive layer (9). An n-side electrode (11) is formed on an exposed surface of an n-type layer (4), exposed by removing a part of the semiconductor layers (4-8) by etching. The n-side electrode includes actually an Al layer (11a) in contact with the n-type layer, a barrier metal layer (11b) and an Au layer (11c).