CN114204417A - Optical chip structure of high-power semiconductor laser, preparation method of optical chip structure and laser - Google Patents

Optical chip structure of high-power semiconductor laser, preparation method of optical chip structure and laser Download PDF

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CN114204417A
CN114204417A CN202111515335.3A CN202111515335A CN114204417A CN 114204417 A CN114204417 A CN 114204417A CN 202111515335 A CN202111515335 A CN 202111515335A CN 114204417 A CN114204417 A CN 114204417A
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optical
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optical chip
light
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CN114204417B (en
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章雅平
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Shandong Zhongxin Optoelectronic Technology Co ltd
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Shandong Zhongxin Optoelectronic Technology Co ltd
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S5/00—Semiconductor lasers
    • H01S5/20—Structure or shape of the semiconductor body to guide the optical wave ; Confining structures perpendicular to the optical axis, e.g. index or gain guiding, stripe geometry, broad area lasers, gain tailoring, transverse or lateral reflectors, special cladding structures, MQW barrier reflection layers
    • H01S5/22—Structure or shape of the semiconductor body to guide the optical wave ; Confining structures perpendicular to the optical axis, e.g. index or gain guiding, stripe geometry, broad area lasers, gain tailoring, transverse or lateral reflectors, special cladding structures, MQW barrier reflection layers having a ridge or stripe structure
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S5/00—Semiconductor lasers
    • H01S5/30—Structure or shape of the active region; Materials used for the active region
    • H01S5/34—Structure or shape of the active region; Materials used for the active region comprising quantum well or superlattice structures, e.g. single quantum well [SQW] lasers, multiple quantum well [MQW] lasers or graded index separate confinement heterostructure [GRINSCH] lasers
    • H01S5/343—Structure or shape of the active region; Materials used for the active region comprising quantum well or superlattice structures, e.g. single quantum well [SQW] lasers, multiple quantum well [MQW] lasers or graded index separate confinement heterostructure [GRINSCH] lasers in AIIIBV compounds, e.g. AlGaAs-laser, InP-based laser

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  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Geometry (AREA)
  • Semiconductor Lasers (AREA)
  • Optical Integrated Circuits (AREA)

Abstract

The disclosure provides an optical chip structure of a high-power semiconductor laser, a preparation method of the optical chip structure and the laser. The optical chip structure comprises a substrate, a buffer area, an optical function area and a ridge waveguide area. The buffer area is positioned on the substrate; the optical functional area is positioned on the buffer area and used for generating laser by stimulated radiation; the ridge waveguide area is positioned on the optical function area and used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip; the optical chip structure further comprises an insertion spacing layer and an optical traction weight area. The insertion spacing layer is positioned between the optical function area and the ridge waveguide area and is used for controlling the width of the ridge waveguide when the optical chip operates in a single mode so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip; and/or the optical traction weight area is positioned between the buffer area and the optical function area and is used for realizing traction on the optical field distribution of the optical function area so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip. Therefore, the ultrahigh laser output power of the III-V group ridge waveguide semiconductor laser optical chip can be realized.

Description

Optical chip structure of high-power semiconductor laser, preparation method of optical chip structure and laser
Technical Field
The disclosure relates to the technical fields of optical sensing technology, optical network transmission technology, semiconductor technology and the like, in particular to an optical chip structure of a high-power semiconductor laser, a preparation method of the optical chip structure and the laser.
Background
With the vigorous development of a new generation of optical sensing technology and optical integration technology, the related technologies can be rapidly popularized and applied. In order to make the performance of the existing optical sensing or optical integration product more excellent, improving the output power of the optical chip of such product becomes the focus of attention in the scientific research and development process, mainly the laser output power of the optical chip will directly affect the application range and efficacy of the related product, for example: (1) in a multi-channel grating optical fiber sensing system adopting the same light source, the size of the laser output power of the semiconductor laser light source determines how many parallel light paths can be supported and how many grating optical fiber sensor units are carried, so that the energy efficiency of the optical sensing system is directly influenced; (2) in the application of the silicon optical integrated circuit, the size of the laser output power of the semiconductor laser light source directly affects the scale of the silicon optical integrated circuit, thereby affecting the redundancy design of the whole system.
