Novel Gain Medium Design for Short-Wavelength Vertical-External-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser

Author

McGinily, Stephen J. ; Abram, Richard H. ; Gardner, Kyle S. ; Riis, Erling ; Ferguson, Allister I. ; Roberts, John S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Strathclyde Univ., Glasgow

Volume

43

Issue

6

fYear

2007

fDate

6/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

445

Lastpage

450

Abstract

We report on a novel material developed as the gain medium for a vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) operating around 850 nm. The new material departs from the conventional approach of using GaAs as the quantum-well (QW) material and expands the previously reported concept of using InAlGaAs QWs. The inclusion of indium pins dislocation propagation into the active region of the VECSEL. Crucial for the success of this design is also the development of indium and phosphorous containing quinternary strain-compensating layers. These surround the QWs and provide a more substantial resistance to defect propagation. Results are presented for stable high-power single spatial mode operation of a laser based on this material together with measurements of the unsaturated gain of the device and the characteristic temperature for the threshold power

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; dislocations; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; laser cavity resonators; quantum well lasers; surface emitting lasers; 850 nm; GaAs; InAlGaAs; defect propagation; gain medium design; high-power mode operation; indium containing layers; indium pin dislocation propagation; phosphorous containing layers; quantum-well material; quinternary strain-compensating layers; short-wavelength laser; single spatial mode operation; stable mode operation; unsaturated gain; vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser; Gallium arsenide; Indium; Laser modes; Optical design; Optical materials; Optical propagation; Pins; Quantum well lasers; Surface emitting lasers; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers; Optically pumped semiconductor laser; strain compensation; vertical-cavity laser;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.2007.895666

Filename

4200824