International Business Machines Corporation

Optical Information Systems, Inc.

Exxon Research and Engineering Company

Peter S Zory, Jr

Frederick W Scholl

Harry Francis Lockwood

Liam David Comerford

James Cleary McGroddy

Richard B Childs

Martin B Small

A high speed photodetector, for use with semi-conductor lasers or the like, is configured to receive light signals upon a beveled detector facet, directing the incident light through a semiconductor window layer to the detector's junction region.

High speed edge illumination photodetector

A new package for semiconductor optoelectronic devices is disclosed, which comprises a novel geometrical configuration and provides plug-in capability. The package configuration provides a convenient means for supplying electrical signals to or from the device(s) within the package while maintaining a coaxial geometry, useful in optical and thermal control. Techniques for bonding devices into the package are easily automated using conventional bonding and assembly equipment. The package permits use of the device in a variety of orientations.

Mounting arrangement for semiconductor optoelectronic devices

Semiconductor optoelectronic device package

In a heterostructure diode injection laser, the active layer has a region of relatively lesser thickness in registration with a stripe geometry contact. Increased gain within the region of lesser thickness relative to adjacent regions of greater thickness tends to effectively confine lasing operation to the thinner or constricted region. The dimensions of the constricted active region may be readily selected to discriminate against multifilament lasing modes in order to produce a single spot laser beam over a wide range of injection levels.

Heterostructure diode injection laser having a constricted active region

An array of closely spaced injection lasers is mounted upon a common substrate of grooved semiconductor or insulating material, with the active (hot) layers of the lasers as close as possible to the substrate. Individual grooves of relatively large cross-sectional area are formed in the portions of the substrate upon which the respective lasers are seated, each of these grooves underlying a respective one of the lasers, and each groove is filled with a material that has high thermal and electrical conductivity, thereby providing a massive beam lead which also serves to dissipate heat generated by the respective laser. The walls of the grooves are treated to provide electrical isolation between the beam leads, so that these leads can be used to establish individual switching connections to the active elements of the respective lasers. With this arrangement, individual lasers in the array can be independently switched on and off as needed during a multiple beam scan, and each laser has an individual heat sink for efficiently dissipating the heat that it generates.

Injection laser array

An array of collimated wise aperture electrically pumped leaky corrugated AlGaAs optical waveguide lasers is formed on a single chip by etching a series of grooves oriented with respect to the crystalographic planes to isolate discrete lasers in the array and provide the requisite orientation of the internal reflecting surfaces to support the lasing action. The corrugation period is chosen such that the laser radiation exits from the array in a direction normal to the plane of waveguide.

Growing community of inventors

Ossining, NY, United States of America

Peter S Zory, Jr