Novalux, Inc.

Arasor Corporation

Necsel Intellectual Property, Inc.

Aram Mooradian

Jason Paul Watson

Andrei V Shchegrov

Alan G Lewis

Glen Phillip Carey

Michael Jansen

John M Green

Gideon W Yoffe

Hailong Zhou

Arvydas Umbrasas

William Robert Hitchens

René A Lujan

Brad Cantos

Ian Jenks

Dicky Lee

Jacy R Titus

Rene Dato

Mark A Emanuel

Jason P Watson

John W Green

Arrays of vertical extended cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) are disclosed. The functionality of two or more conventional optical components are combined into an optical unit to reduce the number of components that must be aligned during packaging. A dichroic beamsplitter selectively couples frequency doubled light out of the cavity. In one implementation the dichroic beamsplitter includes at least one prism.

Manufacturable vertical extended cavity surface emitting laser arrays

A light engine includes a multi-color laser source having a set of semiconductor lasers. A controller synchronizes the operation of the laser source to operate in a color sequential order with a spatial modulator.

System and method for driving semiconductor laser sources for displays

An array of surface emitting laser diodes has a series electrical connection of laser diodes. Junction isolation is used to isolate laser diodes in the array.

Apparatus, system, and method for junction isolation of arrays of surface emitting lasers

In an apparatus, system, and method for generating a projected display, a light source generates red, green, and blue light using arrays of extended cavity surface emitting semiconductor lasers. The beams of individual lasers overlap and have a distribution of optical attributes selected to reduce speckle on a display surface.

Projection display apparatus, system, and method

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is described. In this method, a starting substrate of sufficient thickness is selected that has the required defect density levels, which may result in an undesirable doping level. Then a semiconductor layer having a desired doping level is formed on the starting substrate. The resulting semiconductor layer has the required defect density and doping levels for the final product application. After active components, electrical conductors, and any other needed structures are formed on the semiconductor layer, the starting substrate is removed leaving a desired thickness of the semiconductor layer. In a VECSEL application, the active components can be a gain cavity, where the semiconductor layer has the necessary defect density and doping levels to maximize wall plug efficiency (WPE). In one embodiment, the doping of the semiconductor layer is not uniform. For example, a majority of the layer is doped at a low level and the remainder is doped at a much higher level. This can result in improved WPE at particular thicknesses for the higher doped material.

Method of fabrication of a support structure for a semiconductor device

An active gain region sandwiched between a 100% reflective bottom Bragg mirror and an intermediate partially reflecting Bragg mirror is formed on a lower surface of a supporting substrate, to thereby provide the first ('active') resonator cavity of a high power coupled cavity surface emitting laser device. The bottom mirror is preferably in direct thermal contact with an external heat sink for maximum heat removal effectiveness. The reflectivity of the intermediate mirror is kept low enough so that laser oscillation within the active gain region will not occur. The substrate is entirely outside the active cavity but is contained within a second ('passive') resonator cavity defined by the intermediate mirror and a partially reflecting output mirror, where it is subjected to only a fraction of the light intensity that is circulating in the gain region. The active gain region is preferably electrically excited, with a circular bottom electrode formed by an oxide current aperture between the bottom mirror and the heat sink, and with an annular top electrode formed on an upper surface of the substrate.

Coupled cavity high power semiconductor laser

An active gain region sandwiched between a 100% reflective bottom. Bragg mirror and an intermediate partially reflecting Bragg mirror is formed on a lower surface of a supporting substrate, to thereby provide the first (&ldquo;active&rdquo;) resonator cavity of a high power coupled cavity surface emitting laser device. The bottom mirror is preferably in direct thermal contact with an external heat sink for maximum heat removal effectiveness. The reflectivity of the intermediate mirror is kept low enough so that laser oscillation within the active gain region will not occur. The substrate is entirely outside the first active resonator cavity to a level sufficient to cause lasing. The substrate is entirely outside the active cavity but is contained within a second (&ldquo;passive&rdquo;) resonator cavity defined by the intermediate mirror and a partially reflecting output mirror, where it is subjected to only a fraction of the light intensity that is circulating in the gain region. The active gain region is preferably electrically excited, with a circular bottom electrode formed by an oxide current aperture between the bottom mirror and the heat sink, and with an annular top electrode formed on an upper surface of the substrate.

In an apparatus and method for generating high power laser radiation, the geometry of the resonant laser cavity defines a fundamental spatial or transverse cavity mode. A gain medium is disposed within the resonant cavity and an energy source energizes the gain medium within a first volume. This causes spontaneous and stimulated energy emission to propagate in the gain medium in a direction transverse to the fundamental cavity mode. The transverse emission in turn optically pumps a second volume of the gain medium about the first volume. When the intensity of the transverse emission is sufficiently high, inversion and gain are produced in the second volume. By optimizing the geometry of the cavity such that the fundamental cavity mode is coupled to both the first and the second volumes encompassing the first pumped volume, the transversely-directed energy of the first volume which would otherwise be wasted is instead captured by the fundamental beam, improving the overall power efficiently of the laser. When configured in an appropriate cavity, the high-power laser of the present invention is especially amenable to frequency conversion of the output beam, as it provides beam intensities suitable for efficient nonlinear frequency conversion. The vertical external cavity laser may employ an optical element configured on one side as a resonator mirror and on the other side as a focusing device for coupling the laser beam to an optical fiber. The resonator mirror side is concave while the focusing side is convex with the optical element being disposed relative to the body of the laser so as to optimize power output and to provide optimal focusing of the beam into the aperture of the optical fiber. The optical element may have an electrode attached on each side with the electrodes measuring light output from the laser via an ohmmeter connected in series with the electrodes.

High power laser

In an apparatus and method for generating high power laser radiation, the geometry of the resonant laser cavity defines a fundamental spatial or transverse cavity mode. A gain medium is disposed within the resonant cavity and an energy source energizes the gain medium within a first volume. This causes spontaneous and stimulated energy emission to propagate in the gain medium in a direction transverse to the fundamental cavity mode. The transverse emission in turn optically pumps a second volume of the gain medium about the first volume. When the intensity of the transverse emission is sufficiently high, inversion and gain are produced in the second volume. By optimizing the geometry of the cavity such that the fundamental cavity mode is coupled to both the first and the second volumes encompassing the first pumped volume, the transversely-directed energy of the first volume which would otherwise be wasted is instead captured by the fundamental beam, improving the overall power efficiently of the laser. When configured in an appropriate cavity, the high-power laser of the present invention is especially amenable to frequency conversion of the output beam, as it provides beam intensities suitable for efficient nonlinear frequency conversion.

Efficiency high power laser device

In an apparatus and method for generating high power laser radiation, the geometry of the resonant laser cavity defines a fundamental spatial or transverse cavity mode. A gain medium is disposed within the resonant cavity and an energy source energizes the gain medium within a first volume. This causes spontaneous and stimulated energy emission to propagate in the gain medium in a direction transverse to the fundamental cavity mode. The transverse emission in turn optically pumps a second volume of the gain medium about the first volume. When the intensity of the emission is sufficiently high, inversion and gain are produced in the second volume. By optimizing the geometry of the cavity such that the fundamental cavity mode is coupled to both the first and the second volumes encompassing the first pumped volume, the transversely-directed energy of the first volume which would otherwise be wasted is instead captured by the fundamental beam, improving the overall power efficiently of the laser. When configured in an external cavity, the high-power laser of the present invention is especially amenable to frequency conversion of the output beam, as it provides beam intensities suitable for efficient nonlinear frequency conversion.

Growing community of inventors

Kentfield, CA, United States of America

Aram Mooradian