Dielectric VCSEL gain guide
View Patent ↗A vertical cavity surface emitting laser having a dielectric gain guide. The gain guide may provide current confinement, device isolation and possibly optical confinement. The first mirror and an active region may be grown. A pattern may be placed on or near the active region. A dielectric material may be deposited on the pattern and the pattern may be removed resulting in a gain guide. Then a top mirror may be grown on the gain guide. This structure with the dielectric gain guide may have specific characteristics and/or additional features.
1. A method for making a gain guide for a long wavelength VCSEL comprising:
forming a first mirror above a substrate;
forming an active region above said first mirror, the active region including In and being configured to emit light at a long wavelength in a range from about 1200 nanometers to about 1800 nanometers;
depositing a mask and a dielectric material above the active region, wherein the mask provides a pattern for forming an aperture in the dielectric material;
forming an aperture in the dielectric material according to the mask so as to form a dielectric gain guide; and
forming a second mirror above said dielectric gain guide, wherein a layer of the at least one of the first and second mirrors comprises In.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material comprises at least one of SiO 2 , TiO 2 , or SiN.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second mirrors are distributed Bragg reflectors.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises InP.
5. A method as in claim 1 wherein the aperture is formed using a lift off technique.
6. A method as in claim 1 wherein the aperture is formed by etching a portion of the dielectric material.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the first and second mirrors includes an InGaAsP layer and an InP layer.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the first and second mirrors includes an InAlGaAs layer and an InP layer.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the first and second mirrors includes an GaAsSb layer and an InP layer.
10. A method for manufacturing a long wavelength laser source comprising:
forming a first reflector;
forming a cavity situated above said first reflector, the cavity including In and being configured to emit light at a long wavelength in a range from about 1200 nanometers to about 1800 nanometers;
forming a layer of dielectric, having an opening formed therein, the layer of dielectric formed using a dielectric deposition process including a masking technique, the layer of dielectric situated above said cavity, wherein the layer of dielectric includes at least one material selected from of a group of SiO2, TiO2, and SiN;
forming a second reflector situated above said layer, wherein the first reflector, the cavity and the second reflector are formed using an epitaxial growth process,
wherein a layer of the at least one of the first and second reflectors comprises In.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said first reflector is situated on a substrate.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the laser source has an InP based structure.