LOW-THRESHOLD LASERS - FABRICATED BY ALIGNMENT-FREE IMPURITY-INDUCED DISORDERING

A novel Si/SiNx/Si trilayer diffusion source and mask is described and applied to an alignment-free process for fabricating lasers by impuri ty-induced disordering (IID). Edge emitting lasers with continuous wav e threshold currents of 4.8 mA were achieved, and folded-cavity surfac e-emitting lasers with Si disordered waveguides were demonstrated for the first time with a threshold of 11 mA. The process that makes possi ble self-aligned metallization on a diffusion defined stripe will be u seful in fabricating narrow stripe IID lasers and simplify processing for integration of no waveguide devices.