TWO-DIMENSIONAL PHOTONIC CRYSTAL SURFACE-EMITTING LASER

摘要

A two-dimensional photonic crystal surface-emitting laser 10 comprises: a two-dimensional photonic crystal (two-dimensional photonic crystal layer 12) comprising a planar base material 121 having a predetermined size and in which different refractive index regions 122 having a refractive index different therefrom are two-dimensionally and periodically arranged; an active layer 11 disposed on one side of the two-dimensional photonic crystal; and a first electrode 15 and a second electrode 16 which are disposed with the two-dimensional photonic crystal and the active layer 11 interposed therebetween for supplying current to the active layer 11, wherein the different refractive index regions 122 are disposed such that the in-plane occupying ratio of the different refractive index regions 122 in the base material 121 becomes smaller, or the periodic length thereof becomes greater, from an outer edge of a current pass area 21, which is an area in which the current passes through the two-dimensional photonic crystal, toward the center thereof. The configuration makes it possible to obtain stable laser oscillation even if a temperature distribution that is high at the center and low at the peripheries is formed in the two-dimensional photonic crystal.