Visible-wavelength semiconductor lasers and arrays
First Claim
1. A semiconductor laser for emitting light at a visible wavelength comprising:
- (a) a compound semiconductor substrate;
(b) at least one first-grown AlGaAs semiconductor layer formed above the substrate and having a first conductivity type;
(c) an active region comprised of InAlGaP formed above the first-grown AlGaAs layer;
(d) at least one last-grown AlGaAs semiconductor layer formed above the active region and having a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type, one of the conductivity types being defined as p-type by carbon, and the other conductivity type being defined as n-type to form a semiconductor junction about the active region;
(e) electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for electrically activating the laser.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A visible semiconductor laser. The visible semiconductor laser includes an InAlGaP active region surrounded by one or more AlGaAs layers on each side, with carbon as the sole p-type dopant. Embodiments of the invention are provided as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and as edge-emitting lasers (EELs). One or more transition layers comprised of a substantially indium-free semiconductor alloy such as AlAsP, AlGaAsP, or the like may be provided between the InAlGaP active region and the AlGaAS DBR mirrors or confinement layers to improve carrier injection and device efficiency by reducing any band offsets. Visible VCSEL devices fabricated according to the invention with a one-wavelength-thick (1λ) optical cavity operate continuous-wave (cw) with lasing output powers up to 8 mW, and a peak power conversion efficiency of up to 11%.
131 Citations
54 Claims
-
1. A semiconductor laser for emitting light at a visible wavelength comprising:
-
(a) a compound semiconductor substrate; (b) at least one first-grown AlGaAs semiconductor layer formed above the substrate and having a first conductivity type; (c) an active region comprised of InAlGaP formed above the first-grown AlGaAs layer; (d) at least one last-grown AlGaAs semiconductor layer formed above the active region and having a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type, one of the conductivity types being defined as p-type by carbon, and the other conductivity type being defined as n-type to form a semiconductor junction about the active region; (e) electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for electrically activating the laser. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser for emitting light at a visible wavelength comprising:
-
(a) a compound semiconductor substrate; (b) a first AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror being of a first conductivity type formed above the substrate; (c) an active region comprised of InAlGaP formed above the first DBR mirror; (d) a second AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror of the opposite conductivity type formed above the active region and being of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type, one of the conductivity types being defined as p-type by carbon, and the other conductivity type being defined as n-type to form a semiconductor junction about the active region; and (e) electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for electrically activating the laser. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
-
41. An edge-emitting semiconductor laser for emitting light at a visible wavelength comprising:
-
(a) a compound semiconductor substrate; (b) a first AlGaAs confinement layer formed above the substrate and having a first conductivity type; (c) an active region comprised of InAlGaP formed above the first confinement layer; (d) a second AlGaAs confinement layer formed above the active region and having a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type, one of the conductivity types being defined as p-type by carbon, and the other conductivity type being defined as n-type to form a semiconductor junction about the active region; (e) electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for electrically activating the laser. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
-
Specification