Designing guidelines for possible continuous-wave-operating nitride vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

A detailed self-consistent threshold simulation of the continuous wave (CW) operations at room temperature (RT) of possible GaN/AlGaN/AIN vertical-cav ity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is developed in a simple mathematical form in order to give an opportunity for it to be carried out using only PC -level computing power. In the analysis, the mismatch-related phenomena and temperature dependences of many model parameters are included with the aid of a self-consistent approach. Multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures are proved to be the best suited for RT CW nitride VCSEL devices. In contrast, currently available nitride tech nology practically excludes the possibility of an efficient RT CW operation of single-quantum-well (SQW) nitride VCSELs. Double-heterostructure (DH) n itride VCSELs am found to be less sensitive to increases in optical losses than other nitride VCSELs, therefore their RT CW operation, if possible, ma y occur for a wider current range than that in QW VCSELs. It is also reveal ed that substrate material has a critical influence on the possibility of r eaching RT CW thresholds, which strongly favours the SiC substrate of very high thermal conductivity.