Injector emitter

• US 8,204,092 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2006
• Issued: 06/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Nano Optics Limited
• Original Assignee: General Nano Optics Limited
• Inventors: Ivanovich Shveykin, Vasily
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Ha Tran T
• Assistant Examiner(s): KLEIN, JORDAN M
• Application Number:
  US11/997,883
• Publication Number:
  US 20080219310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,174 Days
• Field of Search: 257/13, 257/79, 257/85, 257/90, 257/94, 257/183, 372/44, 372/45, 372/49, 372/50, 372/96, 372/99
• US Class Current: 372/45.01
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/08 with a plurality of light emitting regions, e.g. laterally discontinuous light emitting layer or photoluminescent region integrated within the semiconductor body H01L27/15 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/20 with a particular shape, e.g. curved or truncated substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/1032 Coupling to elements comprising an optical axis that is not aligned with the optical axis of the active region
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/1039 Details on the cavity length
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/223 Buried stripe structure H01S5/227 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/32341 blue laser based on GaN or GaP
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/42 Arrays of surface emitting lasers

Abstract

Injection emitters (light-emitting diodes, superluminescent emitters) are used in the form of highly-efficient solid state radiation sources within a large wavelength range and for wide field of application, including general illumination using white light emitters provided with light-emitting diodes. Said invention also relates to superpower highly-efficient and reliable injection surface-emitting lasers, which generate radiation in the form of a plurality of output beams and which are characterized by a novel original and efficient method for emitting the radiation through the external surfaces thereof.

Claims

1. The injection superluminiscent emitter comprising a semiconducting heterostructure containing at least an active layer and waveguide layers comprising at least one sublayer, metallization layers and lateral sides, wherein in said semiconducting heterostructure in the direction of a longitudinal optical axis of the injection superluminiscent emitter at least one sequence of alternating emission generation regions and emission output regions optically coupled to at least one adjacent emission generation region is formed, wherein each of said emission output regions of said sequence of said alternating emission generation regions and said emission output regions has such compositions and thicknesses of the heterostructure layers that on an emission output side only partial restriction of emission in said emission generation region of said heterostructure is achieved, and wherein the complete restriction of emission in said emission generation region of said heterostructure of said sequence is realized in that on an outer surface of said heterostructure at least one of said metallization layers with a high emission reflection coefficient is disposed, and wherein on a surface of an external layer of said heterostructure on the side opposite of the emission output side and on the lateral sides of said injection superluminiscent emitter substances are placed the refraction index of which is significantly less than a effective refraction index of said heterostructure in said generation region, that in said output regions together with said heterostructure layers there is a semiconducting leak-in layer consisting of at least one sublayer and raising above the external surface of said generation region, that every said output region is restricted on its opposite sides in the direction of said longitudinal optical axis by output facets located under predetermined linear angles of inclination α

₁ and α

₂, correspondingly with respect to an external surface of said generation region and that a ratio of the refraction index n_IN of said leak-in layer to the effective refraction index n_eff of said heterostructure in said output region with said leak-in layer is equal to a number greater than one, wherein an emission transitions, inside the semiconducting heterostructure, from the emission generation region of the at least one sequence to the at least one adjacent emission output region of the same at least one sequence.

2. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein said metallization layer is placed on a waveguide layer on the emission output side of the emission generation region of said heterostructure.

3. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein the at least one sequence of the alternating emission generation regions and the emission output regions has such compositions and thicknesses of the heterostructure layers that on the side opposite to emission output side only partial restriction of emission in said heterostructure is realized, and wherein the complete restriction of emission in said heterostructure of said sequence is realized in that on the external surface of said heterostructure from the above said side at least one metallization layer with the high emission reflection coefficient, which is close to 1, is placed.

4. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 3, wherein said one metallization layer is disposed on a waveguide layer of the heterostructure.

5. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein said generation regions consist of at least two stripe generation subregions disposed in the direction of said longitudinal optical axis, and the space between the subregions is filled by a substance having refraction index less than the effective refraction index of said heterostructure in said generation subregions.

6. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein the metallization layers are disposed in said emission output regions on an external surface of said leak-in layer.

7. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein the linear angles α

₁ and α

₂ are equal to each other by the absolute value and are equal to (π

/2), at that the thickness of said leak-in layer located in said output region exceeds the length of said output region multiplied by the tangent of the angle φ

of emission leak from said active layer into said leak-in layer, wherein the angle φ

is determined as arc cosine of the ratio of n_eff to n_IN.

8. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein said linear angles α

₁ and α

₂ are equal to each other by the absolute value and are equal to (π

/2)+(φ

).

9. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein said linear angles α

₁ and α

₂ are equal to each other by the absolute value and are equal to (π

/4)+(φ

/2).

10. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, wherein said linear angles α

₁ and α

₂ are equal to each other by the absolute value and are equal to (3π

/4)+(φ

/2).

11. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, further comprising at least two said sequences electrically connected in parallel.

12. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, comprising at least two said sequences electrically connected in series.

13. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, further comprising a luminescent substance disposed on the emission output side.

14. The injection superluminiscent emitter according to the claim 1, further comprising an epoxy substance disposed on the emission output side.