GaSb based midinfrared equilateral-triangle-resonator semiconductor lasers

Theoretical calculations of the mode characteristics of an equilateral-triangle resonator (ETR) with a 10 mu m cavity side length show that the fundamental mode, with longitudinal mode index of 25, has a wavelength of 2.185 mu m and a longitudinal mode separation of 100 nm. This mode has a quality factor (similar to 2x10(5)) that is much larger than the first (similar to 5x10(4)) and second (similar to 3x10(4)) order modes, indicating that single fundamental mode lasing should be accessible over a broad wavelength tuning range. An electrically injected ETR based on this design is fabricated from an InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb/GaSb, graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure, laser diode wafer with a 2.1 mu m emission wavelength. This device achieved single mode, continuous wave operation at 77 K with a threshold current of 0.5 mA and a single mode wavelength tuning range of 3.25 nm, which is accomplished by varying the injection current from 0.5 to 6.0 mA. (C) 2008 American Vacuum Society.

Optical bistability in InP/GaInAsP equilateral-triangle-resonator microlasers

Optical bistability is reported in InP/GaInAsP equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) microlasers, which are fabricated by planar technology. For a 30 mu m side ETR microlaser with a 2-mu m-wide output waveguide connected to one of the vertices of the ETR, hysteresis loops are observed for the output power versus the injection current from 215 to 235 K. The laser output spectra are measured in the upper and lower states of the hysteresis loop, which show strong mode competition among transverse modes. The hysteresis loops are demonstrated by two-mode rate equations with asymmetric cross gain saturation and different output efficiencies. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Mode Analysis for Equilateral-Triangle-Resonator Microlasers with Metal Confinement Layers

Mode characteristics are analyzed for electrically injected equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) semiconductor microlasers, which are laterally confined by insulating barrier SiO2 and electrode metals Ti-Au. For the ETR without metal layers, the totally confined mode field patterns are derived based on the reflection phase shifts, and the Q-factors are calculated from the far-field emission of the analytical near field distribution, which are agreement very well with the numerical results of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The polarization dependence reflections for light rays incident on semiconductor-SiO2 -Ti-Au multi-layer structures are accounted in considering the confinement of TE and TM modes in the ETR with the metal layers. The reflectivity will greatly reduce with a Ti layer between SiO2 and Au for light rays with incident angle less than 30 especially for the TE mode, even the thickness of the Ti layer is only 10 nm. If the ETR is laterally confined by SiO2-Au layers without the Ti layer, the Fabry-Perot type modes with an incident angle of zero on one side of the ETR can also have high Q-factor. The FDTD simulation for the ETR confined by metal layers verifies the above analysis based on multi-layer reflections. The output spectra with mode intervals of whispering-gallery modes and Fabry-Perot type modes are observed from different ETR lasers with side length of 10 m, respectively.

Room-temperature continuous-wave electrically injected InP-GaInAsP equilateral-triangle-resonator lasers

Equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) microlasers with an output waveguide connected to one of the vertices of the ETR are suitable to be a light source for photonic integrated circuits. InP-GaInAsP ETR lasers with side length from 10 to 30 pm and the output-waveguide width of 1 or 2 pm are fabricated using standard photolithography and inductively coupled-plasma etching techniques. Continuous-wave electrically injected 1520-nm ETR laser with 20-mu m sides is realized with the maximum output power 0.17 and 0.067 mW and the threshold current 34 and 43 mA at 290 K and 295 K, respectively.

Equilateral-triangle-resonator injection lasers with directional emission

Equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) lasers with an output waveguide jointed at one vertex of the resonator are fabricated on (100) GaInAsP-InP wafers using photolithography and a two-step inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching technique. Distinct peaks with the mode spacing of longitudinal mode intervals are observed in the luminescence spectra at room temperature. Furthermore, some minor peaks appear in the middle of the main peaks, which can be attributed to the first-order transverse modes as predicted in the theoretical results. CW directional lasing emissions are achieved for ETR lasers with side lengths ranging from 15 to 30 pm up to 200 K. The temperature dependences of the threshold current and lasing wavelength are measured for an ETR laser with the side length of 20 mu m from 80 to 200 K. The observed threshold current rapidly increases as temperature increases over 170 K.

Analysis of semiconductor microlasers with an equilateral triangle resonator by rate equations

Semiconductor microlasers with an equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) are analyzed by rate equations with the mode lifetimes calculated by the finite-difference time-domain technique and the Pade approximation. A gain spectrum based on the relation of the gain spectrum and the spontaneous emission spectrum is proposed for considering the mode selection in a wide wavelength span. For an ETR microlaser with the side length of about 5 mum, we find that single fundamental mode operation at about 1.55 mum can be obtained as the side length increases from 4.75 to 5.05 mum. The corresponding wavelength tuning range is 93 nm, and the threshold current is about 0.1 to 0.4 mA.

Influence of output waveguide on mode quality factor in semiconductor microlasers with an equilateral triangle resonator

Semiconductor microlasers with an equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) and an output waveguide are proposed and analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain technique and the Pade approximation. The numerical results show that microlasers with an output waveguide still have a high-quality factor (Q factor) and are suitable to realize directional emission. For the ETR with a 0.46-mum-width opening in one of the vertices connected to the output waveguide, we have the Q factor of 1.5x10(3) and 2.5x10(2) for the TM fundamental mode at the wavelength of 1.55 mum, as the side length of the ETR is 5 and 3 mum. The simulated intensity distributions are presented for the fundamental mode in the ETR with a side length of 3 mum and an opening of 0.23 mum. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01749-6].

