CN114122912A - Semiconductor laser - Google Patents

Semiconductor laser Download PDF

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Publication number
CN114122912A
CN114122912A CN202111396522.4A CN202111396522A CN114122912A CN 114122912 A CN114122912 A CN 114122912A CN 202111396522 A CN202111396522 A CN 202111396522A CN 114122912 A CN114122912 A CN 114122912A
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layer
current diffusion
active layer
diffusion layer
doping
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Chinese (zh)
Inventor
张�成
梁栋
刘嵩
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Vertilite Co Ltd
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Vertilite Co Ltd
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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01SDEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S5/00Semiconductor lasers
    • H01S5/10Construction or shape of the optical resonator, e.g. extended or external cavity, coupled cavities, bent-guide, varying width, thickness or composition of the active region
    • H01S5/18Surface-emitting [SE] lasers, e.g. having both horizontal and vertical cavities
    • H01S5/183Surface-emitting [SE] lasers, e.g. having both horizontal and vertical cavities having only vertical cavities, e.g. vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers [VCSEL]
    • H01S5/18308Surface-emitting [SE] lasers, e.g. having both horizontal and vertical cavities having only vertical cavities, e.g. vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers [VCSEL] having a special structure for lateral current or light confinement
    • H01S5/18322Position of the structure
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01SDEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S5/00Semiconductor lasers
    • H01S5/10Construction or shape of the optical resonator, e.g. extended or external cavity, coupled cavities, bent-guide, varying width, thickness or composition of the active region
    • H01S5/18Surface-emitting [SE] lasers, e.g. having both horizontal and vertical cavities
    • H01S5/183Surface-emitting [SE] lasers, e.g. having both horizontal and vertical cavities having only vertical cavities, e.g. vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers [VCSEL]
    • H01S5/18361Structure of the reflectors, e.g. hybrid mirrors
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01SDEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S5/00Semiconductor lasers
    • H01S5/20Structure or shape of the semiconductor body to guide the optical wave ; Confining structures perpendicular to the optical axis, e.g. index or gain guiding, stripe geometry, broad area lasers, gain tailoring, transverse or lateral reflectors, special cladding structures, MQW barrier reflection layers
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01SDEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S5/00Semiconductor lasers
    • H01S5/40Arrangement of two or more semiconductor lasers, not provided for in groups H01S5/02 - H01S5/30
    • H01S5/42Arrays of surface emitting lasers
    • H01S5/423Arrays of surface emitting lasers having a vertical cavity

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Geometry (AREA)
  • Semiconductor Lasers (AREA)

Abstract

The invention discloses a semiconductor laser, comprising: an active layer including a first side and a second side opposite the first side; a first semiconductor layer on a first side of the active layer; a second semiconductor layer on a second side of the active layer; a current diffusion layer disposed on at least one of the first side of the active layer and the second side of the active layer; the diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer comprises a light-emitting overlapped part which points from a current injection part of the current diffusion layer to a light-emitting area of the current diffusion layer on the active layer; the current injection part and the light-emitting overlapping part do not overlap in the vertical projection of the active layer; the current diffusion layer comprises a plurality of first doping sub-layers and second doping sub-layers which are alternately arranged; the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is greater than the doping concentration of the second doping sublayer. The scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can improve the function of the conductive capacity of the current diffusion layer and ensure the quality of epitaxial growth.

Description

Semiconductor laser
Cross-reference and priority applicationsMing dynasty
This patent application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 63/277,263, entitled high throughput layer for lateral current application in semiconductor light source, filed on 09.11.2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Technical Field
The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of lasers, in particular to a semiconductor laser.
Background
Semiconductor lasers, such as Edge Emitting Lasers (EELs) and Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), are widely used in applications such as three-dimensional sensing, laser radars, optical communication, and lighting.
