Back to results
US 5,903,590 AGranted
Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorsG. Ronald Hadley, Kevin L. Lear, Adelbert Awyoung, Kent D. Choquette
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device. The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) device comprises one or more VCSELs with each VCSEL having a mode-control region thereabout, with the mode-control region forming an optical cavity with an effective cavity length different from the effective cavity length within each VCSEL. Embodiments of the present invention can be formed as single VCSELs and as one- or two-dimensional arrays of VCSELs, with either an index-guided mode of operation or an index anti-guided mode of operation being defined by a sign of the difference in the two effective cavity lengths.
Claims42
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- at least one vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser having a layered semiconductor light-emitting region of predetermined lateral dimensions and including a semiconductor junction;
- a first pair of minors sandwiched about the light-emitting region forming a first optical cavity with a first effective cavity length;
- and electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for activating the light-emitting region to produce lasing action;
- and
- a mode-control region formed laterally about and in contact with each light-emitting region and further comprising a second pair of mirrors sandwiched about a mode-coupling portion forming a second optical cavity with a second effective cavity length different from the first effective cavity length, and with the electrodes extending above and below the mode-control region.
2 more elements
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- at least one vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser having a layered semiconductor light-emitting region of predetermined lateral dimensions and including a semiconductor junction:
- a first pair of mirrors sandwiched about the light-emitting region forming a first optical cavity with a first effective cavity length:
- and electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for activating the light-emitting region to produce lasing action:
- and
- a mode-control region formed laterally about the light-emitting region and further comprising a second pair of mirrors sandwiched about a mode-coupling portion forming a second optical cavity with a second effective cavity length different from the first effective cavity length wherein a layer thickness or a refractive index of the mode-coupling portion provides a difference between the first and second effective cavity lengths sufficient for the lasing action to be antiguided.
2 more elements
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- at least one vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser having a layered semiconductor light-emitting region of predetermined lateral dimensions and including a semiconductor junction;
- a first pair of mirrors sandwiched about the light-emitting region forming a first optical cavity with a first effective cavity length;
- and electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for activating the light-emitting region to produce lasing action:
- and
- a mode-control region formed laterally about the light-emitting region and further comprising a second pair of mirrors sandwiched about a mode-coupling portion forming a second optical cavity with a second effective cavity length different from the first effective cavity length wherein the mode-coupling portion provides for a coupling of the lasing action between a plurality of adjacent vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers to form an antiguided array of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.
2 more elements
The device of claim wherein the dielectric material comprises an oxide of aluminum.
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- a plurality of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers each having a first effective cavity length;
- and
- a mode-control region separating the plurality of spaced vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, the mode-control region being characterized by a second effective cavity length different from the first effective cavity length, and electrodes above and below the mode control region to provide for a reduced flow of an electrical current as compared with the current flow in the plurality of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- a plurality of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers each having a first effective cavity length, and further comprising a layered semiconductor light-emitting region having a semiconductor junction therein, a first pair of mirrors formed about the light-emitting region to define a first optical cavity with the first effective cavity length, and electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for activating the light-emitting region to produce lasing action;
- and
- a mode-control region separating the plurality of spaced vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and having a second effective cavity length different from the first effective cavity length, the mode-control region further comprising a mode-coupling portion having an effective refractive index sufficient to form a refractive index antiguide for coupling of the lasing action between adjacent vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and thereby forming an index-antiguided array of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- a plurality of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers each having a first effective cavity length and further comprising a layered semiconductor light-emitting region having a semiconductor junction therein, a first pair of mirrors formed about the light-emitting region for defining a first optical cavity having the first effective cavity length;
- and electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for activating the light-emitting region to produce lasing action:
- and
- a mode-control region separating the plurality of spaced vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and having a second effective cavity length different from the first effective cavity length, the mode-control region further comprising a mode-coupling portion having a layer thickness different from the layer thickness of the semiconductor light-emitting region for providing a difference between the first and second effective cavity lengths sufficient to form a refractive index antiguide for coupling of the lasing action between adjacent vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and thereby forming an antiguided array of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.
1 more element
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- at least one vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser having a pair of mirrors sandwiched about a semiconductor light-emitting region for defining therein a first effective cavity length;
- cavity means formed laterally about and in contact with each vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser for providing a second effective cavity length optically coupled to the first effective cavity length, with the first and second effective cavity lengths being different;
- and
- electrodes above and below each vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser and the cavity means for activating the light-emitting region to produce lasing action.
1 more element
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- at least one vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser having a pair of mirrors sandwiched about a semiconductor light-emitting region for defining therein a first effective cavity length;
- and
- cavity means formed laterally about each vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser for providing a second effective cavity length optically coupled to the first effective cavity length, with the first and second effective cavity lengths being sufficiently different to produce an index-antiguided lasing action within each vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser.
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- a plurality of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers in the form of an array, with each laser having a first effective cavity length defined by a pair of mirrors sandwiched about a semiconductor light-emitting region and being spaced apart from adjacent lasers in the array;
- and
- cavity means formed laterally about each laser for providing an index-antiguided optical coupling between adjacent of the lasers, with the cavity means having a second effective cavity length optically coupled to the first effective cavity length, with the first and second effective cavity lengths being different.
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device comprising:
- at least one vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser having a layered semiconductor light-emitting region of predetermined lateral dimensions and including a semiconductor junction;
- a first pair of mirrors sandwiched about the light-emitting region forming a first optical cavity with a first effective cavity length;
- and electrodes above and below the semiconductor junction for activating the light-emitting region to produce lasing action;
- and
- a mode-control region formed laterally about and in contact with each light-emitting region and further comprising a mode-coupling portion having a effective optical thickness different from the effective optical thickness of the light-emitting region, and a second pair of mirrors sandwiched about the mode-coupling portion to form a second optical cavity with a second effective cavity length different from the first effective cavity length, with the electrodes extending above and below the mode-control region.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.