Phase-locked semiconductor quantum-well laser arrays. Doctoral thesis

Technical Report · Sun Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5793576

Towe, E

This dissertation presents the experimental study of quantum-well heterostructures in the III-V compound semiconductor system of (Al,Ga)As/GaAs. This study was conducted with a view to applying these structures in heterostructure lasers; specifically, phase-locked laser arrays. Broad-area lasers fabricated from the quantum-well microstructures exhibited threshold current densities as low as 200 Amp/sq. cm. The major contribution of this work is a new monolithic laser array structure that achieves phase-locking through coupling by diffraction in a central mode-mixing region where the light is unguided. The propagating eigenmodes are index-guided on either side of the mode-mixing region in parallel-element ridge waveguides. The new array displays narrow, single-lobe far-field patterns. The narrowest far-field pattern observed is 2/sup 0/ wide. An analytic model that explains the characteristics of the observed far-field patterns is presented. This model is developed from a premise with experimental basis.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge (USA). Research Lab. of Electronics
• OSTI ID: 5793576
• Report Number(s): AD-A-185155/9/XAB; TR-526
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420300* -- Engineering-- Lasers-- (-1989)
ALUMINIUM ARSENIDES
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
ARSENIDES
COHERENT SCATTERING
CURRENT DENSITY
DIFFRACTION
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
HETEROJUNCTIONS
JUNCTIONS
LASERS
MODE LOCKING
PNICTIDES
SCATTERING
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS