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 Å), 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 (AlyGa1−y)In1−xP 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 μm 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. Cleaved reflecting surface
• The widths of the active region or W
the optical gain region is defined
by current density from the stripe
L
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) 2 1 3
Current
Substrate
n -GaAs (Substrate)
Substrate
paths
Electrode

Elliptical Cleaved reflecting surface

laser
Active region where J > J t h.
beam
(Emission region)

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 50 C
8 25 C

0 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 Single mode Multimode
788
(a) (b) (c)
786
784
o
782
(nm)
780 Mode hopping
778
776
20 30 40 50 20 30 40 50 20 30 40 50
Case temperature ( C) Case temperature ( C) 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. Single dot

• Quantum Dots density is

insufficient
• the lack of correlation
between QDs
FWHM = 20-30 meV Ensemble of QDs
 Breakthroughs
Fujitsu 
Temperature Independent QD laser
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 time-
jitter when the laser is actively mode locked

Alcatel Thales III–V 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

Datacom network
Telecom network

QD Lasers

Optics
 Promising properties
High speed Advantages
quantum dot lasers
Directly Modulated Quantum •Datacom application
Dot Lasers •Rate of 10Gb/s

Mode-Locked Quantum Dot •Short optical pulses

Lasers •Narrow spectral width

•Broad gain spectrum

•Very low α factor-low chirp

InP Based Quantum Dot •Low emission wavelength

Lasers •Wide temperature range

•Used for data transmission

 Promising properties
High power Advantages
Quantum Dot lasers

QD lasers for •Sizereduced

Coolerless Pump quantum dot
Sources
Single Mode Tapered •Small wave length
Lasers shift
•Temperature
insensitivity
 Future Directions
• Widening parameters to
range
• Further controlling the using
position and dot size
• Decouple the carrier by
capture from the escape
procedure
• Combination of QD
lasers and QW lasers In term of
• Reduce inhomogeneous
linewidth broadening
• Surface Preparation
Technology
• Allowing the injection of
cooled carriers
• 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)