In a semiconductor laser, a metal electrode is provided on a light emitting surface to perform a current injection function. However, if the metal electrode is directly placed on the path of the light beam emitted from the light emitting surface, the metal electrode has an adverse effect of blocking light, which adversely affects the energy conversion efficiency and the light beam quality of the semiconductor light source. A transverse current diffusion layer is arranged on a light emitting surface of the semiconductor laser, and then a metal electrode is arranged in a region where the transverse current diffusion layer and a light beam propagation path are not overlapped, so that the function of current injection can be realized, and light can not be blocked. The primary function of the current spreading layer is to provide the ability to conduct laterally. The current diffusion layer may be the uppermost layer of the semiconductor light source epitaxial structure, or may be an internal layer of the semiconductor light source epitaxial structure. During the manufacturing process of the semiconductor light source device, the current diffusion layer is exposed and connected with the metal electrode. The transverse conducting capacity of the current diffusion layer is crucial, so that the performance index of a single light source device can be influenced, and the luminous uniformity, heat generation, reliability and the like of the light source array can be influenced. Particularly, in a laser having a large light emitting region, for example, a VCSEL having a large light emitting hole, if the current diffusion layer has a poor conductivity, not only the light emitting efficiency of the light source device is reduced, but also the uniformity of light emission of the light source is deteriorated. Therefore, it is necessary to secure the lateral conductivity of the current diffusion layer. At present, the general way to ensure the lateral conductivity of the current diffusion layer is: 1) increasing the thickness of the layer, 2) increasing the doping concentration. Both of these approaches have limitations. Firstly, the current diffusion layer is too thick, which increases the difficulty of the manufacturing process and increases the cost of epitaxial growth; secondly, increasing the doping concentration affects the quality of the epitaxial growth and the performance of the laser.
Disclosure of Invention
The embodiment of the invention provides a semiconductor laser, which is used for improving the function of the conduction capability of a current diffusion layer and ensuring the epitaxial growth quality.
In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor laser, including:
an active layer including a first side and a second side opposite the first side;
a first semiconductor layer on a first side of the active layer;
a second semiconductor layer on a second side of the active layer;
a current diffusion layer disposed on at least one of a first side of an active layer and a second side of the active layer; the diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer comprises a light-emitting overlapped part from a current injection part of the current diffusion layer to a light-emitting overlapped part of the current diffusion layer, wherein the light-emitting overlapped part is positioned in a light-emitting area of the active layer; the current injection part and the light emitting overlapping part do not overlap in the vertical projection of the active layer;
the current diffusion layer comprises a plurality of first doping sublayers and second doping sublayers which are alternately arranged; the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is greater than that of the second doping sublayer.
Optionally, the current diffusion layer is located on the second side of the active layer, a first metal layer is further disposed on one side of the current diffusion layer away from the active layer, the current diffusion layer and the first metal layer form an ohmic contact, and the first metal layer is used for inputting a current signal to the current diffusion layer;
the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is inversely related to the distance between the first doping sublayer and the metal layer.
Optionally, the semiconductor laser further includes:
the substrate is positioned on one side, far away from the active layer, of the first semiconductor layer, and the material of the substrate comprises a conductive material;
the second metal layer is positioned on one side, far away from the active layer, of the substrate.
Optionally, the semiconductor laser includes a plurality of sub-arrays, each sub-array includes light emitting units whose number is greater than or equal to two, and the light emitting units greater than or equal to two share the substrate and the second metal layer.
Optionally, the lateral current diffusion layer is further configured to electrically isolate the sub-array into a plurality of light emitting units by etching or ion implantation; the first metal layer is shared between two adjacent light emitting units in the same sub-array.
Optionally, the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is greater than or equal to 1.0 × 1019atom/cm3。
Optionally, the first doped sub-layer is disposed at a node position of the optical field intensity in the vertical direction, so as to reduce free carrier absorption caused by high doping.
Optionally, the thickness of each first doping sublayer is less than or equal to the length of a half wavelength, the distance between adjacent first doping sublayers is N times the length of the half wavelength, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.
Optionally, the material of the current diffusion layer includes GaAs, AlGaAs, GaN, or AlGaN.
Optionally, the first semiconductor layer is an N-type semiconductor layer, and the second semiconductor layer is a P-type semiconductor layer; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the second side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises at least one of tellurium, silicon and germanium; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the first side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises carbon;
or, the first semiconductor layer is a P-type semiconductor layer, and the second semiconductor layer is an N-type semiconductor layer; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the second side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises carbon; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the first side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises at least one of tellurium, silicon and germanium.
Optionally, the semiconductor laser is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser; the first semiconductor layer is a lower Bragg reflection layer, and the second semiconductor layer is an upper Bragg reflection layer;
the current diffusion layer is positioned on the second side of the active layer and is arranged on one side, far away from the active layer, of the upper Bragg reflection layer, one side, close to the active layer, of the upper Bragg reflection layer or in the upper Bragg reflection layer;
the current diffusion layer is located on a first side of the active layer, and the current diffusion layer is arranged on one side of the lower Bragg reflection layer close to the active layer, one side of the lower Bragg reflection layer far away from the active layer or in the lower Bragg reflection layer.
