Electron beam pumped II–VI lasers

Abstract

Electron beam pumping is an important technique to achieve lasing in II–VI compounds both for future applications and also for fundamental studies. In this article, we give a brief review of the present understanding of the operation of these layers, and discuss important factors affecting their threshold. Then we summarize recent work aimed at improving the threshold requirements, and discuss our work with ZnSe which in some cases yielded lowest thresholds for this compound. From this review it is evident that there is a need for better understanding of the correlations between intrinsic material properties and lasing characteristics. It is expected that in the near future, the recent years' work on semiconductor heterostructures will introduce new and significant concepts in the field of e-beam pumped II–VI lasers as well.