ZnSe-ZnSxSe1−x and ZnSe-Zn1−xMnxSe metal-insulator-semiconductor heterostructure lasers

Abstract

Metal-insulator-semiconductors (MIS) heterostructures, using ZnSe and ZnSe-based ternary compounds such as ZnSSe and ZnMnSe, have been proposed to obtain efficient blue light emission and lasing action. MIS laser structures are particularly desirable for wide energy gap semiconductors in which the controlled doping of n- and p-type impurities is somewhat difficult to realize. The MIS heterostructure laser is a novel device as an alternative to the conventional p-n double heterojunction laser. In these lasers, efficient minority carrier injection in the active layer is achieved from the MIS interface in place of a p-n heterojunstion emitter. Emitted photons are confined in the active layer as they are reflected by a heterostructure dielectric discontinuity (e.g., ZnSe-ZnSxSe1-x) on one side and the perfectly reflecting surface of the barrier metal on the other. Modal analysis of a stripe geometry Au-SiO2-n-ZnSe-n-ZnSxSe1-x-n-ZnSe MIS laser is presented. The output characteristics are compared with a conventional p-n double heterostructure laser. A MIS heterostructure to realize a distributed feedback laser is also discussed.