Method of making a surface emitting semiconductor laser
First Claim
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1. A method of fabricating a vertically oriented semiconducting optical structure, comprising the steps of:
- epitaxially forming on a crystalline body a vertical structure comprising a plurality of semiconductive layers of differing compositions, said vertical structure including an active region having an effective bandgap, a first interference mirror and another mirror substantially reflecting light of a wavelength corresponding to said bandgap, an optical distance between said interference mirror and said another mirror being in a predetermined relationship with said wavelength; and
vertically etching with an ion beam comprising ions heavier than argon through a portion of said vertical structure including at least said active region to form an isolated pillar of at least some of said semiconductive layers.
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Abstract
A method of making a vertical-cavity surface emitting laser and method of making in which a III-V heterostructure is epitaxially grown to include a quantum well active region between two interference mirrors separated by an emitting wavelength of the quantum well region. A small pillar of this heterostructure is etched by chemically assisted xenon ion beam etching. Prior to etching, a top metal contact is deposited on the epitaxial semiconductor. Light is emitted through the substrate having a bandgap larger than that of the quantum well region.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of fabricating a vertically oriented semiconducting optical structure, comprising the steps of:
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epitaxially forming on a crystalline body a vertical structure comprising a plurality of semiconductive layers of differing compositions, said vertical structure including an active region having an effective bandgap, a first interference mirror and another mirror substantially reflecting light of a wavelength corresponding to said bandgap, an optical distance between said interference mirror and said another mirror being in a predetermined relationship with said wavelength; and vertically etching with an ion beam comprising ions heavier than argon through a portion of said vertical structure including at least said active region to form an isolated pillar of at least some of said semiconductive layers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of fabricating a vertical semiconductor diode laser, comprising the steps of:
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forming on a body a vertical structure comprising a plurality of layers, at least some of which comprise semiconductor layers epitaxial with said substrate, said structure including a lower mirror, a lower spacer, an active semiconductor layer emitting light at a wavelength, an upper spacer and an upper mirror, an optical distance between said lower and upper mirrors being in a predetermined relationship to said wavelength, said upper and lower mirrors reflecting a substantial fraction of light at said wavelength; vertically etching a portion of said structure to form a pillar rising away from said substrate; and a first step of electrically connecting a first electrical contact to a portion of said pillar above said active layer; and a second step of electrically connecting a second electrical contact to a portion of said vertical structure below said active layer; wherein said vertical etching step causes electrical current between said two contacts to be confined to an area of said active layer corresponding to said pillar. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification