Patent ID: 7119373

Claim:
An apparatus for producing electromagnetic radiation, the apparatus comprising a superluminescent light-emitting diode, the superluminescent light emitting diode comprising a semiconductor heterostructure forming a PN junction and a waveguide defining an optical beam path, the heterostructure including a gain region and an absorber region in series with the gain region in the optical beam path, a first contact for applying a voltage to the PN junction in its forward direction in the in the gain region, so as to produce light emission from the gain region and along the optical beam path, and a second contact contacting the PN junction in the absorber region, the second contact forming a permanent electrical contact between a P doped side and an N doped side of the PN junction in the absorber region, so that the PN junction in the absorber region is unbiased, the apparatus further comprising a housing carrying the superluminescent light-emitting diode, the housing comprising a symmetry axis, wherein said optical beam path is parallel to said symmetry axis, wherein the housing comprises a disk-shaped body with two parallel facets, the symmetry axis being a symmetry axis of said body and being perpendicular to said facets, the housing further comprising electrical contacts penetrating the body in the direction of the symmetry axis, the superluminescent light emitting diode being provided in a semiconductor chip attached to a facet of said body.