Disclosure of Invention
Technical problem to be solved
In order to solve at least one of the technical problems related to laser output power in the traditional optical chip, the disclosure provides an optical chip structure capable of realizing ultrahigh laser output power of an III-V group ridge waveguide semiconductor laser optical chip, a preparation method thereof and a laser.
(II) technical scheme
One aspect of the present disclosure provides an optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser, including a substrate, a buffer region, an optical functional region, and a ridge waveguide region. The buffer area is positioned on the substrate; the optical functional area is positioned on the buffer area and used for generating laser by stimulated radiation; the ridge waveguide area is positioned on the optical function area and used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip;
the optical chip structure further comprises an insertion spacing layer and an optical traction weight area. The insertion spacing layer is positioned between the optical function area and the ridge waveguide area and is used for controlling the width of the ridge waveguide when the optical chip operates in a single mode so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip; and/or the optical traction weight area is positioned between the buffer area and the optical function area and is used for realizing traction on the optical field distribution of the optical function area so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip.
According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the preparation materials of the substrate, the buffer zone and the light traction weight zone are n-type doping materials; the preparation materials inserted into the spacing layer and the ridge waveguide region are p-type doping materials.
According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the refractive index of the buffer region is smaller than the refractive index of the optical functional region and the optical pulling weight region of the optical chip structure.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the optically functional region further comprises a blocking layer, a quantum active region, and a light-tying region.
The barrier layer is positioned on the light traction weight area and used for blocking the overflow of carriers of the light functional area and preventing the light energy loss of the light functional area; the quantum active region is positioned on the barrier layer and used for generating laser by stimulated radiation; the light beam binding region is positioned on the quantum active region and used for binding light radiation of the light functional region.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the quantum active region includes a quantum well structure, a quantum wire structure, or a quantum dot structure.
According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the light traction weight area comprises a plurality of light traction layers which are sequentially arranged in a laminated manner between the buffer area and the barrier layer of the light function area; wherein, in two adjacent light traction layers, the refractive index of the light traction layer close to the buffer area is smaller than that of the light traction layer close to the barrier layer.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the refractive index of the light pulling weight region increases linearly in the direction from the buffer region to the barrier layer.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the light confinement region includes a plurality of light confinement layers sequentially stacked between the quantum active region and the intervening spacer layer; and in two adjacent light confinement layers, the refractive index of the light confinement layer close to the quantum active region is larger than that of the light confinement layer close to the inserted spacing layer.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the refractive index of the light confinement region decreases linearly in a direction from the quantum active region to the intervening spacer layer.
According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the optical chip structure further comprises an etching barrier layer, wherein the etching barrier layer is positioned between the insertion spacer layer and the ridge waveguide region and used for controlling the formation thickness of the ridge waveguide region in the process of forming the ridge waveguide region.
Another aspect of the present disclosure also provides a method for manufacturing an optical chip structure of the high-power semiconductor laser, including: forming a substrate, and forming a buffer region on the substrate; forming an optical function area on the buffer area, wherein the optical function area is used for generating laser by stimulated radiation; forming a ridge waveguide area on the optical function area, wherein the ridge waveguide area is used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip; wherein, the method further comprises: before forming the ridge waveguide area, forming an insertion spacing layer on the optical function area, wherein the insertion spacing layer is used for controlling the width of the ridge waveguide when the optical chip operates in a single mode so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip; and/or before the optical functional area is formed, forming a light traction weight area on the buffer area, wherein the light traction weight area is used for realizing traction on the light field distribution of the optical functional area so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip.
The present disclosure also provides a laser, wherein the optical chip structure including the high power semiconductor laser can be applied to a plurality of fields such as optical sensing and optical integration.
(III) advantageous effects
The disclosure provides an optical chip structure of a high-power semiconductor laser, a preparation method of the optical chip structure and the laser. The optical chip structure comprises a substrate, a buffer area, an optical function area and a ridge waveguide area. The buffer area is positioned on the substrate; the optical functional area is positioned on the buffer area and used for generating laser by stimulated radiation; the ridge waveguide area is positioned on the optical function area and used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip; the optical chip structure further comprises an insertion spacing layer and an optical traction weight area. The insertion spacing layer is positioned between the optical function area and the ridge waveguide area and is used for controlling the width of the ridge waveguide when the optical chip operates in a single mode so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip; and/or the optical traction weight area is positioned between the buffer area and the optical function area and is used for realizing traction on the optical field distribution of the optical function area so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip. Therefore, the ultrahigh laser power output of the III-V group ridge waveguide semiconductor laser optical chip can be realized.
Drawings
Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a basic composition diagram of an optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
fig. 2 schematically illustrates a light intensity-refractive index profile along a vertical direction of a crystal growth layer of an optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
fig. 3 schematically illustrates a light intensity-refractive index profile along a vertical direction of a crystal growth layer of another optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
fig. 4 schematically shows a light intensity-refractive index profile of a further optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure along a vertical direction of a crystal growth layer;
fig. 5 schematically shows a light intensity-refractive index profile of still another optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure along a vertical direction of a crystal growth layer;
fig. 6 schematically shows a light intensity-refractive index profile of still another optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure along a vertical direction of a crystal growth layer; and
fig. 7 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a method of fabricating an optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings.
It is to be noted that, in the attached drawings or in the description, the implementation modes not shown or described are all the modes known by the ordinary skilled person in the field of technology, and are not described in detail. Further, the above definitions of the various elements and methods are not limited to the various specific structures, shapes or arrangements of parts mentioned in the examples, which may be easily modified or substituted by those of ordinary skill in the art.
It should also be noted that directional terms, such as "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", and the like, used in the embodiments are only directions referring to the drawings, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, like elements are represented by like or similar reference numerals. Conventional structures or constructions will be omitted when they may obscure the understanding of the present disclosure.
And the shapes and sizes of the respective components in the drawings do not reflect actual sizes and proportions, but merely illustrate the contents of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, in the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim.
Furthermore, the word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in a claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.
The use of ordinal numbers such as "first," "second," "third," etc., in the specification and in the claims to modify a corresponding element does not by itself connote any ordinal number of the element or any ordering of one element from another or the order of manufacture, and the use of the ordinal numbers is only used to distinguish one element having a certain name from another element having a same name.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules in the device of an embodiment may be adaptively changed and placed in one or more devices different from the embodiment. The modules or units or components of the embodiments may be combined into one module or unit or component, and furthermore they may be divided into a plurality of sub-modules or sub-units or sub-components. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and all of the processes or elements of any method or apparatus so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or processes or elements are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Also in the unit claims enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware.
Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, various features of the disclosure are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various disclosed aspects. However, the disclosed method should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that: that is, the claimed disclosure requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, disclosed aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this disclosure.
In order to solve at least one of the technical problems related to light output power in the traditional optical chip structure, the disclosure provides a high-power semiconductor laser optical chip structure which can realize the ultrahigh optical power output of a III-V group ridge waveguide semiconductor laser chip and can be applied to a plurality of fields such as optical sensing, optical integration and the like, a preparation method thereof and a laser.
As shown in fig. 1-6, one aspect of the present disclosure provides an optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser, as shown in fig. 1, comprising a substrate 7, a buffer region 8, an optically functional region 9, and a ridge waveguide region 6.
The buffer region 8 is located on the substrate 7;
the optical functional area 9 is positioned on the buffer area 8 and is used for generating laser by stimulated radiation;
the ridge waveguide area 6 is positioned on the optical functional area 9 and used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip;
the optical chip structure further comprises an insertion spacing layer 5 and an optical traction weight area 1.
