Filamented multi-wavelength vertical-cavity surface emitting laser
First Claim
1. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
- a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal, the first mirror region generally having a first reflectance value;
a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror region and electrically coupled to a second terminal, the second mirror region generally having a second reflectance value;
at least one of the first and second mirror regions having a number of discrete locations, wherein each of the number of discrete locations has a different reflectance value than the corresponding first and second reflectance value; and
an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A Vertical-Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) for producing a filamented light output. In a preferred embodiment, this is accomplish by providing a number of discrete objects that are positioned adjacent to or within one or both of the cladding mirrors, or within the active region itself. The discrete objects may alter the reflectance, current injection and/or gain of the VCSEL at corresponding discrete locations, thereby causing the filamented light output. Besides providing a filamented output, the VCSEL of the present invention operates at a low drive current, provides high performance, and occupies less physical area than a broad-area (wide aperture) VCSEL. Thus, the VCSEL of the present invention has a number of advantages provided by a conventional laser including speed, efficiency and power, but does not suffer from many of the disadvantages of high coherence. The utilization of speckle averaging within multi-mode fiber interconnections and CD-like spatial imaging applications are contemplated.
141 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal, the first mirror region generally having a first reflectance value; a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror region and electrically coupled to a second terminal, the second mirror region generally having a second reflectance value; at least one of the first and second mirror regions having a number of discrete locations, wherein each of the number of discrete locations has a different reflectance value than the corresponding first and second reflectance value; and an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal, the first mirror region generally having a first resistance value; a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror and electrically coupled to a second terminal, the second mirror region generally having a second resistance value; at least one of the first and second mirror regions having a number of discrete locations, wherein each of the number of discrete locations has a different resistance value than the corresponding first and second resistance value; and an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal; an active region situated below the first mirror region; a second mirror region situated below the active region and electrically coupled to a second terminal; an exit window positioned above the first mirror region; and a patterned layer situated above the first mirror region and substantially aligned with the exit window, wherein the patterned layer provides filamentation to the filamented light output. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal; a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror and electrically coupled to a second terminal; and an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions, the active region generally having a first gain, but further having a number of discrete locations wherein the gain at each of the number of discrete locations is different from the first gain value, thereby providing the filamented light output. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal; a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror and electrically coupled to a second terminal; an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions, the active region having a gain; and means for altering the gain at a number of discrete locations.
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34. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal, wherein the first mirror region has a reflectance; a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror and electrically coupled to a second terminal; an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions, the active region having a gain; and means provided in the first mirror region for altering the reflectance of the first mirror region at a number of discrete locations.
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35. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal, wherein the first mirror region has a resistance; a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror and electrically coupled to a second terminal; an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions, the active region having a gain; and means provided in the first mirror region for altering the resistance of the first mirror region at a number of discrete locations.
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36. A VCSEL for providing a filamented light output, comprising:
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a first mirror region electrically coupled to a first terminal; a second mirror region situated substantially parallel to the first mirror and electrically coupled to a second terminal; an active region situated between the first and second mirror regions, the active region generally having a gain; and means provided in the active region for altering the gain of the active region at a number of discrete locations.
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Specification