EFFICIENT ROOM-TEMPERATURE CONTINUOUS-WAVE ALGAINP ALGAAS VISIBLE (670 NM) VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING LASER-DIODES/

Significant improvement in the performance of AlGaInP/AlGaAs visible v ertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diodes has been achieved in gain -guided planar-geometry devices utilizing proton implants to define th e current injection path. Threshold currents as low as 1.25 mA were me asured on 10 mum-diameter devices, with maximum power output of 0.33 m W from larger devices. Continuous-wave (cw) lasing was achieved at tem peratures as high as 45-degrees-C. The improved diode performance is a ttributed to better lateral heat-sinking and reduced parasitic heat ge neration afforded by the planar device structure, relative to previous ly-reported air-post structures. This work represents the first realiz ation of efficient room-temperature operation of AlGaInP-based visible VCSEL diodes.