VCSEL pumped in a monolithically optical manner and comprising a laterally applied edge emitter

• US 7,570,682 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2004
• Issued: 08/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OSRAM OLED GMBH (Ams-Osram AG)
• Original Assignee: Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH (Ams-Osram AG)
• Inventors: Brick, Peter, Lutgen, Stephan, Albrecht, Tony
• Primary Examiner(s): Harvey; Minsun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Phillip
• Application Number:
  US10/579,528
• Publication Number:
  US 20070217463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,729 Days
• Field of Search: 372/50.1, 372/50.124, 372/75, 372 69- 72
• US Class Current: 372/50.124
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/026 Monolithically integrated components, e.g. waveguides, monitoring photo-detectors, drivers stabilisation of output H01S5/06
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/041 Optical pumping
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/04253 having specific optical properties, e.g. transparent electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/04257 having positive and negative electrodes on the same side of the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/14 External cavity lasers H01S5/18 takes precedence; mode locking H01S5/065
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/183 having only vertical cavities, e.g. vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers [VCSEL]
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/209 special etch stop layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/4031 Edge-emitting structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/4056 emitting light in more than one direction

Abstract

A semiconductor laser device comprising an optically pumped surface-emitting vertical emitter region (2) which has an active radiation-emitting vertical emitter layer (3) and has at least one monolithically integrated pump radiation source (5) for optically pumping the vertical emitter region (2), which has an active radiation-emitting pump layer (6). The pump layer (6) follows the vertical emitter layer (3) in the vertical direction and a conductive layer (13) is provided between the vertical emitter layer (3) and the pump layer (6). Furthermore, a contact (9) is applied on the side of the semiconductor laser device which is closer to the pump layer (6) than to the conductive layer (13). An electrical field can be applied between this contact (9) and the conductive layer (13) for generating pump radiation (7) by charge carrier injection.

Claims

1. A semiconductor laser device comprising:

an optically pumped surface-emitting vertical emitter region which has an active radiation-emitting vertical emitter layer;

at least one monolithically integrated pump radiation source for optically pumping the vertical emitter, which has an active radiation-emitting pump layer, wherein the pump layer follows the vertical emitter layer in the vertical direction and a main direction of pump radiation from the monolithically integrated pump radiation source is lateral;

a conductive layer provided between the vertical emitter layer and the pump layer, the semiconductor laser device being partially ablated so that the conductive layer is partially exposed;

a contact applied on the side of the semiconductor laser device which is closer to the pump layer than to the conductive layer;

a further contact applied to exposed areas of the conductive layer; and

a layer which is conductive and which is transparent for radiation of a wavelength as generated by the monolithically integrated pump radiation source provided between the conductive layer and the further contact;

whereby an electrical field can be applied between the conductive layer and the contact for generating pump radiation by charge carrier injection.

2. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor laser device is ablated in the form of parallel trenches.

3. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 1, wherein an etch stop layer which is resistant to an etching process which is suitable for exposing the conductive layer is provided adjacently to the conductive layer.

4. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conductive layer is arranged in the vertical direction of the semiconductor device in such a manner that the conductive layer is located in a node of the radiation field in the resonator of the vertical emitter region.

5. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a vertical waveguide structure is provided between the vertical emitter layer and the conductive layer.

6. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the vertical waveguide structure has a different index of refraction in the region in which it is located between the contact and the further contact, seen laterally, than in the region in which it is not located between the contact and the further contact.

7. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the vertical waveguide structure is oxidized in the region in which it is located between the contact and the further contact, seen laterally.

8. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pump layer and the vertical emitter layer are followed in the vertical direction by an internal cavity reflective structure.

9. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the internal cavity reflective structure is a Bragg reflector structure.

10. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the internal cavity reflective structure is arranged between the vertical emitter layer and a substrate and the radiation generated by the vertical emitter layer is launched on the side opposite the substrate.

11. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vertical emitter layer is associated with an external resonator reflector which, together with the internal cavity reflective structure, forms the resonator for the vertical emitter region.

12. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 11, wherein beam-shaping elements are arranged in the resonator.

13. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 11, wherein frequency-selective elements are arranged in the resonator.

14. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 11, wherein frequency-converting elements are arranged in the resonator.

15. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the vertical emitter layer and the pump layer in each case have one or more quantum well structures.

16. The semiconductor laser device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the quantum well structures contain at least one of quantum troughs, quantum wires and quantum dots.