Semiconductor diode lasers with improved beam divergence
AssigneeTrumpf Photonics, Inc.
InventorsDmitri Zalmanovich Garbuzov, Viktor Borisovich Khalfin, John Charles Connolly
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Abstract
A semiconductor diode laser has a characteristic output with a single mode vertical far-field divergence. The semiconductor diode laser includes a waveguide with a first refractive index and a quantum well embedded in the center of the waveguide. On one side of the waveguide sits a p-type cladding layer with a second refractive index smaller than the first refractive index. On the other side of the waveguide sits an n-type cladding layer with a third refractive index smaller than the first refractive index and larger than the second refractive index.
Claims29
A semiconductor diode laser comprising:
- a waveguide region having a first refractive index and a waveguide thickness, the waveguide region including a first side, and a second side;
- a quantum well located within the waveguide region;
- a p-type cladding layer having a second refractive index smaller than the first refractive index, the p-type cladding layer being disposed on the first side of the waveguide region;
- and
- an n-type cladding layer having a third refractive index smaller than the first refractive index and larger than the second refractive index, the n-type cladding layer being disposed on the second side of the waveguide region;
- wherein the combination of the waveguide thickness and the indices of refraction of the waveguide region, the p-type cladding layer, and the n-type cladding layer require that a radiation beam emitted by the semiconductor laser diode have a vertical far-field divergence of less than 25 degrees.
A single-mode semiconductor diode laser comprising:
- a broad waveguide region having a first refractive index and a waveguide thickness, the waveguide region including a first side, and a second side;
- a quantum well located within the broad waveguide region;
- a p-type cladding layer having a second refractive index smaller than the first refractive index, the p-type cladding layer being disposed on the first side of the waveguide region;
- an n-type cladding layer having a third refractive index smaller than the first refractive index and different than the second refractive index, the n-type cladding layer being disposed on the second side of the waveguide region;
- and
- wherein the combination of the waveguide thickness and the indices of refraction of the waveguide region, the p-type cladding layer, and the n-type cladding layer require that a radiation beam emitted by the semiconductor laser diode have a vertical far-field divergence of less than 25 degrees.
A single-mode semiconductor laser for emitting a beam of radiation having a full vertical far-field divergence comprising:
- an asymmetric cladding structure sandwiching a broad waveguide region having a waveguide thickness and a waveguide refractive index, the asymmetric cladding structure allowing the broad central waveguide to support a single mode for lasing, the asymmetric cladding structure having a first surrounding cladding layer disposed on a first side of the waveguide region and having a first refractive index which is less than the waveguide refractive index, and the asymmetric cladding structure having a second surrounding cladding layer disposed on the second side of the waveguide region and having a second refractive index which is less than the waveguide refractive index and less than the first refractive index, wherein the combination of the waveguide thickness and the indices of refraction of the waveguide region, the p-type cladding layer, and the n-type cladding layer require that a radiation beam emitted by the semiconductor laser diode have a vertical far-field divergence of less than 25 degrees.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.