Multiwavelength laterally-injecting-type lasers
US5319655A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 21, 1992 |
| Grant date | Jun 7, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 21, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S5/4087
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Multiwavelength laser sources that are precisely aligned relative to each other and suitable, for instance, for multistation, multicolor ROS. The device is made by growing on a semiconductor substrate a set of epitaxial layers in a laterally injecting laser configuration with progressively narrower bandgap quantum well active regions (and therefore progressively longer wavelength operation) towards the surface of the crystal. Selective etching can then be used to remove all quantum wells with emissions shorter than the ultimately desired wavelength in a given cavity. This approach can be applied to three different types of laser structures; conventional edge emitting lasers, grating surface emitting lasers, and vertical surface emitting lasers. Also described is a vertical cavity, surface-emitting laser with lateral injection employing a reflector structure comprised of a III-V semiconductor layer beneath the active region, and a reflecting mirror above the active region.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.