Integration of laser with photodiode for feedback control
AssigneeVixel Corporation
InventorsStanley E. Swirhun, William E. Quinn
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Abstract
Photodiodes are integrally formed with vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and superluminescent light emitting diodes (SLEDs) for monitoring optical radiation intensities. In different embodiments, the photodiode is epitaxially formed within a mirror of a VCSEL, non-epitaxially formed on top of a VCSEL, non-epitaxially formed on side of a VCSEL, or formed on the substrate on the side opposite the VCSEL. A lateral injection vertical cavity surface emitting laser is also disclosed for integration with a lateral PIN photodiode. A photodiode having the same epitaxial layers as a VCSEL is also integrally formed alongside of the VCSEL. Similar devices using SLEDs are also disclosed.
Claims7
An integrated optoelectronic device emitting optical radiation at a wavelength, .lambda., comprising:
- first and second mirrors forming therebetween an optical cavity, the second mirror being an epitaxially formed distributed Bragg reflector comprising a plurality of alternating semiconductor layers of high and low indices of refraction, each layer having a thickness of .lambda./(4n) where n is the index of refraction of the layer;
- an active region disposed between the mirrors;
- and
- a photodiode formed within the second mirror, the photodiode comprising at least two of the layers that form the second mirror, said layers having bandgaps equal or smaller than the effective bandgap of the active region, the photodiode detecting the intensity of the optical radiation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.