Surface emitting laser

• US 7,869,483 B2
• Filed: 04/17/2009
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Hori, Yuichiro, Uchida, Takeshi, Nagatomo, Yasuhiro, Ikuta, Mitsuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Harvey; Minsun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhang; Yuanda
• Application Number:
  US12/425,745
• Publication Number:
  US 20090262775A1
• Time in Patent Office: 634 Days
• Field of Search: 372/5, 372/43.01, 372/44.01, 372/50.124, 372/87, 372/98, 372/99, 372/108, 385/129, 385/131
• US Class Current: 372/99
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/11 Comprising a photonic bandgap structure
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/187 using Bragg reflection
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/3211 characterised by special cladding layers, e.g. details on band-discontinuities
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/32341 blue laser based on GaN or GaP

Abstract

A surface emitting laser which oscillates at a wavelength λ of a blue band, including a photonic crystal layer including a photonic crystal structure, an active layer provided on one surface of the photonic crystal layer, and an electrode provided on the other surface of the photonic crystal layer for injecting electric current into the active layer. The photonic crystal structure has a thickness of 100 nm or more. A laser beam is emitted toward a direction opposite to a side of the photonic crystal layer on which the electrode is provided.

Claims

1. A surface emitting laser which oscillates at a wavelength λ

of a blue band, comprising;

a photonic crystal layer including a photonic crystal structure;

an active layer provided on one surface of the photonic crystal layer; and

an electrode provided on the other surface of the photonic crystal layer for injecting electric current into the active layer, wherein

the photonic crystal structure has a thickness of 100 nm or more,

a laser beam is emitted toward a direction opposite to a side of the photonic crystal layer on which the electrode is provided, and

a distance between the electrode and the active layer is 500 nm or less.

2. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein the photonic crystal structure has a thickness of 400 nm or less.

3. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein the photonic crystal layer is of a p-type semiconductor.

4. The surface emitting laser according to claim 3, wherein a p-type cladding layer formed of AlGaN is not provided between the photonic crystal layer and the electrode.

5. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, wherein the photonic crystal layer contacts with the electrode.

6. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1,

wherein the photonic crystal layer has a structure including a multilayer reflector, and

wherein the multilayer reflector is structured so that two types of semiconductor layers having different refractive indices are laminated.

7. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, further comprising a multilayer reflector of a semiconductor in a region closer to an outgoing side of the laser beam than the photonic crystal layer.

8. The surface emitting laser according to claim 1, further comprising another photonic crystal layer in a region closer to an outgoing side of the laser beam than the photonic crystal layer.

9. A surface emitting laser which oscillates at a wavelength λ

, comprising;

a photonic crystal layer including a photonic crystal structure;

an active layer provided on one surface of the photonic crystal layer; and

an electrode provided on the other surface of the photonic crystal layer for injecting electric current into the active layer, wherein

the photonic crystal structure has a thickness of 0.50 times or more than the wavelength λ

in the photonic crystal layer,

a laser beam is emitted toward a direction opposite to the side of the photonic crystal layer on which the electrode is provided, and

a distance between the electrode and the active layer is 500 nm or less.

10. The surface emitting laser according to claim 9, wherein the photonic crystal layer contacts with the electrode.