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AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsScott W. Corzine, Richard P. Schneider, Jr., Michael R. T. Tan
Estimating the term…
A VCSEL with a near planar top surface on which the top electrode is deposited. A VCSEL according to the present invention includes a top electrode, a top mirror having a top surface, a light generation region, and a bottom mirror for reflecting light toward the top mirror. At least one of the mirrors includes a plurality of planar electrically conducting layers having different indices of refraction. In addition, at least one of the layers includes an oxidizable material. To expose this layer to an oxidizing agent (thereby converting the material to an electrical insulator), three or more holes are etched down from the top surface of the VCSEL to the layer containing the oxidizable material. The oxidizing agent is then introduced into the top of these holes. The partial oxidation of the layer converts the layer to one having a conducting region surrounded by an electrically insulating region, the conducting region being positioned under the top electrode.
A VCSEL comprising:
An array of VCSELs, said array comprising first and second VCSELS, each of said VCSELs comprising:
In a method for fabricating a VCSEL comprising a top electrode, a top mirror having a top surface, a light generation region and a bottom mirror for reflecting light toward said top mirror, wherein at least one of said top mirror and said bottom mirror comprises a plurality of planar electrically conducting layers, at least one said layer having a different index of refraction from the layers adjacent to that layer, and wherein a first one of said layers comprises an oxidizable material which is oxidized upon exposure to an oxidizing agent thereby converting said material to an electrical insulator;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.