Optionally, the semiconductor laser is an edge emitting laser; the first semiconductor layer is a lower waveguiding layer; the second semiconductor layer is an upper wave guide layer;
the current diffusion layer is positioned on the second side of the active layer and is arranged on one side, far away from the active layer, of the upper wave guiding layer, one side, close to the active layer, of the upper wave guiding layer or in the upper wave guiding layer;
the current diffusion layer is located the first side of active layer, the current diffusion layer sets up down the guided wave layer is close to one side of active layer, the guided wave layer is kept away from one side of active layer or in the guided wave layer down.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor laser, including: an active layer including a first side and a second side opposite the first side; a first semiconductor layer on a first side of the active layer; a second semiconductor layer on a second side of the active layer; a current diffusion layer disposed on at least one of the first side of the active layer and the second side of the active layer; the diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer comprises a light-emitting overlapped part which points from a current injection part of the current diffusion layer to a light-emitting area of the current diffusion layer on the active layer; the current injection part and the light-emitting overlapping part do not overlap in the vertical projection of the active layer; the current diffusion layer comprises a plurality of first doping sub-layers and second doping sub-layers which are alternately arranged; the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is greater than the doping concentration of the second doping sublayer. According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the plurality of first doping sublayers with high doping concentration arranged at intervals are formed in the current diffusion layer, so that the function of greatly improving the conductivity of the current diffusion layer can be realized, and the problems of difficulty in increasing the manufacturing process and cost in epitaxial growth caused by increasing the thickness of the current diffusion layer in the prior art are solved. In addition, the first doping sublayers are arranged at intervals, so that the problem that the epitaxial growth quality is influenced due to overlarge stress of the current diffusion layer caused by the fact that the doping concentration of the whole current diffusion layer is increased in the prior art is solved. Therefore, the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can improve the function of the conductive capability of the current diffusion layer and ensure the quality of epitaxial growth.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of another semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of another semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 5 is a graph showing an optical field intensity distribution and a refractive index distribution of a semiconductor laser in a vertical direction according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the intensity distribution and refractive index distribution of the optical field at a position corresponding to the first doped layer in the graph of fig. 5.
Detailed Description
The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting of the invention. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only some of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings, not all of the structures.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor laser, fig. 1 is a structural cross-sectional view of a semiconductor laser provided in an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a structural cross-sectional view of another semiconductor laser provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and with reference to fig. 1 to fig. 2, the semiconductor laser includes:
an active layer 30, the active layer 30 including a first side and a second side opposite the first side;
a first semiconductor layer 20, the first semiconductor layer 20 being located on a first side of the active layer 30;
a second semiconductor layer 40, the second semiconductor layer 40 being located at a second side of the active layer 30;
a current diffusion layer 50, the current diffusion layer 50 being disposed on at least one of a first side of the active layer 30 and a second side of the active layer 30; the diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer 50 includes from the current injection portion of the current diffusion layer 50 to the light emitting overlapping portion of the current diffusion layer 50 in the light emitting region of the active layer 30; the current injection part and the light emitting overlapping part do not overlap in the vertical projection of the active layer 30; wherein the current diffusion layer 50 includes a plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 and second doping sub-layers 52 alternately arranged; the doping concentration of the first doping sub-layer 51 is greater than the doping concentration of the second doping sub-layer 52.
Specifically, the first semiconductor layer 20, the active layer 30, and the second semiconductor layer 40 are stacked, and the first semiconductor layer 20 and the second semiconductor layer 40 are respectively located on two opposite sides of the active layer 30. The current spreading layer 50 is disposed on at least one of a first side of the active layer 30 and a second side of the active layer 30, wherein the current spreading layer 50 is illustratively depicted in fig. 1 as being disposed on the second side of the active layer 30, and the current spreading layer 50 is illustratively depicted in fig. 2 as being disposed on the first side of the active layer 30. The diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer 50 is parallel to the active layer 30, so that the diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer 50 includes a light emitting overlapping portion of the current diffusion layer 50 in the light emitting region of the active layer 30 from a current injection portion of the current diffusion layer 50, which does not overlap with the light emitting overlapping portion in a vertical projection of the active layer 30. Therefore, an electrical signal input to the laser can flow to the active layer 30 through the conductive action of the current diffusion layer 50, thereby generating laser, realizing the function of current injection, avoiding the problem of light blocking of a metal electrode injecting a current signal into the current diffusion layer 50, and ensuring the energy conversion efficiency and the beam quality of the semiconductor laser.