The insertion spacing layer 5 is positioned between the optical functional region 9 and the ridge waveguide region 6 and is used for controlling the width of the ridge waveguide when the optical chip operates in a single mode so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip; and/or
The light traction weight area 1 is positioned between the buffer area 8 and the light function area 9 and is used for realizing traction on light field distribution of the light function area so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip.
The substrate 7 is the main part bearing structure of the optical chip structure, the buffer zone 8 is formed on the surface of the substrate 7 as the bonding layer, the buffer zone 8 is mainly used as the connecting layer between the substrate 7 and the optical function zone 9, and is used for creating a good environment which is convenient for carrying out crystal growth on the substrate 7 according to the optical chip structure, so that the optical function zone 9 can be formed in the crystal growth layer structure of the optical chip structure more stably.
The optical functional region 9 is used as a main light emitting region structure of the optical chip structure, generates photons after stimulated radiation to form laser radiation, avoids light energy loss as much as possible, and realizes the optical function of the optical chip.
The ridge waveguide region 6 serves as an optical output control structure of the optical chip structure, and is used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the transmission of the laser beam of the optical chip structure in the optical chip.
The insertion spacer layer 5 mainly realizes the adjustable control of the ridge waveguide width of the ridge waveguide region 6 in single-mode operation, and the light traction weight region 1 mainly realizes the adjustable traction of the light field distribution of the light function region 9, so as to further improve the laser output power of the light chip.
The insertion spacing layer 5 and the light traction weight region 1 can be formed at different positions of the optical chip structure respectively to further avoid light energy loss of the optical function region 9, so that the laser output power of the optical chip is improved compared with the optical chip structure in the prior art. The insertion spacer layer 5 and the light pulling weight region 1 may be separately formed at corresponding positions of the optical chip structure, or may be simultaneously formed in the optical chip structure, that is, the insertion spacer layer 5 and the light pulling weight region 1 may be introduced separately, or may be introduced into a crystal growth layer structure of any one of the conventional III-V group single mode ridge waveguide semiconductor laser optical chips, so as to obtain an extremely high optical chip laser output power.
Therefore, through the optical chip structure shown in fig. 1, a crystal growth structure layer of a laser optical chip applied to a plurality of fields such as optical sensing and optical integration can be constructed, and by means of the structural arrangement of the insertion spacer layer 5 and the optical traction weight region 1, the control of the ridge waveguide width during single-mode operation of the ridge waveguide region 6 and the traction of the optical field distribution of the optical function region can be respectively realized, and the laser output power of the optical chip is improved.
As shown in fig. 1-6, the preparation materials of the substrate 7, the buffer region 8, and the photo-pulling weight region 1 are n-type doped materials according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; the preparation material of the insertion spacer layer 5 and the ridge waveguide region 6 is a p-type doped material. In addition, the material for forming the optically functional region 9 is generally an intrinsic material. The substrate 7, the buffer region 8 and the optical pulling weight region 1 can form an n-type doped region, the inserted spacer layer 5 and the ridge waveguide region 6 can form a p-type doped region, and the optical functional region can form an intrinsic region.
Wherein, buffer 8 is directly located substrate 7 top, and buffer 8 is the first layer material that grows through crystal growth on substrate 7 for build a good environment that is convenient for carry out crystal growth according to the design of optical chip structure above it, make the optical chip structure more firm.
Therefore, the optical pulling weight region 1 can be used for greatly pulling the optical field distribution in the vertical direction of the crystal growth layer to the n-type doped region below the optical functional region 9, and since the n-type doped region has lower free carrier absorption loss than the p-type doped region, the internal absorption loss of the optical chip can be greatly reduced, and the laser output power of the optical chip is greatly increased. In addition, the insertion spacer layer 5 can be used to introduce a dimension capable of controlling the width of the ridge waveguide region 6 during single-mode operation of the optical chip, and the width of the ridge waveguide during single-mode operation of the optical chip is controlled by controlling the thickness of the insertion spacer layer 5, so as to control the laser output power of the optical chip.
