Multi-Watt Semiconductor Disk Laser by Low Temperature Wafer Bonding

Abstract

We present wafer bonding techniques applied for the first time in integrating GaAs-based distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) with InP-based active regions in optically pumped semiconductor disk lasers. The bonding procedures are performed at a modest temperature of 200 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">°</sup> C and enable multi-watt output powers from 1.3 μm semiconductor disk lasers. These technologies are critical for vertical-cavity lasers emitting in the range 1.3-1.6 μm since monolithically grown lattice-matched InP structures suffer from DBRs with low refractive index contrast and poor thermal conductivity when compared with GaAs-based DBRs.