Monolithic high-index contrast grating mirror for a GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

Abstract

In this paper, a pulsed electrically pumped GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with one dielectric distributed Bragg reflector and one n-GaN monolithic high-index contrast grating (MHCG) mirror was demonstrated at room temperature. The reflectance of the n-GaN MHCG and cavity mode behaviors of the VCSEL with MHCG for varying n-GaN thickness, MHCG pattern diameter, and current aperture size were numerically investigated. Measured characteristics of the fabricated device showed that the lasing action started at an injection current of 10.2 mA, corresponding to a current density of about 15.1    kA/ cm 2 . Above threshold, the measured slope efficiency was 6.2 × 10 − 3    W / A , and the output power was 0.13 mW at 30 mA. Moreover, the measured lasing peak occurring at 403.4 nm and the longitudinal mode spacing of 5.6 nm were in good agreement with simulations. The incorporation of an n-GaN MHCG mirror not only greatly simplified the fabrication but also substantially improved the lasing characteristics in comparison to the previous work applying TiO 2 HCG mirrors.