GaAlN Ultraviolet Surface Emitting Lasers

SVT Associates proposes to demonstrate UV surface emitting lasers in the III-N material system using a proprietary epitaxial metal layer to form the bottom mirror. This metal layer significantly reduces the material deposition time and acts as a lattice matched layer for depositing the laser structure. Significant reduction in diode series resistance is achieved since the metal layer acts as a ohmic contact to the N type mirrors and eliminates the need for a conducting substrate. The epitaxial metallic layer is a significant innovation in both SEL fabrication and serves as a lattice matched substrate for GaN epitaxy. Nitride growth will be accomplished with a RF atomic nitrogen source in a MBE system. In-situ characterization during growth will be used to control the deposition process to increase the reproducibility and lower the final cost. Modeling, deposition, and testing of the individual components of the SEL (mirror stack, quantum well region, and Fabry Perot cavity) will be completed. These will be combined to form a complete surface emitting laser structure that will be optically pumped during Phase I.