RECENT RESULTS ON ZNSE-BASED VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING LASERS OPERATING IN THE BLUE

The first successful operation of vertical-cavity surface emitting las ers (VCSELs) operating in the blue is achieved using ZnSe/ZnCdSe multi layers. The vertical-cavity resonators are constructed by depositing S iO2/SiN distributed Bragg reflectors on both sides of the active ZnSe/ ZnCdSe region. Pulsed optical pumping is used to demonstrate the feasi bility of this configuration. Although our first attempts at VCSEL ope ration required significant threshold excitation power densities (75 k W/cm(2) at 2 K for lasing at 477 nm), even modest modifications in des ign and fabrication of subsequent structures already show substantial improvement in these figures.