Examples of Semiconductor

Lasers
Quantum well lasers
Advanced lasers: Quantum dot lasers
Next time: Advanced lasers
QCLs
Single mode lasers
DFB lasers
VCSELs

Reminder from last lecture: Design considerations for laser

diode performance

Low threshold current

low threshold can be generated by electronic devices which can be modulated at
high speed to provide a high speed modulation in the output
(1) reducing the active layer thickness
Quantum-Well (~ 50 - 100 ), Strained Quantum-Well
(2) cavity design

Lateral confinement
reduce the lateral dimension of the Fabry-Perot cavity
(1) Stripe geometry (Gain-guided cavity)
(2) Buried heterostructures

Selective Optical Cavity

to reduce the laser linewidth
(1) Distributed Feedback (DFB) structures
(2) Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs)

Evolution of the threshold current of the semiconductor lasers

Quantum Well Laser

Constant 2D density of states

means a large concentration of
electrons can easily occur at E1
(and holes at the minimum
valence band energy)
Population inversion occurs
quickly without the need for a
large current to bring a large
number of electrons
Benefits: Threshold current
reduced, linewidth is narrower

Multiple Quantum Well (MQW) Laser

Several single quantum wells are coupled

into a multiple quantum well (MQW)
structure.
The significantly reduced temperature
sensitivity of MQW lasers has been related
to the staircase density of states distribution
and the distributed electron and photon
distributions of the active region.
The optical confinement helps to contain
the otherwise large losses from a narrow
active region, leading to low threshold
currents.

Bandgap engineering: Visible-UV-IR range

Red QW Laser Diode

Diagram of red GaInP DQW laser

Diagram showing the alloy composition through the layer structure of a two-well,
separate confinement (AlyGa1y)In1xP quantum well laser. The vertical distance axis is
not to scale: the wells are each about 6.5 nm wide, the y=0.5 waveguide core is about
200 nm thick, and the cladding layers are each about 1 m thick.

Violet QW Laser Diode

Diagram of deep violet InGaN DQW laser
structures

From: Performance enhancement of deep violet indium gallium nitride

double quantum well lasers using delta barrier close to electron blocking
layer, J. Nanophoton. 2012;6(1):063514-1-063514-12.
doi:10.1117/1.JNP.6.063514.

Modes: longitudinal and transverse

Longitudinal modes

Transverse modes

Laser waveguides design for

transverse confinement
Vertical confinement
Lateral confinement
Gain-guided
Index guided: ridges, ribs
Buried heterostructure lasers

Vertical confinement
Graded Index Separate Confinement Heterostructure
(GRINSCH) Laser

GRaded INdex Separate

Confinement Heterostructure
(GRINSCH) Laser
A narrower carrier confinement
region (d) of high recombination is
separated from a wider optical
waveguide region
Optical confinement can be
optimized without affecting the
carrier confinement
GRINSCH-SQW and
GRINSCH-MQW
The threshold current for a
GRINSCH is much lower than that
of a DH laser

GRINSCH Laser

Lateral confinement
Efficient operation of a laser diode requires
reducing the # of lateral modes,
stabilizing the gain for lateral modes as well as
lowering the threshold current.
These are met by structures that confine the optical wave, carrier
concentration and current flow in the lateral direction.
Important types of laser diodes are: gain-guided, positive index
guided, and negative index guided.

Gain guided: optical gain is highest where current density is

greatest

Stripe contact increases current

density in the active region.
The widths of the active region or
the optical gain region is defined
by current density from the stripe

Cleaved reflecting surface

W

Stripe electrode
Oxide insulator
p -GaAs (Contacting layer)
p -Al x Ga 1-x As (Confining layer)
p -GaAs (Active layer)
n -Al x Ga 1-x As (Confining layer)
n -GaAs (Substrate)

2
1
Current
paths
Substrate

Elliptical
laser
beam

Substrate
Electrode

Cleaved reflecting surface

Active region where
(Emission region)

J > J t h.

Schematic illustration of the the structure of a double heterojunction stripe

contact laser diode
1999 S.O. Kasap,

Optoelectronics

(Prentice Hall)

Ridge laser

Index guided: optical power confined to waveguide

Electrode

Oxide insulation
+
p -AlGaAs (Contacting layer)
p -AlGaAs (Confining layer)
n- AlGaAs
p -GaAs (Active layer)
n -AlGaAs (Confining layer)

n -GaAs (Substrate)

Schematic illustration of the cross sectional structure of a buried

heterostructure laser diode.
1999 S.O. Kasap,

Optoelectronics

(Prentice Hall)

Active layer is surrounded by lower index AlGaAs and behaves like a dielectric
waveguide
Ensures that photons are confined to the active or optical gain region
Increases rate of stimulated emission

Buried heterostructure laser

Laser Diodes (temperature characteristics)

The output characteristics of an LD are sensitive to
temperature.
=>As temperature increases threshold current increases
exponentially.
Output spectrum also changes.
A single mode LD will mode hop (jump to a different
mode) at certain temperatures.
This results in a change of laser oscillation wavelength.
increases slowly due to small change in refractive index
and cavity length.

Po (mW)
10

0 C
25 C

50 C

6
4
2

I (mA)

0
20

40

60

80

Output optical power vs. diode current as three different temperatures. The
threshold current shifts to higher temperatures.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Single mode
788

(a)

Single mode

(b)

(c)

786

o
(nm)

Multimode

784
782
780

Mode hopping

778
776

20

30

50 20
40
Case temperature ( C)

30
50 20
40
Case temperature ( C)

30

40

50

Case temperature ( C)

Peak wavelength vs. case temperature characteristics. (a) Mode hops in the output
spectrum of a single mode LD. (b) Restricted mode hops and none over the temperature
range of interest (20 - 40 C). (c) Output spectrum from a multimode LD.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Laser Diodes (temperature characteristics)

Remedies if mode hopping is undesirable:
1. Adjust device structure.
2. Implement thermoelectric (TE) cooler.
Gain guided LDs inherently have many modes therefore the
wavelength vs. temperature behaviour tends to follow
the bandgap (optical gain curve as opposed to the cavity
properties).

Advanced semiconductor lasers

Quantum dot (QD) lasers

Evolution of the threshold current of the semiconductor lasers

0-D (Quantum dot): An artificial atom

Areal density:

( E ) ( E Ei )
Ei

Theoretical quantum dots

(a) Structure of a 4nm-high, 10
nm-wide hexagonal GaN
quantum dot embedded in
AlN.
(b) Profile of the conduction
band edge.
(c) Maps of the dot electron
ground state,
(d) Map of the first excited
state.

In Stranki-Krastanov growth of QDs: strain-mediated

intra- and inter-layer interactions between the QDs

Aligned
array of
GaN QDs in
AlN

QDL Predicted Advantages

Wavelength of light determined by the energy

levels not by bandgap energy:
improved performance & increased flexibility
to adjust the wavelength

Maximum material gain and differential gain

Small volume:
low power high frequency operation
large modulation bandwidth

Superior temperature stability of I threshold

I threshold (T) = I threshold (T ref).exp ((T-(T ref))/ (T 0))
High T 0 decoupling electron-phonon interaction
by increasing the intersubband separation.
Undiminished room-temperature performance
without external thermal stabilization

Suppressed diffusion of non-equilibrium

carriers Reduced leakage

QDL Basic characteristics

An ideal QDL consists of a 3D-array of dots with equal size and shape
Surrounded by a higher band-gap material
confines the injected carriers.

Embedded in an optical waveguide

Consists lower and upper cladding layers (n-doped and p-doped shields)

Edge emitting QDL

http://qdlaser.com/

QDL Application Requirements

Same energy level
Size, shape and alloy composition of QDs close to identical
Inhomogeneous broadening eliminated real
concentration of energy states obtained

High density of interacting QDs

Macroscopic physical parameter light output

Reduction of non-radiative centers

Problem for nanostructures made by high-energy beam
patterning since damage occurs during fabrication

Electrical control
Electric field applied can change physical properties of QDs
Carriers can be injected to create light emission

Comparison of QD Laser with

QW laser

http://qdlaser.com/

QD Laser vs. QW Laser

Comparison of efficiency: QWL vs. QDL

Bottlenecks
First, the lack of uniformity.
Quantum Dots density is
insufficient
the lack of correlation
between QDs
FWHM = 20-30 meV

Singledot

EnsembleofQDs

Breakthroughs
Fujitsu
TemperatureIndependentQDlaser
2004

Fujitsu's quantum dot laser fires data at

25Gbps (2010)

Temperature dependence of light-current characteristics

Breakthroughs
InP instead of GaAs

Can operate on ground state for much shorter cavity length

High T0 is achieved
First buried DFB DWELL operating at 10Gb/s in 1.55um range
Surprising narrow linewidth-brings a good phase noise and timejitter when the laser is actively mode locked

Alcatel Thales IIIV Laboratory,

France
2006

High-Performance Quantum Dot Lasers and Integrated

Optoelectronics on Si

Market demand of QD lasers

Microwave/Millimeter wave transmission with optical fibers

Optics

Datacom network

Telecom network

QD Lasers

Promising properties
High speed
quantum dot lasers

Advantages

Directly Modulated Quantum

Dot Lasers

Datacom

Mode-Locked Quantum Dot

Lasers

Short

InP Based Quantum Dot

Lasers

Low

application
Rate of 10Gb/s
optical pulses
Narrow spectral width
Broad gain spectrum
Very low factor-low chirp
emission wavelength
Wide temperature range
Used for data transmission

Promising properties
High power
Advantages
Quantum Dot lasers

QD lasers for
Coolerless Pump
Sources

Size

reduced
quantum dot

Single Mode Tapered

Lasers

Small

wave length

shift
Temperature
insensitivity

Future Directions
Widening parameters
range

to

Further controlling the

position and dot size

using

Decouple the carrier

capture from the escape
procedure

by

Combination of QD
lasers and QW lasers

Reduce inhomogeneous
linewidth broadening

Surface Preparation
Technology

Allowing the injection of

cooled carriers

In term of

Raised gain at the

fundamental transition energy

Conclusions: QD Laser vs. QW Laser

In order for QD lasers compete with QW lasers:
A large array of QDs since their active volume is small
An array with a narrow size distribution has to be produced to
reduce inhomogeneous broadening
Array has to be without defects
may degrade the optical emission by providing alternate
nonradiative defect channels

The phonon bottleneck created by confinement limits the

number of states that are efficiently coupled by phonons due to
energy conservation
Limits the relaxation of excited carriers into lasing states
Causes degradation of stimulated emission
Other mechanisms can be used to suppress that bottleneck effect
(e.g. Auger interactions)