The current diffusion layer 50 includes a plurality of first doping sublayers 51 and second doping sublayers 52 alternately arranged such that the first doping sublayers 51 are arranged at intervals and the second doping sublayers 52 are arranged at intervals. The plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 may be spaced apart from each other at a first predetermined doping concentration, and the plurality of second doping sub-layers 52 may be spaced apart from each other at a second predetermined doping concentration. The first doped sublayer 51 is a high doped layer, and the second doped sublayer 52 is a low doped layer. The plurality of high-doping-concentration film layers arranged at intervals are formed in the current diffusion layer 50, so that the function of improving the conductivity of the current diffusion layer 50 can be realized, and the problems that in the prior art, the conductivity is improved by increasing the thickness of the current diffusion layer 50, the difficulty of manufacturing process is increased, and the cost of epitaxial growth is improved are solved.
In addition, the first doping sublayers 51 are arranged at intervals, the second doping sublayers 52 are arranged at intervals, and the high doping layers and the low doping layers are arranged in a stacking and staggered manner, so that the problem that the epitaxial growth quality is influenced due to overlarge stress of the current diffusion layer 50 caused by the fact that the whole current diffusion layer 50 is the high doping layer in the prior art can be solved. Therefore, the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can improve the function of the conducting capacity of the current diffusion layer 50 and ensure the quality of epitaxial growth. Wherein the first predetermined doping concentration may be greater than or equal to 1.0 × 1019atom/cm 3. For further enhancement of the first doped sub-layer 51The conductivity can be set to a first predetermined doping concentration of 1.0 × 1020atom/cm 3. The first predetermined doping concentration may be set according to the actual requirements of the laser.
The embodiment of the invention provides a semiconductor laser, which comprises: an active layer including a first side and a second side opposite the first side; a first semiconductor layer on a first side of the active layer; a second semiconductor layer on a second side of the active layer; a current diffusion layer disposed on at least one of the first side of the active layer and the second side of the active layer; the diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer is parallel to the active layer; the current diffusion layer comprises a plurality of first doping sub-layers and second doping sub-layers which are alternately arranged; the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is greater than the doping concentration of the second doping sublayer. According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the plurality of first doping sublayers arranged at intervals and higher than the first preset doping concentration are formed in the current diffusion layer, namely the first doping sublayers are high doping concentration film layers, so that the function of greatly improving the conductivity of the current diffusion layer can be realized, and the problems of increasing the manufacturing process difficulty and increasing the cost of epitaxial growth caused by increasing the thickness of the current diffusion layer in the prior art are solved. In addition, the first doping sublayers are arranged at intervals, so that the problem that the epitaxial growth quality is influenced due to overlarge stress of the current diffusion layer caused by the fact that the doping concentration of the whole current diffusion layer is increased in the prior art is solved. Therefore, the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can improve the function of the conductive capability of the current diffusion layer and ensure the quality of epitaxial growth.
Alternatively, when the current diffusion layer 50 is located at the second side of the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 may be disposed at a side of the second semiconductor layer away from the active layer 30, between the second semiconductor layer and the active layer 30, or in the second semiconductor layer 40. When the current diffusion layer 50 is located at the first side of the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 may be disposed at a side of the first semiconductor layer away from the active layer 30, between the first semiconductor layer and the active layer 30, or in the first semiconductor layer 20.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the semiconductor laser is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser, and referring to fig. 1, the first semiconductor layer 20 is a lower bragg reflector and the second semiconductor layer 40 is an upper bragg reflector. When the current diffusion layer 50 is located on the second side of the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on a side of the upper bragg reflector layer away from the active layer 30, on a side of the upper bragg reflector layer close to the active layer 30, or in the upper bragg reflector layer (fig. 1 exemplarily shows that the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on a side of the upper bragg reflector layer away from the active layer 30). When the current diffusion layer 50 is located on the first side of the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on a side of the lower bragg reflector layer close to the active layer 30, a side of the lower bragg reflector layer far from the active layer 30, or in the lower bragg reflector layer.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the semiconductor laser is of the edge emitting laser type, and referring to fig. 2, the first semiconductor layer 20 is a lower waveguiding layer; the second semiconductor layer 40 is an upper wave-guiding layer. When the current diffusion layer 50 is located on the second side of the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on one side of the upper wave guiding layer away from the active layer 30, one side of the upper wave guiding layer close to the active layer 30, or in the upper wave guiding layer; when the current diffusion layer 50 is located on the first side of the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on a side of the lower waveguide layer close to the active layer 30, a side of the lower waveguide layer far from the active layer 30, or in the lower waveguide layer (fig. 2 exemplarily shows that the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed in the lower waveguide layer).
