Abstract
Vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs) yield an excellent beam quality in conjunction with a scalable output power. This paper presents a detailed numerical analysis of electrically pumped VECSEL (EP-VECSEL) structures. Electrical pumping is a key element for compact laser devices. We consider the optical loss, current confinement, and device resistance. The main focus of our investigation is on the achievement of an adequate radial carrier distribution for fundamental transverse mode operation. It will be shown that a trade off between the conflicting optical and electrical optimization has to be found and we derive an optimized design resulting in guidelines for the design of EP-VECSELs which are compatible with passive mode locking.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
M. Kuznetsov, F. Hakimi, R. Sprague, A. Mooradian, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 9, 1063 (1997)
J. Chilla, S. Butterworth, A. Zeitschel, J. Charles, A. Caprara, M. Reed, L. Spinelli, Proc. SPIE 5332, 143 (2004)
A.C. Tropper, H.D. Foreman, A. Garnache, K.G. Wilcox, S.H. Hoogland, J. Phys. D 37, R75 (2004)
U. Keller, A.C. Tropper, Phys. Rep. 429, 67 (2006)
U. Keller, K.J. Weingarten, F.X. Kartner, D. Kopf, B. Braun, I.D. Jung, R. Fluck, C. Honninger, N. Matuschek, J. Aus der Au, IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 2, 435 (1996)
S. Hoogland, S. Dhanjal, A.C. Tropper, J.S. Roberts, R. Häring, R. Paschotta, F. Morier-Genoud, U. Keller, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 12, 1135 (2000)
R. Häring, R. Paschotta, A. Aschwanden, E. Gini, F. Morier-Genoud, U. Keller, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE-38, 1268 (2002)
A. Aschwanden, D. Lorenser, H.J. Unold, R. Paschotta, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 1102 (2005)
S. Hoogland, A. Garnache, I. Sagnes, J.S. Roberts, A.C. Tropper, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 17, 267 (2005)
D.J.H.C. Maas, A.-R. Bellancourt, B. Rudin, M. Golling, H.J. Unold, T. Südmeyer, U. Keller, Appl. Phys. B 88, 493 (2007)
A. Bousseksou, M. El Kurdi, M.D. Salik, I. Sagnes, S. Bouchoule, Electron. Lett. 40, 1490 (2004)
M. El Kurdi, S. Bouchoule, A. Bousseksou, I. Sagnes, A. Plais, M. Strassner, C. Symonds, A. Garnache, J. Jacquet, Electron. Lett. 40, 671 (2004)
E.M. Strzelecka, J.G. McInerney, A. Mooradian, A. Lewis, A.V. Shchegrov, D. Lee, J.P. Watson, K.W. Kennedy, G.P. Carey, H. Zhou, W. Ha, B.D. Cantos, W.R. Hitchens, D.L. Heald, V.V. Doan, K.L. Lear, Proc. SPIE 4993, 57 (2003)
Q. Zhang, K. Jasim, A.V. Nurmikko, A. Mooradian, G. Carey, W. Ha, E. Ippen, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 16, 885 (2004)
G.A. Keeler, D.K. Serkland, K.M. Geib, G.M. Peake, A. Mar, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 17, 522 (2005)
K. Jasim, Q. Zhang, A.V. Nurmikko, A. Mooradian, G. Carey, W. Ha, E. Ippen, Electron. Lett. 39, 373 (2003)
C. Wilmsen, H. Temkin, L.A. Coldren (eds.), Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers: Design, Fabrication, Characterization, and Applications (Camb. Stud. Mod. Opt.) (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1999)
B. Witzigmann, A. Bäcker, S. Odermatt, J. Comput. Theor. Nanosci. (2007) invited contribution, to appear
S. Selberherr, Analysis and Simulation of Semiconductor Devices (Springer, New York, 1984)
B. Witzigmann, Design and Implementation of a Three-Dimensional Edge Emitting Quantum Well Laser Simulator (Ser. Microelectron. 102) (Hartung-Gorre, Konstanz, 2000)
D. Schroeder, Modelling of Interface Carrier Transport for Device Simulation, Computational Microelectronics (Springer, Wien New York, 1994)
J. Mulet, S. Balle, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE-41, 1148 (2005)
M.G. Peters, B.J. Thibeault, D.B. Young, J.W. Scott, F.H. Peter, A.C. Gossard, L.A. Coldren, Appl. Phys. Lett. 63, 3411 (1993)
D.W. Winston, R.E. Hayes, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE-34, 707 (1998)
S. Odermatt, Physics and Simulation of Semiconductor Lasers: Static and Dynamic Characteristics (Ser. Microelectron. 177) (Hartung-Gorre, Konstanz, 2006)
X. Wang, B. Lu, S.D. Hersee, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 8, 49 (1996)
C.L. Chua, R.L. Thornton, D.W. Treat, V.K. Yang, C.C. Dunnrowicz, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 9, 551 (1997)
C.G. Granqvist, A. Hultåker, Thin Solid Films 411, 1 (2002)
J. Steinhauser, L. Feitknecht, S. Fay, R. Schlüchter, J. Springer, A. Shah, C. Ballif, Effect of rough ZnO layers in improving performances of microcrystalline silicon solar cells, in Proc. 20th Eur. Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conf., Barcelona, Spain, June 2005, pp. 1608–1611
K. Ellmer, J. Phys. D 34, 3097 (2001)
S. Adachi (ed.), Properties of Aluminium Gallium Arsenide (INSPEC, London, 1993)
W.C. Liu, J. Mater. Sci. 25, 1765 (1990)
T. Koida, M. Kondo, J. Appl. Phys. 101, 063705 (2007)
M. Ortsiefer, R. Shau, G. Böhm, F. Köhler, M.-C. Amann, Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 2179 (2000)
D.G. Deppe, D.L. Huffaker, J. Shin, Q. Deng, Photon. Technol. Lett. 7, 965 (1995)
D.F. Feezell, R.M. Farrell, M.C. Schmidt, H. Yamada, M. Ishida, S.P. DenBaars, D.A. Cohen, S. Nakamura, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 181128-1 (2007)
G.J. Spühler, K.J. Weingarten, R. Grange, L. Krainer, M. Haiml, V. Liverini, M. Golling, S. Schön, U. Keller, Appl. Phys. B 81, 27 (2005)
D. Lorenser, D.J.H.C. Maas, H.J. Unold, A.R. Bellancourt, B. Rudin, E. Gini, D. Ebling, U. Keller, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE-42, 838 (2006)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
PACS
42.55.Px; 42.60.By; 85.30.De
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Kreuter, P., Witzigmann, B., Maas, D. et al. On the design of electrically pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers. Appl. Phys. B 91, 257–264 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-2973-y
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-2973-y