Vertical cavity surface emitting laser having improved light output function

Abstract

A laser diode that includes a light guiding structure that improves the light-output-versus-current curve by altering the multiple spatial modes of the laser diode. A laser diode according to the present invention includes a bottom mirror constructed on an electrically conducting material, an active region constructed from a first conductive spacer situated above the bottom mirror, a light emitting layer, and a second conductive spacer situated above the light emitting layer. The laser diode also includes a top mirror constructed from a plurality of mirror layers of a semiconducting material of a first conductivity type that are located above the second conductive spacer. The adjacent mirror layers have different indexes of refraction. One or more of the top mirror layers is altered to provide an aperture defining layer that includes an aperture region that alters the spatial modes of the device.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.