VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING LASERS

摘要

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (“VCSELs”) and VCSEL arrays are disclosed. In one aspect, a surface-emitting laser includes a grating layer having a sub-wavelength grating to form a resonant cavity with a reflective layer for a wavelength of light to be emitted from a light-emitting layer and an aperture layer disposed within the resonant cavity. The VCSEL includes a charge carrier transport layer disposed between the grating layer and the light-emitting layer. The transport layer has a gap adjacent to the sub-wavelength grating and a spacer region between the gap and the light-emitting layer. The spacer region and gap are dimensioned to be substantially transparent to the wavelength. The aperture layer directs charge carriers to enter a region of the light-emitting layer adjacent to an aperture in the aperture layer and the aperture confines optical modes to be emitted from the light-emitting layer.

主权项

1. A surface-emitting laser including:
a first grating layer having a first sub-wavelength grating in an inner region of the first grating layer, wherein the first sub-wavelength grating forms a resonant cavity with a reflective layer; a light-emitting layer positioned in the resonant cavity adjacent to the reflective layer; a first charge carrier transport layer positioned in the resonant cavity in contact with a perimeter region of the first grating layer, wherein the perimeter region circumscribes the inner region of the first grating layer, wherein an air gap is in a recessed area of the first charge carrier transport layer, and the air gap is adjacent to an entirety of the first sub-wavelength grating, and the recessed area extends partially through the first charge carrier transport layer; an aperture layer positioned in the resonant cavity adjacent to the light-emitting layer, wherein the aperture layer has an aperture with a diameter smaller than a diameter of the inner region of the first grating layer and a diameter of the air gap; and a first doped ring-shaped electrical contact disposed over the perimeter region of the first grating layer, the first doped ring-shaped electrical contact including an opening through which the first sub-wavelength grating is exposed, and a second doped electrical contact disposed on the reflective layer, wherein the diameter of the aperture is smaller than an inner diameter of the first doped ring-shaped electrical contact.