PHASE-LOCKED SEMICONDUCTOR LASER ARRAY AND A METHOD OF MAKING SAME

摘要

A phase-locked laser array (10) including a plurality of closely spaced channels (26) in the surface (20) of the substrate (18) with lands (24) therebetween with the laser oscillation occurring in a cavity region over each of the channels (26). A broad-area electrical contact (44) provides uniform electrical current flow to each of the lasing regions. The individual oscillators are coupled by the overlap of their evanescent optical fields. The invention also includes a method of fabricating this array (10) which includes the steps of forming a plurality of corrugations in the surface of a substrate (300), forming a solution having a super-saturated growth condition for planar and concave surfaces and an under-saturated growth condition for convex surfaces, contacting the corrugated surface to the solution thereby partially melting the convex portions of the surface and forming planar lands (502) between the concave portions of the corrugations. Growth over the lands is delayed thereby providing a planar surface of the first layer upon which the remaining layers are then sequentially deposited.