Optionally, the doping elements of the first doping sub-layer 51 and the second doping sub-layer 52 include at least one of tellurium, carbon, silicon, and germanium.
Specifically, the material of the current diffusion layer 50 includes an arsenide, phosphide, or nitride semiconductor material, such as GaAs, AlGaAs, AlAs, InAs, InGaAs, AlGaAsP, AlP, GaP, InP, GaN, AlGaN, InGaN, InN, or AlN. The doping elements of the first and second doped sub-layers 51 and 52 include at least one of tellurium, carbon, silicon, and germanium. The first doping sub-layer 51 is formed with a doping element concentration higher than the first predetermined concentration, and the second doping sub-layer 52 is formed with a doping element concentration lower than the second predetermined concentration. Wherein the plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 may be distributed over the entire area of the current diffusion layer 50. The plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 may also be concentrated in a partial region of the current diffusion layer 50 (fig. 2 only exemplarily shows that the plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 are concentrated in a partial region of the current diffusion layer 50). Illustratively, the thickness of the current diffusion layer 50 is L in a direction perpendicular to the active layer 30, and the value of the thickness of the current diffusion layer 50 is smaller the farther away from the active layer 30. The plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 may be intensively distributed in a region where the thickness of the current diffusion layer 50 is 0 to 1/2L, the plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 may also be intensively distributed in a region where the thickness of the current diffusion layer 50 is 1/2L to L, and the plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 may also be intensively distributed in a region where the thickness of the current diffusion layer 50 is 1/4L to 3/4L.
Optionally, the first semiconductor layer 20 is an N-type semiconductor layer, and the second semiconductor layer 40 is a P-type semiconductor layer; when the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on the second side of the active layer 30, the doped element in the current diffusion layer 50 includes at least one of tellurium, silicon, and germanium; when the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on the first side of the active layer 30, the element doped in the current diffusion layer 50 includes carbon;
alternatively, the first semiconductor layer 20 is a P-type semiconductor layer, and the second semiconductor layer 40 is an N-type semiconductor layer; when the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on the second side of the active layer 30, the element doped in the current diffusion layer 50 includes carbon; when the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on the first side of the active layer 30, the element doped in the current diffusion layer 50 includes at least one of tellurium, silicon, and germanium.
Specifically, referring to fig. 1, the semiconductor laser type may be a vertical cavity surface emitting laser; correspondingly, the first semiconductor layer 20 is a lower bragg reflector and the second semiconductor layer 40 is an upper bragg reflector. If the lower Bragg reflector is an N-type Bragg reflector, the upper Bragg reflector is a P-type Bragg reflector. If the lower Bragg reflector is a P-type Bragg reflector, the upper Bragg reflector is an N-type Bragg reflector. The doped element in the P-type Bragg reflector comprises carbon, and the doped element in the N-type Bragg reflector comprises at least one of tellurium, silicon and germanium. For a vertical cavity surface emitting laser, laser light is emitted from the light emitting opening in the upper bragg reflective layer in a direction perpendicular to the active layer 30, and the light emitting opening may be defined by the oxide layer 60. The upper Bragg reflection layer and the lower Bragg reflection layer are formed by laminating two material layers with different refractive indexes, namely an aluminum gallium arsenic material layer and a gallium arsenide material layer, or by laminating two material layers with different refractive indexes, namely an aluminum gallium arsenic material layer with a high aluminum component and an aluminum gallium arsenic material layer with a low aluminum component. An oxide layer 60 having an opening is formed in the upper bragg reflector by wet-oxidizing sidewalls of the upper bragg reflector, the opening is located in a middle region of the oxide layer 60, and the oxide layer 60 has an open region and a region corresponding to the light emitting opening.
Referring to fig. 2, the semiconductor laser type may be an edge emitting laser; correspondingly, the first semiconductor layer 20 is a lower waveguiding layer; the second semiconductor layer 40 is an upper wave-guiding layer. If the lower waveguide layer is an N-type waveguide layer, the upper waveguide layer is a P-type waveguide layer. If the lower waveguide layer is a P-type Bragg reflector, the upper waveguide layer is an N-type waveguide layer. The doped element in the P type wave guide layer comprises carbon, and the doped element in the N type wave guide layer comprises at least one of tellurium, silicon and germanium. For an edge-emitting laser, laser light is emitted from the side wall of the active layer 30 in a direction parallel to the active layer 30.