Continuous-wave electrically injected InP/GaInAsP equilateral-triangle-resonator lasers

Equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) microlasers with an output waveguide connected to one of the vertices of the ETR are fabricated using standard photolithography and inductively-coupled-plasma etching techniques. Continuous-wave electrically injected 1550 nm ETR laser with side length ranged from 15 to 30 tm are realized at room temperature.

Influence of mode symmetry on quality factors of degenerate states in microlasers with an equilateral triangle resonator

Modes in equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) are analyzed and classified according to the irreducible representations of the point group C-3v., Both the analytical method based on the far field emission and the numerical method by FDTD technique are used to calculate the quality factors (Q-factors) of the doubly degenerate states in ETR. Results obtained from the two methods are in reasonable agreement. Considering the different symmetry properties of the doubly degenerate eigenstates, we also discuss the ETR joined with an output waveguide at one of the vertices by FDTD technique and the Pade approximation. The variation of Q-factors versus width of output waveguide is analyzed. The numerical results show that doubly degenerate eigenstates of TM0.36 and TM0.38 whose wavelengths are around 1.5 mu m in the resonator with side-length of 5 mu m have the Q-factors larger than 1000 when the width of the output waveguide is smaller than 0.4 mu m. When the width of the output waveguide is set to 0.3 mu m, the symmetrical states that are more efficiently coupled to output waveguide have Q-factors about 8000, which are over 3 times larger than those of asymmetric state.

Potential light source for photonic integrated circuits based on the equilateral triangle resonator

The semiconductor microlasers based on the equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) can be fabricated from the edge-emitting laser wafer by dry-etching technique, and the directional emission can be obtained by connecting an output waveguide to one of the vertices of the ETR. We investigate the mode characteristics, especially the mode quality factor, for the ETR with imperfect vertices, which is inevitable in the real technique process. The numerical simulations show that the confined modes can still have a high quality factor in the ETR with imperfect vertices. We can expect that the microlasers is a suitable light source for photonic integrated circuits.

Equilateral-Triangle and Square Resonator Semiconductor Microlasers

The characteristics of equilateral-triangle resonator (ETR) and square resonator microlasers are reported, which are potential light sources in the photonic integrations. Based on the numerical simulations, we find that high-efficiency directional emission can be achieved for the triangle and square microlasers by directly connecting an output waveguide to the resonators. The electrically injected InP/InGaAsP ETR and square resonator microlasers with a 2-mu m-wide output waveguide were fabricated by standard photolithography and inductively coupled plasma etching techniques. Room-temperature continuous-wave (CW) operations were achieved for the ETR microlasers with the side length from 10 to 30 mu m and the square resonator microlasers with the side length of 20 mu m. The output power versus CW injection current and the laser spectra are presented for an ETR microlaser up to 310 K and a square resonator microlaser to 305 K. The lasing spectra with mode wavelength intervals as that of whispering-gallery-type modes and Fabry-Perot modes are observed for two square lasers, which can lase at low temperature and room temperature, respectively.

Analysis and numerical simulation of eigenmode characteristics for semiconductor lasers with an equilateral triangle micro-resonator

The eigenmodes confined in the equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) are analyzed by deriving the eigenvalues and the mode field distributions and by the finite difference time domain (FDTD) technique. The analytical results show that the one-period-length for the mode light rays inside the ETR is the perimeter of the ETR, and the number of transverse modes is limited by the condition of total internal reflection. In addition, the sum of the longitudinal mode index and the transverse mode index should be an even number, which limits the number of confined modes again. Based on the FDTD technique and the Pade approximation, we calculate the mode resonant frequencies and the quality factors from the local maximum and the width of the spectral distribution of the intensity The numerical results of mode frequencies agree very well with the analytical results, and the quality factor of the fundamental mode is usually higher than that of the higher order transverse modes. The results show that the ETR is suitable to realize single-made operation as semiconductor microcavity lasers.

Analysis of mode characteristics for equilateral triangle semiconductor microlasers with imperfect boundaries

The influence of imperfect boundaries on the mode quality factor is investigated for equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) semiconductor microlasers by the finite difference time domain technique and the Pade approximation with Baker's algorithm. For 2-D ETR with a refractive index of 3.2 and side length of 5 mum, the confined modes can still have a quality factor of about 1000 as small triangles with side length of 1 mum are cut from the vertices of the ETR. For a deformed 5 mum ETR with round vertices and curve sides, the simulated mode quality factors are comparable to the measured results.

Analysis of mode quality factors for equilateral triangle semiconductor microlasers with rough sidewalls

The eigenmode characteristics for equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) semiconductor microlasers are analysed by the finite-difference time-domain technique and the Pade approximation. The random Gaussian correlation function and sinusoidal function are used to model the side roughness of the ETR. The numerical results show that the roughness can cause the split of the degenerative modes, but the confined modes can still have a high quality factor. For the ETR with a 3 mum side length and the sinusoidal fluctuation, we can have a quality factor of 800 for the fundamental mode in the wavelength of 1500 nm, as the amplitude of roughness is 75 mn.

Size limit and spontaneous emission factor for equilateral triangle semiconductor microlasers

The size of equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) needed for confining the fundamental mode is investigated by the total reflection condition of mode light rays and the FDTD numerical simulation. The confinement of the TM modes can be explained by the total reflection of mode light rays, and the confinement of the TE modes requires a larger ETR than the TM modes, which may be caused by excess scattering or radiation loss for the TE modes. With the multilayer staircase approximation, it is found that the spontaneous emission factor of the ETR lasers has the same form as that of strip waveguide lasers.