SURFACE EMITTING LASER, SURFACE EMITTING LASER ARRAY, AND OPTICAL APPARATUS

• US 20110026555A1
• Filed: 07/15/2010
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Takeuchi, Tetsuya
• Application Number:
  US12/837,345
• Publication Number:
  US 20110026555A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 372/45.011
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 20/00 Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 2301/173 The laser chip comprising special buffer layers, e.g. dislocation prevention or reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/18311 using selective oxidation
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/3201 incorporating bulkstrain effects, e.g. strain compensation, strain related to polarisation
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/34333 with a well layer based on Ga(In)N or Ga(In)P, e.g. blue laser

Abstract

A surface emitting laser includes a pair of multilayer mirrors disposed opposing to each other, and an active layer disposed between the multilayer mirrors. In at least one multilayer mirror of the pair of multilayer mirrors, a plurality of first pair layers are stacked, each first pair layer is formed from a high-refractive index layer having a first strain and a low-refractive index layer having a second strain; and a second pair layer is included, the second pair layer is formed of one of the high-refractive index layer and the low-refractive index layer of the first pair layer in which one of the high-refractive index layer and the low-refractive index layer of the first pair layer is replaced with a layer formed from a quaternary or higher mixed crystal semiconductor material having a third strain.

Claims

1. A surface emitting laser comprising:

a pair of multilayer mirrors disposed opposing to each other; and

an active layer disposed between the multilayer mirrors,

wherein, in at least one multilayer mirror of the pair of multilayer mirrors,

a plurality of first pair layers are stacked, each first pair layer being formed from a high-refractive index layer having a first strain and a low-refractive index layer having a second strain, and

a second pair layer is included, the second pair layer being formed of one of the high-refractive index layer and the low-refractive index layer of the first pair layer in which one of the high-refractive index layer and the low-refractive index layer of the first pair layer is replaced with a layer formed from a quaternary or higher mixed crystal semiconductor material having a third strain,

the sum of the first strain and the second strain is a compressive or tensile strain, and

the third strain is reverse to the sum of the first strain and the second strain and the absolute value of the third strain is larger than the absolute values of the first strain and the second strain.

2. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein the high-refractive index layer and the low-refractive index layer in the first pair layer are formed from a binary semiconductor material or a ternary semiconductor material.

3. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein in the second pair layer, the high-refractive index layer in the first pair layer is replaced with the layer formed from the mixed crystal semiconductor material.

4. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein the quaternary or higher mixed crystal semiconductor material in the second pair layer comprises Al and P.

5. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1,

wherein the first pair layer is formed from AlGaAs layers and the sum of the first strain and the second strain is a compressive strain, and

the layer of quaternary or higher mixed crystal semiconductor material in the second pair layer is formed from an AlGaInP layer and the third strain is a tensile strain.

6. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1,

wherein the first pair layer is formed from AlGaN layers and the sum of the first strain and the second strain is a tensile strain, and

the layer of quaternary or higher mixed crystal semiconductor material in the second pair layer is formed from an AlGaInN layer and the third strain is a compressive strain.

7. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein in the pair of multilayer mirrors disposed opposing to each other, a larger number of first pair layers are disposed in the side nearer to the active layer.

8. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein the multilayer mirror constitutes an n-type or p-type multilayer mirror, and the second pair layer is included only in a multilayer mirror constituting the n-type.

9. A laser array comprising an array of surface emitting lasers, in which each of the surface emitting lasers is configured according to the surface emitting laser defined in claim 1.

10. An optical apparatus comprising a light source, wherein the surface emitting laser array according to claim 9 is included as the light source.