A Folded-Cavity TJS Surface Emitting Laser

Abstract

Efficient surface-emitting lasers (SELs) are desired for applications in optical signal processing, communication, IC-interconnection and computing. Most SELs so far reported are of three different types: vertical cavity,1,2,3 in-plain lasers with external reflection mirrors,4 and those with 2nd order distributed Bragg reflectors.5 In this letter we demonstrate a new type of SEL with a transverse junction stripe (TJS) laser and an internal 45° mirror to direct the optical energy to the surface. A simple double-heterostructure laser with internal 45° mirror was reported earlier.6 In the present work, the combination of the folded-cavity structure with the TIS laser yielded a threshold current of 60 mA and an external differential quantum efficiency of 13% per facet, which represent a considerable improvement over earlier results, demonstrating that the proposed structure is very promising for the applications mentioned above.