Optionally, fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another semiconductor laser structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 3, a current diffusion layer 50 is located on a second side of an active layer 30, a first metal layer 80 is further disposed on a side of the current diffusion layer 50 away from the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 forms an ohmic contact with the first metal layer 80, and the first metal layer 80 is configured to diffuse an input current signal to a lateral current; the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer 51 is inversely related to the distance between the first doping sublayer 51 and the metal layer.
Specifically, the semiconductor laser further includes metal layers (e.g., the first metal layer 80 and the second metal layer 90 in fig. 3), and the metal layers can serve as pads for receiving an externally input electrical signal. The current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on a side of the second semiconductor layer 40 away from the active layer 30, so that the first metal layer 80 forming ohmic contact with the current diffusion layer 50 is formed on the current diffusion layer 50 without etching the second semiconductor layer 40 to form an opening exposing the current diffusion layer 50. In the embodiment of the invention, the current diffusion layer 50 is disposed on the side of the second semiconductor layer 40 away from the active layer 30, and the first metal layer 80 is in direct contact with the second semiconductor layer 40. The first metal layer 80 may flow an input current signal to the current diffusion layer 50, thereby flowing the current signal to the active layer 30 through the second semiconductor layer 40 through the current diffusion layer 50. Further comprising: a substrate 10, the substrate 10 being located on a side of the first semiconductor layer 20 away from the active layer 30, a material of the substrate 10 including a conductive material; and a second metal layer 90, wherein the second metal layer 90 is positioned on the side of the substrate 10 far away from the active layer 30. The first metal layer 80 and the second metal layer 90 are turned on so that the active layer 30 located between the first metal layer 80 and the second metal layer 90 generates laser light. In addition, the semiconductor laser further includes a passivation layer 70, and the passivation layer 70 for protecting the inner film layer from water oxygen is formed on the surface of the semiconductor epitaxial layer before the first metal layer 80 is formed. And etching an opening at the position where the metal layer is required to be formed, and forming the metal layer serving as a bonding pad in the opening.
The current diffusion layer 50 includes a plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 arranged at intervals and having a doping concentration greater than a first predetermined concentration, and the doping concentration of the first doping sub-layers 51 is inversely related to a distance between the first doping sub-layers 51 and the metal layer. That is, the closer to the first metal layer 80, the greater the concentration of the first doping sub-layer 51, and the doping concentration of the plurality of first doping sub-layers 51 has a certain concentration gradient. The function of the conductive capacity of the current diffusion layer 50 can be ensured, and simultaneously, the stress of the film layer in the current diffusion layer 50 can be further reduced, so that the epitaxial growth quality is ensured. In addition, the semiconductor laser further includes a passivation layer 70, and the passivation layer 70 for protecting the internal film layers from water oxygen is formed on the surface of the semiconductor epitaxial layer before the metal layer is formed. And etching an opening at the position where the metal layer is required to be formed, and forming the metal layer serving as a bonding pad in the opening. It should be noted that, two metal layers providing current signals are located on two sides of the substrate 10 in the embodiment of the present invention, the substrate 10 can also function as a conductor while functioning as a support, and the metal layer on the side of the substrate 10 away from the active layer 30 and the metal layer disposed on the current diffusion layer 50 away from the active layer 30 are connected, so that the active layer 30 generates laser light. The substrate 10 is thus a substrate 10 having electrical conductivity.
Optionally, fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of another semiconductor laser structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 4, a current diffusion layer 50 is located on a first side of an active layer 30, a first metal layer 80 is further disposed on a side of the current diffusion layer 50 close to the active layer 30, the current diffusion layer 50 forms an ohmic contact with the first metal layer 80, and the first metal layer 80 is used for diffusing an input current signal to a lateral current; the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer 51 is inversely related to the distance between the first doping sublayer 51 and the first metal layer 80.
Specifically, the first metal layer 80 is disposed on a side of the current diffusion layer 50 close to the active layer 30, and in this case, an area of a perpendicular projection of the current diffusion layer 50 on the active layer 30 is larger than an area of the active layer 30. The vertical projection of the current diffusion layer 50 on the active layer 30 does not overlap with a partial region of the active layer 30, and a first metal layer 80 is formed on the upper side of the current diffusion layer 50 corresponding to the non-overlapping region. A second metal layer 90 is provided on the side of the second semiconductor layer 40 remote from the active layer 30. In addition, the semiconductor laser further includes a passivation layer 70, and the passivation layer 70 for protecting the internal film layers from water oxygen is formed on the surface of the semiconductor epitaxial layer before the metal layer is formed. And etching an opening at the position where the metal layer is required to be formed, and forming the metal layer serving as a bonding pad in the opening. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the two metal layers providing the current signal are located on the same side of the substrate 10, and the substrate 10 only plays a supporting role and has no conductivity; with this structure, the substrate 10 may not be provided.
Fig. 5 is an optical field intensity distribution diagram and a refractive index distribution diagram of a semiconductor laser in a vertical direction according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 6 is an optical field intensity distribution enlarged diagram and a refractive index distribution enlarged diagram at a position corresponding to a first doping layer in the diagram shown in fig. 5, referring to fig. 5-6, taking the semiconductor laser type as a vertical cavity surface emitting laser as an example in conjunction with fig. 1, optionally, first doping sub-layers 51 are disposed at node positions of optical field intensity of a vertical cavity to reduce free carrier absorption caused by high doping, a thickness of each first doping sub-layer 51 is less than or equal to a half wavelength length of laser light, a distance between node positions of adjacent first doping sub-layers 51 is N times the half wavelength length, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The refractive index of the first doped sublayer 51 is greater than the refractive index of the contact site.
Specifically, the highly doped layers (first doped sublayers 51) are all placed at the position of the vertical cavity optical field node (optical field node) (the position where the optical field intensity is the smallest) to reduce free carrier absorption (free carrier absorption) due to the high doping. The thickness of each high-doped layer is not more than half wavelength, and the distance between adjacent high-doped layers is half wavelength or integral multiple of half wavelength. Free carrier absorption means: an electron in the conduction band or a hole in the valence band absorbs light energy and then transitions from a low energy state to a high energy state within the band. The absorption coefficient of free carrier absorption is related to the carrier concentration. The concentration of the doping element in the highly doped layer is high, and the absorption of the type is strong. Therefore, the high-doped layers are all placed at the position of the vertical resonant cavity light field wave junction, free carrier absorption caused by high doping can be reduced, and therefore the influence of the high-doped layers on laser is reduced. Since the first doping sub-layer 51 has a certain thickness, the larger the thickness is, the more the conductivity of the current diffusion layer 50 can be improved. In order to avoid that the first doping sub-layer 51 has a certain thickness so that the region where the first doping sub-layer 51 is located overlaps with the region with higher optical field intensity, the thickness of each first doping sub-layer 51 is less than or equal to the length of a half wavelength, the distance between the node positions where the adjacent first doping sub-layers 51 are located is N times the length of the half wavelength, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, the conductive capability of the current diffusion layer 50 is ensured, the overlapping space between the region where the first doping sub-layer 51 is located and the region with higher optical field intensity is reduced, the optical field intensity of the region where the first doping sub-layer 51 is located is smaller, and the influence of the high doping layer on laser can be reduced.
Optionally, referring to fig. 3, the semiconductor laser is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser array, and includes a plurality of sub-arrays 100, each sub-array 100 includes two or more light emitting units 101, and the two or more light emitting units 101 share the substrate 10 and the second metal layer 90. The lateral current diffusion layer 50 is also used for electrically isolating the sub-array 100 into a plurality of light emitting cells 101 by means of etching or ion implantation; the first metal layer 80 is shared between two adjacent light emitting cells 101 in the same sub-array 100.
Optionally, referring to fig. 4, the semiconductor laser is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser array, and the vertical cavity surface emitting laser array includes a plurality of sub-arrays 100; each sub-array 100 includes the light emitting cells 101 of which the number is two or more, and the light emitting cells 101 of which the number is two or more share the current diffusion layer 50. The current diffusion layer 50 may be shared among a plurality of sub-arrays 100. At this time, the highly doped layer is placed inside the lower bragg reflection layer of the vertical resonant cavity of the VCSEL, so that the conductivity of the current diffusion layer 50 can be improved, the epitaxial growth thickness can be reduced, the channel width N between two adjacent sub-arrays 100 can be reduced, and the light emitting point density of the device can be improved. Wherein the lower Bragg reflection layer (20) between the current diffusion layer (50) and the active layer (30) has conductivity; the lower bragg reflector (20) between the current spreading layer (50) and the substrate (10) has an insulating property, and can prevent conduction between the two sub-arrays (100) through the second lower bragg reflector, thereby ensuring independence of the two sub-arrays (100) and enabling individual control. Alternatively, the current spreading layer 50 may electrically isolate the array into a plurality of sub-arrays 100 by etching or ion implantation.
