Microgun-pumped lasers, in which electron beam pumping is achieved via an array of low-voltage, field-emission microtips, were demonstrated in the blue and blue-green regions of the spectrum. The devices exploit graded index, separate confinement Zn1−xCdxSe/ZnSe heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on In1−xGaxAs(100) substrates. Lasing thresholds were in the 4–20 kW/cm2 range for temperatures between 83 and 225 K, and the device lifetime exceed several hours at a 12.5% duty cycle for a laser operating at 83 K and a wavelength of 478.4 nm.
We demonstrate the feasibility of a novel microgun-pumped semiconductor laser. This is the most compact (a few cm3) and the lowest threshold electron-beam-pumped semiconductor laser ever reported. The electron source is provided by a 104–105/mm2 array of field emissive microtip cathodes each of 1.5 μm diam. The laser operates below 10 kV and below 1 A/cm2. Laser action in a quasi-cw mode with 5 μs pulses at 2 kHz has been obtained between 90 and 300 K with CdTe-CdMnTe graded index separate confinement quantum-well heterostructures, as well as with GaAs-GaAlAs structures. Since neither doping nor ohmic contacts are needed, the microgun laser can use all direct gap semiconductors. It appears as a viable solution for making compact II-VI lasers in the visible domain.
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