Semiconductor laser device

• US 5,555,271 A
• Filed: 12/23/1994
• Issued: 09/10/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Junko, Kase, Hiroyuki, Bessho, Yasuyuki, Hiroyama, Ryoji, Honda, Shoji, Shono, Masayuki, Nishida, Toyozo, Uetani, Takahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Healy, Brian
• Application Number:
  US08/363,619
• Time in Patent Office: 627 Days
• Field of Search: 372/43, 372/45, 372/46, 372/48, 372/50
• US Class Current: 372/45.01
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 20/00 Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/20 Structure or shape of the semiconductor body to guide the optical wave ; Confining structures perpendicular to the optical axis, e.g. index or gain guiding, stripe geometry, broad area lasers, gain tailoring, transverse or lateral reflectors, special cladding structures, MQW barrier reflection layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/2004 Confining in the direction perpendicular to the layer structure
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/2231 with inner confining structure only between the active layer and the upper electrode
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/3202 grown on specifically orientated substrates, or using orientation dependent growth
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/3213 asymmetric clading layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/3218 specially strained cladding layers, other than for strain compensation
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/34326 with a well layer based on InGa(Al)P, e.g. red laser

Abstract

On an n-type GaAs semiconductor substrate, an n-type cladding layer formed of AlGaInP system crystal almost in lattice matching with the semiconductor substrate, an active layer and a p-type cladding layer formed of AlGaInP system crystal almost in lattice matching with the semiconductor substrate are formed, and a p-type barrier cladding layer formed of AlGaInP system crystal or AlInP system crystal is provided in the p-type cladding layer. The p-type barrier cladding layer has a thickness through which electrons are almost not transmitted, has tensile strain, and also has band gap energy larger than that of the p-type cladding layer.

Claims

1. A semiconductor laser device, comprising:

a GaAs semiconductor substrate of one of a first conductivity type and a second conductivity type opposite to said first conductivity type;

a first cladding layer on said GaAs semiconductor substrate of an AlGaInP system crystal of the same conductivity type as said substrate and having a lattice substantially matching the lattice of said GaAs semiconductor substrate;

an active layer on said first cladding layer;

a second cladding layer on said active layer of an AlGaInP system crystal, said second cladding layer being of a conductivity type opposite to the conductivity type of said substrate and having a lattice substantially matching the lattice of said GaAs semiconductor substrate; and

a p-type barrier cladding layer in the one of said first and second cladding layers which is p-type and/or between said one cladding layer and said active layer of an AlGaInP system crystal or an AlInP system crystal,

said p-type barrier cladding layer having a thickness to substantially block transmission of electrons therethrough, having tensile strain and also having band gap energy larger than that of said one cladding layer.

2. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein said thickness of said p-type barrier cladding layer is between about 200 Å

and about 500 Å

.

3. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 2, wherein said thickness of said p-type barrier cladding layer is between about 250 Å

A and about 400 Å

.

4. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein said p-type barrier cladding layer is of (Al_z Ga_1-z)_u In_1-u P, and 0.7≦

z≦

1 and 0.51<

u<

1.

5. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 4, wherein said p-type barrier cladding layer is of (Al_z Ga_1-z)_u In_1-u P, and 0.8≦

z≦

1 and 0.51<

u<

1.

6. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 5 wherein said p-type barrier cladding layer is of (Al_z Ga_1-z)_u In_1-u P, and 0.9≦

z≦

1 and 0.51<

u<

1.

7. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein said p-type barrier cladding layer has a strain of between about -1.5% and about -0.5%.

8. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 7, wherein said p-type barrier cladding layer has a strain of between about -1.2% and about -0.8%.

9. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 8, wherein said p-type barrier cladding layer has a strain of between about -1.1% and about -0.9%.

10. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein said GaAs semiconductor substrate has a crystal growth plane misoriented from the {100} plane to the <

011>

direction by between about 5 degrees and about 17 degrees.

11. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an n-type barrier cladding layer in the other of said first and second cladding layers and/or between said other cladding layer and said active layer, and formed of an AlGaInP system crystal or an AlInP system crystal;

said n-type barrier cladding layer having a thickness to substantially block transmission of electrons therethrough, having tensile strain and having band gap energy larger than said other cladding layer.

12. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein said active layer comprises a quantum well structure layer including quantum barrier layers of an AlGaInP system crystal and at least one quantum well layer of at least one of an AlGaInP system crystal and a GaInP system crystal alternately provided.

13. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 12, wherein said active layer further comprises optical guide layers on both sides of said quantum well structure layer.

14. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein said active layer comprises a layer of an AlGaInP system crystal or a GaInP system crystal.

21. A semiconductor laser device as in claim 1 wherein the said one of said first and second cladding layers with which said p-type barrier cladding layer is associated comprises a plurality of sub-layers and said p-type barrier cladding layer comprises sub-layers between said sub-layers of said one cladding layer.

15. A semiconductor laser device, comprising:

a GaAs semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type;

a first cladding layer formed on said GaAs semiconductor substrate and formed of an AlGaInP system crystal of the first conductivity type which has a lattice substantially matching the lattice of said GaAs semiconductor substrate;

an active layer formed on said first cladding layer;

a second cladding layer formed on said active layer as an AlGaInP system crystal of a second conductivity type which is opposite to said first conductivity type and having a lattice substantially matching the lattice of said GaAs semiconductor substrate; and

a plurality of p-type barrier cladding layers provided separately from each other in the one of said first and second cladding layers which is p-type and/or between said p-type cladding layer and said active layer, and formed of an AlGaInP system crystal or an AlInP system crystal;

each of said plurality of p-type barrier cladding layers having a thickness through which almost no electrons are transmitted, having tensile strain and also having a band gap energy larger than that of said p-type cladding layer.

16. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 15, wherein said plurality of p-type barrier cladding layers each have a refractive index, which indexes gradually decrease in the direction away from said active layer.

17. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 15, further comprising:

a plurality of n-type barrier cladding layers provided separately from each other in the one of said first and second cladding layers which is n-type and/or between said n-type cladding layer and said active layer, and formed of an AlGaInP system crystal or an AlInP system crystal;

each of said plurality of n-type barrier cladding layers having a thickness through which almost no electrons are transmitted, having tensile strain and having band gap energy larger than that of said n-type cladding layer.

18. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 17, wherein said plurality of p-type barrier cladding layers each have a refractive index, which indexes gradually decrease in the direction away from said active layer and said plurality of n-type barrier cladding layers each have a refractive index, which indexes gradually decrease in the direction away from said active layer.

19. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 18, wherein said plurality of p-type and n-type barrier cladding layers have refractive index distribution which is almost symmetric with respect to said active layer.

20. A semiconductor laser device comprising an n-type cladding layer, an active layer and a p-type cladding layer in this order, at least one p-type barrier cladding layer having a thickness to substantially block the transmission of electrons, tensile strain and band gap energy larger than said p-type cladding layer, said p-type barrier cladding layer provided in said p-type cladding layer and/or between said p-type cladding layer and said active layer.