SURFACE-EMITTING LASERS WITH OPTICAL CAVITY ALONG THE [111] DIRECTION

Monolithic horizontal cavity GaAs/GaAlAs surface-emitting lasers with cavities along the [111] direction have been demonstrated for the first time. The vertical facet of the devices was fabricated by reactive-ion etching and the 45-degrees outcoupler micromirror was fabricated by ion-beam etching. Typical uncoated devices have threshold current densities of 330 A/cm2, which is the lowest ever reported for GaAs/GaAlAs surface-emitting lasers. The coated devices have external differential quantum efficiencies as high as 40% (0.6 W/A), and output powers (pulsed) in excess of 3 W. The output power is the highest ever reported from GaAs/GaAlAs horizontal cavity surface-emitting lasers with dry-etched outcoupler micromirrors.