We report on the optoelectronic properties of Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN-based ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors for the application as a high current, high gain optical switch. Due to an internal gain mechanism combined with the high conductivity of the two-dimensional electron gas at the heterostructure interface, photocurrents in the milliampere-range were obtained with UV illumination. By employing a mesa structure design with meander geometry very low dark currents below 50 nA up to a bias voltage of 100 V were achieved. Optical switching with an on/off-current-ratio of five orders of magnitude was demonstrated. The response time was determined to be 6 ms and persistent photoconductivity was observed. The photodetector is visible-blind with a cut-off wavelength of 365 nm according to the band gap energy of the GaN absorption layer. A high responsivity with a maximum of 70 A/mW at 312 nm and 100 V bias voltage was demonstrated.

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Optically pumped deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lasing with low threshold was demonstrated from AlGaN-based multiple-quantum-well (MQW) heterostructures grown on sapphire substrates. The epitaxial layers were grown pseudomorphically by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on (0001) sapphire substrates. Stimulated emission was observed at wavelengths of 256 nm and 249 nm with thresholds of 61 kW/cm2 and 95 kW/cm2 at room temperature, respectively. The thresholds are comparable to the reported state-of-the-art AlGaN-based MQW DUV lasers grown on bulk AlN substrates emitting at 266 nm. These low thresholds are attributed to the optimization of active region and waveguide layer as well as the use of high-quality AlN/sapphire templates. The stimulated emission above threshold was dominated by transverse-electric polarization. This work demonstrates the potential candidacy of sapphire substrates for DUV diode lasers.

Absorption losses in the Mg-doped layers significantly contribute to the modal losses in group-III-nitride-based lasers. In this paper, we investigate the influence of Mg-doping on the modal absorption of optically pumped UVC lasers grown on epitaxially laterally overgrown AlN/sapphire substrates with an averaged threading dislocation density of 1 × 109 cm–2. By varying the setback of the Mg-doping (∼1 × 1020 cm−3) within the upper Al0.70Ga0.30N waveguide layer, the overlap of the optical mode with the Mg-doped region increases. For all structures, internal losses were derived from gain spectra obtained by the variable stripe length method. The internal losses increase from 10 cm−1 for lasers without Mg-doping to 28 cm−1 for lasers with a fully Mg-doped upper waveguide layer. The overlap of the optical mode with the Mg-doped waveguide ΓMg clearly correlates with the modal losses. This allows to calculate the Mg-induced losses in current injection laser diodes by αmodMg=ΓMg×50 cm−1.

Current injection into AlGaN-based laser diode structures with high aluminum mole fractions for deep ultraviolet emission is investigated. The electrical characteristics of laser diode structures with different p-AlGaN short period superlattice (SPSL) cladding layers with various aluminum mole fractions are compared. The heterostructures contain all elements that are needed for a current-injection laser diode including cladding and waveguide layers as well as an AlGaN quantum well active region emitting near 270 nm. We found that with increasing aluminum content in the p-AlGaN cladding, the diode turn-on voltage increases, while the series resistance slightly decreases. By introducing an SPSL instead of bulk layers, the operating voltage is significantly reduced. A gain guided broad area laser diode structure with transparent p-Al0.70Ga0.30N waveguide layers and a transparent p-cladding with an average aluminum content of 81% was designed for strong confinement of the transverse optical mode and low optical losses. Using an optimized SPSL, this diode could sustain current densities of more than 4.5 kA/cm2.