# US 2019/0356113 A1 · Semiconductor light emitting element

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- Number: US 2019/0356113 A1
- Document ID: US20190356113A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/451,580
- Filed: 2019-06-25
- Published: 2019-11-21
- Earliest claimed: 2015-03-13
- Assignees: Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.
- Applicants: Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.
- Inventors: Yoshitaka KUROSAKA; Yuu Takiguchi; Takahiro Sugiyama; Kazuyoshi Hirose; Yoshiro Nomoto
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190356113A1

## CPC

- H01S 5/18358: {containing spacer layers to adjust the phase of the light wave in the cavity}
- H01S 5/04256: {characterised by the configuration}
- H01S 5/11: Comprising a photonic bandgap structure
- H01S 5/42: Arrays of surface emitting lasers
- H01S 5/423: {having a vertical cavity}
- H01S 5/0683: by monitoring the optical output parameters
- H01S 5/187: using Bragg reflection
- H01S 2301/18: Semiconductor lasers with special structural design for influencing the near- or far-field
- H01S 2301/20: Lasers with a special output beam profile or cross-section, e.g. non-Gaussian
- H01S: DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL

## Abstract

In a semiconductor light emitting element provided with an active layer 4, a pair of cladding layers 2, 7 between which the active layer 4 is interposed, and a phase modulation layer 6 optically coupled to the active layer 4, the phase modulation layer 6 includes a base layer 6A and a plurality of different refractive index regions 6B having different refractive indices from the base layer 6A. When an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system having a thickness direction of the phase modulation layer 6 as a Z-axis direction is set and a square lattice of a virtual lattice constant a is set in an XY plane, each of the different refractive index regions 6B is disposed so that a centroid position G thereof is shifted from a lattice point position in a virtual square lattice by a distance r, and the distance r is 0<r≤0.3a.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A semiconductor light emitting element comprising:
an active layer;
a pair of cladding layers between which the active layer is interposed; and
a phase modulation layer optically coupled to the active layer,
wherein the phase modulation layer comprises:
a base layer; and
a plurality of different refractive index regions having different refractive indices from the base layer,
wherein when an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system having a thickness direction of the phase modulation layer as a Z-axis direction is set and a square lattice of a virtual lattice constant is set in an XY plane,
wherein each of the different refractive index regions is disposed so that a centroid position thereof is shifted from a lattice point position in the virtual square lattice by a distance r,
wherein in the phase modulation layer, all the different refractive index regions have, in the XY plane, same distance r,
wherein a shape of each of the different refractive index regions in the XY plane is a square, a regular hexagon, a regular octagon, or a regular hexadecagon.

### Claim at position 2

2-10. (canceled)

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein a complex amplitude F(X, Y) obtained by performing two-dimensional Fourier transformation on a specific region of the beam pattern in the XY plane is expressed as follows, by using an intensity distribution I(X, Y) in the XY plane and a phase distribution P(X, Y) in the XY plane, with j as an imaginary unit:
F(X,Y)=I(X,Y)×exp{P(X,Y)j}.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 11,
wherein, in the phase modulation layer,
when φ is an angle formed by an X axis and a direction from each lattice point of the virtual square lattice to the centroid of the corresponding different refractive index region,
a constant is C,
(x, y) is a position of a virtual square lattice point at an xth position in an X-axis direction and a yth position in a Y-axis direction, and
φ(x, y) is an angle at a position (x, y),
φ(x, y)=C×P (X, Y).

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein the distance r satisfies 0<r≤0.3a,
where a indicates the virtual lattice constant.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein a beam pattern emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element includes a straight line.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein a beam pattern emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element includes a lattice pattern.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein a beam pattern emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element includes a character.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein a beam pattern emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element includes computer graphics.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1, wherein,
when an effective refractive index of the phase modulation layer is n,
a wavelength λ0 (=a×n) selected by the phase modulation layer falls within an emission wavelength range of the active layer, where a indicates the virtual lattice constant.

### Claim 19 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1, wherein,
when an effective refractive index of the phase modulation layer is n,
a wavelength λ0 (=20.5×a×n) selected by the phase modulation layer falls within an emission wavelength range of the active layer, where a indicates the virtual lattice constant.

### Claim 20 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1, wherein, in the phase modulation layer, all the different refractive index regions have, in the XY plane,
same figure, and/or
same area,
wherein the plurality of different refractive index regions are capable of being overlapped by a translating operation, or a translating operation and a rotating operation.

### Claim 21 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein the shape of each of the different refractive index regions in the XY plane has a rotational symmetry.

### Claim 22 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein the shape of each of the different refractive index regions in the XY plane has a mirror image symmetry.

### Claim 23 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1, further comprising:
an inner region including the different refractive index regions arranged substantially periodically for emitting a target beam pattern; and
an outer region surrounding the inner region, including different refractive index regions whose the respective centroid positions coincide with the lattice point positions of a square lattice.

### Claim 24 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein the active layer comprises a multiple quantum well structure.

### Claim 25 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1, further comprising:
a lower light guide layer positioned under the active layer;
a lower cladding layer positioned under the lower light guide layer;
an upper light guide layer positioned over the active layer;
an upper cladding layer positioned over the phase modulation layer; and
a contact layer.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 25, wherein
the lower light guide layer includes AlGaAs;
the lower cladding layer includes AlGaAs;
the active layer includes AlGaAs and InGaAs;
the upper light guide layer includes AlGaAs and GaAs;
the upper cladding layer includes AlGaAs; and
the contact layer includes GaAs.

### Claim 27 (depends on 26)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 26, wherein
the lower cladding layer has an Al composition ratio in a range from 0.2 to 0.4; and
the upper cladding layer has an Al composition ratio in a range from 0.2 to 0.4.

### Claim 28 (depends on 27)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 27, wherein
the lower light guide layer has an Al composition ratio in a range from 0.1 to 0.15.

### Claim 29 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor light emitting element according to claim 1,
wherein the base layer includes GaAs; and
the different refractive index regions include AlGaAs.