A semiconductor laser element includes: a first nitride semiconductor layer of a first conductivity-type; a second nitride semiconductor layer of a second conductivity-type; and an active region disposed between the first nitride semiconductor layer and the second nitride semiconductor layer, the active region having a single quantum well structure. The active region comprises a first barrier layer, an intermediate layer, a well layer, and a second barrier layer, in this order in a direction from the first nitride semiconductor layer toward the second nitride semiconductor layer. The well layer is composed of InGaN. The second barrier layer is undoped. A lattice constant of the intermediate layer is greater than a lattice constant of each of the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer, and smaller than a lattice constant of the well layer. A thickness of the intermediate layer is greater than a thickness of the well layer.

A semiconductor laser device includes an N-type cladding layer, an active layer, and a P-type cladding layer. The active layer includes a well layer, a P-side first barrier layer above the well layer, and a P-side second barrier layer above the P-side first barrier layer. The P-side second barrier layer has an AI composition ratio higher than an AI composition ratio of the P-side first barrier layer. The P-side second barrier layer has band gap energy greater than band gap energy of the P-side first barrier layer. The semiconductor laser device has an end face window structure in which band gap energy of a portion of the well layer in a vicinity of an end face that emits the laser light is greater than band gap energy of a central portion of the well layer in a resonator length direction.

A plurality of dies includes a gallium and nitrogen containing substrate having a surface region and an epitaxial material formed overlying the surface region. The epitaxial material includes an n-type cladding region, an active region having at least one active layer overlying the n-type cladding region, and a p-type cladding region overlying the active region. The epitaxial material is patterned to form the plurality of dies on the surface region, the dies corresponding to a laser device. Each of the plurality of dies includes a release region composed of a material with a smaller bandgap than an adjacent epitaxial material. A lateral width of the release region is narrower than a lateral width of immediately adjacent layers above and below the release region to form undercut regions bounding each side of the release region. Each die also includes a passivation region extending along sidewalls of the active region.

The semiconductor laser element includes: a substrate; a first semiconductor layer disposed above a main surface of the substrate; an active layer that is disposed above the first semiconductor layer and generates light; and a second semiconductor layer) disposed above the active layer. In a top view of a front-side end portion of the semiconductor laser element from which the light is emitted, an end surface of the second semiconductor layer includes an inclined portion with respect to an end surface of the first semiconductor layer.

An electrically pumped photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser, the epitaxy structure has a first mesa, the first mesa has multiple air holes and forming a photonic crystal structure, the epitaxy structure further has a second mesa, the second mesa and photonic crystal structure is facing the same direction; a first metal electrode arranged on the insulating layer, and covering the photonic crystal structure; a second metal electrode arranged on the second mesa and protruding out of the groove, making the first metal electrode and the second metal electrode face the same direction; and further make the first metal electrode connect to the first connecting metal and make the second metal electrode connect to the second connecting metal for making the photonic crystal structure become flip chip.

Semiconductor structures involving multiple quantum wells provide increased efficiency of UV and visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) and other emitter devices, particularly at high driving current. LEDs made with the new designs have reduced efficiency droop under high current injection and increased overall external quantum efficiency. The active region of the devices includes separation layers configured between the well layers, the one or more separation regions being configured to have a first mode to act as one or more barrier regions separating a plurality of carriers in a quantum confined mode in each of the quantum wells being provided on each side of the one or more separation layers and a second mode to cause spreading of the plurality of carriers across each of the quantum wells to increase an overlap integral of all of the plurality of carriers. The devices and methods of the invention provide improved efficiency for solid state lighting, including high efficiency ultraviolet LEDs.

A novel, monolithically integrated mid-IR optical phased array (OPA) structure which eliminates the wafer bonding process to achieve highly efficient surface emitting optical beam steering in two dimensions is disclosed. Since solar energy is about 15-20 times smaller than that at 1.55 um, mid-IR is more favorable for the atmospheric transmission due to lower solar radiance backgrounds. For the beam steering, thermo-optic phase shifting is used for azimuthal plane beam steering and laser wavelength tuning is used for elevation plane beam steering. The OPA structure disclosed comprises a wavelength- tunable a QCL, a 1×32 splitter, thermo-optic phase-shifters, and sub-wavelength grating emitters. The disclosed OPA provides a low-cost, low-loss, low-power consumption, robust, small footprint, apparatus that may be used with expendable UAV swarms. A LiDAR may be created by monolithically integrating a QCD with the apparatus. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

An on-chip integrated semiconductor laser structure and a method for preparing the same. The structure includes: an epitaxial structure including a first N contact layer, a first N confinement layer, a first active region, a first P confinement layer, a first P contact layer, an isolation layer, a second N contact layer, a second N confinement layer, a second active region, a second P confinement layer, and a second P contact layer sequentially deposited on a substrate; a first waveguide and a second waveguide; a first optical grating and a second optical grating; and current injection windows.

A surface-emitting laser element includes: a first guide layer including a photonic crystal layer that is formed on a c plane of a group-3 nitride semiconductor and includes air holes arranged with two-dimensional periodicity in a plane parallel to the photonic crystal layer, and an embedding layer that is formed on the photonic crystal layer and closes the air holes; an active layer formed on the first guide layer; and a second guide layer formed on the active layer, wherein an air hole set including at least a main air hole and a sub-air hole smaller in size than the main air hole is arranged at each square lattice point in the plane parallel to the photonic crystal layer, and wherein the main air hole has a regular-hexagonal prism shape, a long-hexagonal prism shape, or an elliptic cylindrical shape with a major axis parallel to a <11-20> axis.

In order to provide a QCL element operating in the near-infrared wavelength range, the present disclosure provides a quantum cascade laser element 1000 having a semiconductor superlattice structure (QCL structure 100) sandwiched between a pair of conductive sections 20 and 30. The semiconductor superlattice structure serves as an active region that emits electromagnetic waves. The active region has a plurality of unit structures 10U that are stacked on top of each other. Each unit structure includes four well layers 10W1-10W4 of a composition of Al.sub.xGa.sub.1−xN, separated from each other by barrier layers 10B1-10B5 of a composition of Al.sub.yGa.sub.1−yN with 0≤x<y≤1. Both of the conductive sections in the pair of conductive sections have a refractive index lower than that of the active region in which doped TCO inserted as a key role.