As shown in fig. 1-6, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the refractive index of the buffer region 8 is smaller than the refractive index of the optical functional region 9 and the optical pulling weight region 1 of the photonic chip structure.
The buffer region 8 is typically made of the lowest refractive index material of the photonic chip growth layer material system, such as AlxGa1- xGaAs material in the As/GaAs material system is used As a preparation material. Therefore, the refractive index of the buffer region 8 is smaller than the refractive indexes of the optical functional region 9 and the optical pulling weight region 1 of the optical chip structure, and the refractive index of the buffer region 8 can be generally equal to the refractive indexes of the inserted spacer layer 5 and the ridge waveguide region 6, so as to be beneficial to ensuring that the buffer region 8 affects the optical field distribution of the optical functional region 9.
As shown in fig. 1-6, the optically functional region 9 further includes a barrier layer 2, a quantum active region 3, and a light confining region 4, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
The barrier layer 2 is positioned on the light traction weight region 1 and used for blocking the overflow of carriers in the quantum active region 3 of the light functional region 9 and preventing the light energy loss of the light functional region 9;
the quantum active region 3 is positioned on the barrier layer 2 and used for generating laser by stimulated radiation;
the light-binding region 4 is located on the quantum active region and is used for binding the light radiation of the light functional region.
As shown in fig. 1-6, the quantum active region 3 includes a quantum well structure, a quantum wire structure, or a quantum dot structure, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
The barrier layer 2 is generally located between the buffer region 8 and the quantum active region 3, and is used for blocking overflow of carriers in the quantum active region 3 and restraining optical radiation energy generated by carrier neutralization in the quantum active region 3 and the adjacent region thereof as much as possible;
the quantum well active region 3 is generally an active region composed of a single or multiple quantum well, quantum wire or quantum dot structure, free carrier electrons and holes are neutralized in the quantum active region 3 to generate photons, and laser light is generated by stimulated radiation.
The light-confining region 4 is typically formed by at least one or more crystal growth layers of material, or by a succession of innumerable crystal growth layers, for example lattice-matched layers of AlGaAs, the light-confining region 4 being located above the quantum active region 3And a ridge waveguide region 6 below, in a layer-by-layer decreasing manner of optical refractive index from the quantum active region 3 to the ridge waveguide region 6, so as to ensure that the stimulated light radiation generated in the quantum active region 3 is confined as much as possible within the quantum active region 3 and its vicinity, as shown in particular in fig. 2 and 3. Wherein the beam-bounding region 4 may have at least one bounding layer, each bounding layer being generally made of AlxGa1-xAs material is formed, and the refractive index of each light confinement layer in the vertical direction of the crystal growth layer from the quantum active region 3 to the ridge waveguide region 6 in the light confinement region 4 decreases layer by layer. Thus, the light confinement region 4 may be a discrete multilayer Al with the refractive index decreasing from layer to layerxGa1-xAs material, each layer of AlxGa1-xThe x of the optical tie layers of As material is different, specifically As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, or Al can be changed continuouslyxGal-xThe x component in As is composed of countless layers of AlxGa1-xAs material composition, As shown in fig. 4-6, that is, the refractive index of the light confinement region 4 linearly decreases from the vertical direction of the growth layer, which is equivalent to that the light confinement region 4 is formed by stacking a plurality of light confinement layers, and the refractive index of the light confinement layer near the ridge waveguide region 6 is smaller than that of the adjacent light confinement layer near the quantum active region 3.
It should be noted that the general thickness of the light pulling weight region 1 can be any thickness. However, after the light-pulling weight region 1 is introduced, the gravity center of the light intensity distribution in the vertical direction of the crystal growth can be pulled to one side of the n-type doped region, so that the light intensity distribution and the light beam-tying factor of the quantum well (or quantum wire/quantum dot) active region 3 are reduced, and the quantum efficiency of the optical chip is reduced. Therefore, the thickness of the optical traction weight region 1 cannot be increased without limit, and it is required to ensure that the light beam-binding factor related to the light intensity distribution of the quantum active region 3 is greater than 3%. In addition, due to the introduction of the optical pulling weight region 1, the thickness of a crystal growth layer is increased in the vertical direction, and a situation of dual modes in the vertical direction may exist, so that the optical chip cannot work in a single mode. To avoid this problem, the thickness of the photo-traction weight region 1 cannot be increased without limit, and it is necessary to ensure a single-mode working state in the direction of the crystal growth layer.