It is to be noted that the foregoing is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the technical principles employed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of various obvious changes, rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in greater detail by the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (12)

1. A semiconductor laser, comprising:
an active layer including a first side and a second side opposite the first side;
a first semiconductor layer on a first side of the active layer;
a second semiconductor layer on a second side of the active layer;
a current diffusion layer disposed on at least one of a first side of an active layer and a second side of the active layer; the diffusion direction of the current in the current diffusion layer comprises a light-emitting overlapped part from a current injection part of the current diffusion layer to a light-emitting overlapped part of the current diffusion layer, wherein the light-emitting overlapped part is positioned in a light-emitting area of the active layer; the current injection part and the light emitting overlapping part do not overlap in the vertical projection of the active layer;
the current diffusion layer comprises a plurality of first doping sublayers and second doping sublayers which are alternately arranged; the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is greater than that of the second doping sublayer.
2. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1, wherein the current diffusion layer is located on a second side of the active layer, a first metal layer is further disposed on a side of the current diffusion layer away from the active layer, the current diffusion layer forms an ohmic contact with the first metal layer, and the first metal layer is used for inputting a current signal to the current diffusion layer;
the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is inversely related to the distance between the first doping sublayer and the first metal layer.
3. A semiconductor laser as claimed in claim 2 further comprising:
the substrate is positioned on one side, far away from the active layer, of the first semiconductor layer, and the material of the substrate comprises a conductive material;
the second metal layer is positioned on one side, far away from the active layer, of the substrate.
4. A semiconductor laser as claimed in claim 3 comprising a plurality of sub-arrays, each sub-array comprising a number of light emitting cells greater than or equal to two, the light emitting cells greater than or equal to two sharing the substrate and the second metal layer.
5. The semiconductor laser of claim 4, wherein the lateral current spreading layer is further configured to electrically isolate the sub-array into a plurality of light emitting cells by etching or ion implantation; the first metal layer is shared between two adjacent light emitting units in the same sub-array.
6. The semiconductor laser of claim 1, wherein the doping concentration of the first doping sublayer is greater than or equal to 1.0 x 1019atom/cm3。
7. A semiconductor laser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first doped sub-layer is disposed at a node location of the optical field intensity in the vertical direction to reduce free carrier absorption due to high doping.
8. The semiconductor laser of claim 1, wherein the thickness of each of the first doping sublayers is less than or equal to a half wavelength length, and the distance between adjacent first doping sublayers is N times the half wavelength length, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.
9. A semiconductor laser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the material of the current spreading layer comprises GaAs, AlGaAs, GaN or AlGaN.
10. The semiconductor laser of claim 1,
the first semiconductor layer is an N-type semiconductor layer, and the second semiconductor layer is a P-type semiconductor layer; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the second side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises at least one of tellurium, silicon and germanium; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the first side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises carbon;
or, the first semiconductor layer is a P-type semiconductor layer, and the second semiconductor layer is an N-type semiconductor layer; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the second side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises carbon; when the current diffusion layer is arranged on the first side of the active layer, the doped element in the current diffusion layer comprises at least one of tellurium, silicon and germanium.
11. The semiconductor laser of claim 1,
the semiconductor laser is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser; the first semiconductor layer is a lower Bragg reflection layer, and the second semiconductor layer is an upper Bragg reflection layer;
when the current diffusion layer is positioned on the second side of the active layer, the current diffusion layer is arranged on one side of the upper Bragg reflection layer far away from the active layer, one side of the upper Bragg reflection layer close to the active layer or in the upper Bragg reflection layer;
when the current diffusion layer is positioned on the first side of the active layer, the current diffusion layer is arranged on one side of the lower Bragg reflection layer close to the active layer, one side of the lower Bragg reflection layer far away from the active layer or in the lower Bragg reflection layer.
12. The semiconductor laser of claim 1,
the semiconductor laser is of an edge emitting laser type; the first semiconductor layer is a lower waveguiding layer; the second semiconductor layer is an upper wave guide layer;
when the current diffusion layer is positioned on the second side of the active layer, the current diffusion layer is arranged on one side of the upper wave guiding layer far away from the active layer, one side of the upper wave guiding layer close to the active layer or in the upper wave guiding layer;
when the current diffusion layer is located the first side of active layer, the current diffusion layer sets up down the guided wave layer is close to one side of active layer, the guided wave layer is kept away from one side of active layer or in the guided wave layer down.
CN202111396522.4A 2021-11-09 2021-11-23 Semiconductor laser Pending CN114122912A (en)

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