Erbium doped GaN synthesized by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy

Dae-Woo Jeon,Jingyu Lin,Zhenyu Sun,Jing Li,Hongxing Jiang

doi:10.1364/ome.5.000596

Abstract

New and improved gain materials for solid-state high power and high energy lasers are highly sought. GaN satisfies many of the criteria of an excellent lasing gain medium including its higher thermal conductivity and lower thermal expansion coefficient than traditional gain materials such as yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) crystals doped with neodymium emitting 1.06 μm wavelength. Single crystals of erbium doped GaN (Er:GaN) thick layers have been successfully synthesized by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy. By utilizing a thin GaN epilayer grown on c-plane sapphire using metal organic chemical vapor deposition as a template and varying growth parameters including the NH3 flow rate, thick layers of Er:GaN which exhibit the desired Er3+ related emission at 1.54 μm window at room temperature have been realized for the first time. The work opens up the feasibility to utilize Er:GaN bulk crystals as a gain medium for next generation solid-state high power and high energy lasers operating in the eye-safer 1.5 μm window.

Highlights

The development of high power and high energy solid-state lasers has progressed at a steady pace and opened up a wide range of technologically important applications, including laser projectors, laser surgery, laser spectroscopy and microscopy, laser fusion, laser welding and cutting, laser radar, remote sensing, range finding, target tagging, and military countermeasures
Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) crystals doped with neodymium (Nd3+:YAG) emitting 1.06 μm wavelength have attained a dominant position in the field and are being used in low-power continuous-wave (CW) lasers to high energy lasers [1,2,3]
In growing GaN materials by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE), the benefits of using a thin GaN epilayer (2-3 μm) grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to serve as a nucleation template have been established previously by many groups [28,29]

Summary

Introduction

The development of high power and high energy solid-state lasers has progressed at a steady pace and opened up a wide range of technologically important applications, including laser projectors, laser surgery, laser spectroscopy and microscopy, laser fusion, laser welding and cutting, laser radar, remote sensing, range finding, target tagging, and military countermeasures. Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) crystals doped with neodymium (Nd3+:YAG) emitting 1.06 μm wavelength have attained a dominant position in the field and are being used in low-power continuous-wave (CW) lasers to high energy lasers [1,2,3]. Finding improved gain media to provide higher lasing power, power density and beam quality is highly desirable. In many applications where laser beams must be transmitted through the open air, the use of eye-safer lasers is preferred

Methods

Results

Conclusion