Optoelectronic device with enhanced lateral leakage of high order transverse optical modes into alloy-intermixed regions and method of making same

Abstract

Optoelectronic device undergoes selective chemical transformation like alloy compositional intermixing forming a non-transformed core region and an adjacent to it periphery where transformation has occurred. Activated by selective implantation or diffusion of impurities like Zinc or Silicon, implantation or diffusion of point defects, or laser annealing, transformation results in a change of the refractive index such that the vertical profile of the refractive index at the periphery is distinct from that in the core. Therefore the optical modes of the core are no longer orthogonal to the modes of the periphery, are optically coupled to them and exhibit lateral leakage losses to the periphery. High order transverse optical modes associated to the same vertical optical mode have higher lateral leakage losses to the periphery than the fundamental transverse optical mode, thus supporting single transverse mode operation of the device. This approach applies to single transverse mode vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, edge-emitting lasers and coherently coupled arrays of such devices.