Abstract
The recent proof-of-concept demonstrations of blue-green diode laser action underscore the significant advances made with wide bandgap II-IV heterostructures in the preceeding half a decade or so. The optical and electronic heart of these new devices rely on the presence of ZnSe-based quantum wells which were shown earlier by optical pumping studies to be a key ingredient for such laser devices. The quasi-two dimensional aspect of such layered arrangements also manifests itself through strong exciton effects, observed recently for the first time in a II-IV system to room temperature and beyond. Seminal factors leading to the development of the diode laser and short wavelength LEDs were the improvements in electrical control, chiefly with the p-type doping of ZnSe, through nonequilibrium epitaxy. In this presentation some of the unique physical characteristics and prospects of the blue-green diode lasers are highlighted. The recent device developments include pulsed operation to room temperature and beyond, continuous wave operation beyond T = 77K, use of different bandstructure architectures to overcome the ohmic contact problem, the generation of picosecond pulses from these devices, and efficient room temperature multicolor LED action. With ongoing materials research, progress is also being made to extend the emission wavelengths deeper into the blue and near UV.
© 1993 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
H. Jeon, J. Ding, A. V. Nurmikko, W. Xie, D. C. Grillo, M. Kobayashi, and R. L. Gunshor
CMF1 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO:S&I) 1992
C.T. Walker, J.M. DePuydt, M.A. Haase, J. Qiu, and H. Cheng
CTuC.2 Compact Blue-Green Lasers (CBGL) 1993
M. Hagerott, J. Ding, A.V. Nurmikko, Y. Gan, D. Grillo, J. Han, H. Li, and R.L. Gunshor
QThD.2 Quantum Optoelectronics (QOE) 1993