Further, the thickness of the insertion spacer layer 5 may be any thickness. However, when the insertion spacer layer 5 is introduced, the variation of the difference between the effective refractive indices of the fundamental modes before and after the fabrication of the ridge waveguide region 6 is reduced, and the thicker the insertion spacer layer 5 is, the smaller the difference is, and the controllability of the ridge waveguide region 6 on the propagation of the fundamental mode is accordingly reduced. In order to ensure the control of the transmission direction of the light energy of the fundamental mode by the ridge waveguide region 6, the thickness of the insertion spacer layer 5 cannot be increased without limitation in order to increase the output light power of the chip. For this reason, a typical value of the thickness of the intervening spacer layer 5 may be controlled to be generally between 0.01 and 1.5 microns to ensure that the difference in effective refractive index of the fundamental mode is greater than 0.35% before and after fabrication of the ridge waveguide region 6.
In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the design of the structural layer of the light traction weight region 1 may be a single-layer design (as shown in fig. 2 and 4) or a multi-layer design (as shown in fig. 3, 5 and 6). The structural layer design of the light-confining region 4 may also be a single layer design, i.e. no change in refractive index in the light-confining region 4 (not shown here), or a multi-layer design (shown in fig. 2-6). The multilayer design may be discrete multilayer Al with refractive index decreasing layer by layer from the optically functional region to the direction of crystal growth inserted into the spacer layerxGa1-xAs material, each layer of AlxGa1-xThe x of the optical tie layers of As material is different, specifically As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, or Al can be changed continuouslyxGa1-xThe x component in As is composed of countless layers of AlxGa1-xAs material composition, As shown in fig. 4-6. The barrier layer 2, the insertion spacer layer 5, and the ridge waveguide region 6 are generally single-layer structures, and the quantum active region 3 may be a composite layer structure having a plurality of quantum well layers, quantum dot layers, or quantum wire layers, as shown in fig. 2 to 6.
As shown in fig. 2 and 4, the structural layer design of the light-drawing weight region 1 may be a single-layer design, that is, the refractive index in the light-drawing weight region 1 is not changed. The optical traction weight region 1 of the multilayer design has substantially the same refractive index for each layer, if not different, and corresponds to the structural design shown in fig. 2 and 4.
As shown in fig. 3 and 5, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the light-drawing weight region 1 includes a plurality of light-drawing layers, and the plurality of light-drawing layers are sequentially stacked between the buffer region 8 and the barrier layer 2 of the optically functional region 9; among the two adjacent light-drawing layers, the light-drawing layer near the buffer region 8 has a refractive index smaller than that of the light-drawing layer near the barrier layer 2.
As shown in fig. 3 and 5, the light pulling weight region 1 may include 4 light pulling layers, the thicknesses of the two light pulling layers in the middle are smaller and substantially consistent, and the refractive indexes of the layers increase toward the vertical direction of the crystal growth layer; the thickness of the light traction layer in contact with the buffer zone 8 is equal to that of the light traction layer in contact with the barrier layer 2, and is larger than that of the middle two light traction layers, the refractive index of the light traction layer in contact with the buffer zone 8 is the smallest in the light traction weight zone 1, and the refractive index of the light traction layer in contact with the barrier layer 2 is the largest in the light traction weight zone 1. Therefore, the light field distribution of the optical chip structure emitted by the quantum active region 3 can be gradually pulled through the hierarchical structure, so that the stable pulling of the light field distribution is realized, and the light energy loss is further prevented. The thickness of the light traction layer in contact with the barrier layer 2 is the largest, so that the light field distribution in the vertical direction is pulled to the n-doped region below the region of the quantum active region 3, the internal absorption loss of the optical chip can be greatly reduced, and the laser output power of the optical chip is greatly increased.
