308

Lasers The nitrides have added another facet to bandgap engineering. Generally among the III-Vs we find that large lattice spacing corresponds to small energy gap-see the extremes of InSb and GaP in Fig. 12.15; nitrogen is the smallest atom we consider in the semiconductor components of Table 8.2, even smaller

When Ga and

proportidn expect the resulting energy gap to be Eg(Gar-'ln.N) : (1 -;r)E*(GaN) * xfr(InN) but the actual energy gap tums out to be smaller. An empirical formula gives the reduction in the form b-t(l - .r) rvhere b is called the bowing factor. In any case it is diffrcult to predict the exact energy gap owing to the fact that nitrides do not form large sinele crystals or unilorm alloy. There are composilional variations and strains
well as piezoelectric effects throughout the l"f()( VD layers.
as

In are mixed in the of I - l and ;, one would

Fig.12.16
An array of lasers

than carbon and boron which have lower atomic numbers and weights. gs adding N as isoelectronic replacement for As or P will decrease the mean lattice spacing, but the highly electronegative and piezoelectric nature of N means that the bandgap is reduced by the large bowing factor.* There is an interesting group called the 'Gina'alloys (Ga In N As). Gallium arsenide has the most advanced technology of all the III-Vs so it is much in dernand as a subsffate, good quality slices are available to grow on other compounds by MBE or MOCVD. However they have to be lattice rnatched. From Fig. 12.15 it can be seen that GaAlAs will lattice match all the way to AlAs, that is the bandgap can go to 2.2ey well into the visible. Now by adding N and In to GaAs it is possible to keep the mean lattice spacing constant (N goes down, In up). providing the added concentrations of In and N are in the ratio of 3: 1 . Both these materials reduce the energy gap. So a Gina alloy to lattice match GaAs is Gar ,,1., In1. N.. Asr -,. An example is 3x : 0.53 ivhich gives a bandgap of 0.74 eV. These infrared alloys have been used to make lasers to match the desirable optical fibre wavelength of 1.3 pm and for solar cells. At the other end of the spectrum, the shortest wavelength of 342 nm (correspondins to a gap of 3.6 eV) rvas achieved u,ith a GaN compound which contained no indium. What should rve do if rve u'ish to have a hi-eh power semiconductor laser? Instead of one laser. 1\;e can produce an arrav of lasers (Fig. 12.16) on -erown the same substrate and lightly coupled to each other. There may be as many as 40 diodes in an array capable of producing ser.'eral of output power. The "vatts difficuity is to persuade all the lasers to radiatc in phase. Next, I wish to mention a relativelv nerv development in which the diode lasers emit light in the same direction as the current flows. They are called Vertical Cavity Surface Emittine Lasers. Their structure is shorvn in Fig. 12. I 7.

Top contact

Fig.12.17
Schematic representation of a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser.

Substrate

t,rn, ou,o,,