Structure for electron-beam pumped edge-emitting device and methods for producing same

A semiconductor laser device, comprising:

• a substrate;
• a lower cladding layer disposed over said substrate;
• a lower waveguide layer disposed over said lower cladding layer;
• a multiple quantum well region disposed over said lower waveguide;
• an upper waveguide layer disposed over said multiple quantum well region;
• a discharge structure for discharging excess charge within said semiconductor laser device;
• and
• an electron beam pump disposed over said upper waveguide layer and configured to direct an electron beam through said upper waveguide layer and into said multiple quantum well region so as to initiate carrier recombination and thereby generate light;
• said semiconductor laser device formed so as not to include a p-n junction therein, and configured for light generation without requirement for such a p-n junction.

A method of forming a semiconductor-based light emitting device, comprising:

• forming, over a substrate, a lower cladding layer;
• forming, over said lower cladding layer, a lower waveguide layer;
• forming, over said lower waveguide layer, a multiple quantum well region;
• forming, over said multiple quantum well region, an upper waveguide layer;
• forming, over said upper waveguide layer, an upper cladding layer;
• forming, in electrical contact with a layer of said device, a discharge structure for discharging excess voltage within said device;
• and
• disposing, over said upper cladding layer, an electron beam pump, said electron pump configured to direct an electron beam through said upper cladding layer and said upper waveguide layer and into said multiple quantum well region so as to initiate carrier recombination and thereby generate light;
• said device formed so as not to include a p-n junction therein, and configured for light generation without requirement for such a p-n junction.

A method of forming a semiconductor light emitting device, comprising:

• forming, over a substrate, a light guiding structure;
• forming a light emitting layer at a specified depth within the light guiding layer, the specified depth determined by a method comprising:
• determining, for an electron beam source, a peak of an electron-energy deposition profile within said light guiding structure and said light emitting layer;
• determining a distance from a surface of said device at which said peak occurs within said light guiding structure;
• determining said specified depth from said distance such that there is substantial overlap between a location of the peak of the electron-energy deposition profile and a location of the light emitting layer within the light guiding structure;
• forming a discharge structure in electrical communication with said light guiding structure for discharging excess electric charge within said device;
• configuring said device such that electron-hole pairs may be created by an electron beam issued by said electron beam source, in the absence of a p-n junction, and wherein recombination by the electron-hole pairs predominantly occurs in the light emitting layer to thereby generate light;
• and
• configuring said device such that said light emitting layer is not embedded within a p-n junction.