Research: The Interdisciplinary Center for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors and The Solid State Lighting and Display Center

The Interdisciplinary Center for
Wide Bandgap Semiconductors
and
The Solid State Lighting & Display Center

R e s e a r c h

O p t o e l e c t r o n i c s

L a s e r s

For high density optical storage, high resolution laser printing, and sharper displays the shorter the wavlength of laser-light, the better.

In 1997 UC Santa Barbara was the fifth group and first university to demonstrate operation of an InGaN-based current-injection edge emitting laser diode (at a wavelength of 420 nm). In 1999, we successfuly fabricated a gallium nitride distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode. Since then we have made steady enhancements to our devices by improving both the quality of the fabrication (e.g. facet etching by CAIBE) and the material quality (e.g. incorporation of lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) for defect reduction).

We have also made progress toward achieveing current-injection operation of a GaN-based vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), by developing high reflectivity dielectric mirror stacks, transparent ITO contacts, ion implantation for current confinement, and effective substrate removal and chem-mechanical polishing.

As part of our ongoing optoelectronics effort, we will push the lasing wavelength down into the deep UV, incorporating devices emitting at 280 nm in bioagent detection and short range communication systems.




					SEM of a VCSEL structure prior to the deposition of the backside reflector
		UCSB's first edge-emitting LD

p e o p l e § p u b l i c a t i o n s § l a b s § r e s e a r c h
s e m i n a r s § r e l a t e d l i n k s § c o n t a c t i n f o r m a t i o n