Patent ID: 7615389
Filing Date: 2009-11-10
Classification: B82Y,H01S

Abstract:
1. A method of fabricating a semiconductor laser comprising a substrate, a lattice adjustment layer, an active waveguiding region interposed between an upper cladding region and a lower cladding region, an N-type contact region, and a P-type contact region, wherein the method comprises: providing a substrate comprising AlN or GaN; forming a lattice adjustment layer comprising Al forming a lower cladding region comprising Al forming a Ga(In)N-based active waveguiding region over the lower cladding region and configuring the Ga(In)N-based active waveguiding region for laser light emission; forming an upper cladding region comprising Al conductively coupling N and P type contact regions comprising GaN or AlGaN across the active waveguiding region; and controlling the aluminum content coefficients u, v, and w such that the Al content in the lattice adjustment layer is (i) sufficiently larger than the Al content in the upper and lower cladding regions to ensure that the upper and lower cladding regions assume a compressed or unstrained state when formed over the lattice adjustment layer or (ii) less than the Al content of the upper and lower cladding regions such that the upper and lower cladding regions assume a tensile state when formed over the lattice adjustment layer but only to the extent that the resulting strain in the tensile state would not exceed a cracking threshold of the upper and lower cladding regions.