As shown in fig. 6, the refractive index of the light pulling weight region 1 increases linearly in the direction from the buffer region 8 to the barrier layer 2 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
As shown in fig. 6, the structure layer of the light pulling weight region 1 can be understood as being composed of innumerable light pulling layers, and the refractive index between each adjacent light pulling layer has a fixed refractive index slight difference, so that the refractive index in the light pulling weight region 1 is linearly increased from the vertical direction of the crystal growth layer. Specifically, the linear change of the refractive index of the optical traction weight region 1 can be realized by adjusting the components of the preparation material in real time in the preparation process.
Therefore, the optical traction weight region 1 can perform progressive traction on the optical field distribution of the optical chip structure emitted by the quantum active region 3 through the refractive index linear change structure, so that stable traction on the optical field distribution is realized, and optical loss caused by carrier absorption of the p-doped region is further reduced.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the light confinement region 4 includes a plurality of light confinement layers sequentially stacked between the quantum active region 3 and the intervening spacer layer 5; wherein, in two adjacent light confinement layers, the refractive index of the light confinement layer close to the quantum active region 3 is larger than that of the light confinement layer close to the inserted spacing layer.
As shown in fig. 3 and 5, the light confinement region 4 may include 4 light confinement layers, each having a comparable thickness, and each having a refractive index that decreases layer by layer in a direction perpendicular to the crystal growth layer. Wherein the refractive index of the light confining layer in contact with the quantum active region 3 is largest in the light confining region 4 and the refractive index of the light confining layer in contact with the intervening spacer layer 5 is smallest in the light confining region 4. Therefore, the light energy emitted by the quantum active region 3 can be bound layer by layer through the hierarchical structure, and further light energy loss is prevented.
As shown in fig. 4-6, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the refractive index of the light confinement region 4 linearly decreases in a direction from the quantum active region 3 to the intervening spacer layer 5.
As shown in fig. 6, the structure layer of the light-confining regions 4 can be understood as being composed of an infinite number of light-confining layers, and the refractive index between each adjacent light-confining layer has a fixed refractive index slight difference, so that the refractive index in the light-confining regions 4 decreases linearly from the vertical direction of the crystal growth layer. Specifically, the linear change of the refractive index of the light confinement region 4 can be realized by adjusting the components of the preparation material in real time during the preparation process.
Therefore, the light confinement region 4 can confine the stimulated radiation emitted from the quantum active region 3 in the quantum active region 3 and its adjacent region as much as possible by the refractive index linear change structure, and further prevent the loss of light energy.
As shown in fig. 2 to 6, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the optical chip structure further includes an etch stop layer 10, where the etch stop layer 10 is located between the interposed spacer layer 5 and the ridge waveguide region 6, where the etch stop layer 10 can implement selective etching when performing ridge waveguide wet etching, and thus the etch stop layer 10 can be used to control the formation thickness of the ridge waveguide region 6 in the process of forming the ridge waveguide region 6.
Wherein the refractive index of the etch stop layer 10 may be greater than the refractive index of the intervening spacer layer 5 and the ridge waveguide region 6.
Therefore, the optical chip structure capable of realizing the ultrahigh laser output power of the III-V group ridge waveguide semiconductor laser optical chip can be applied to laser devices of numerous applications such as optical sensing and optical integration. As shown in FIGS. 1-6, an intervening spacer layer 5 is introduced between the light confinement region 4 below the ridge waveguide region 6 and above the quantum active region 3, and the intervening spacer layer 5 may be formed from a low refractive index crystal growth layer material in the photonic chip design material system, such as AlxGa1- xGaAs material in the As/GaAs system. The introduction of the insertion spacing layer 5 introduces a dimension capable of controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip for the single-mode ridge waveguide width design, and controls the width of the ridge waveguide area 6 during the single-mode operation of the chip by controlling the thickness of the insertion spacing layer 5, so as to control the laser output power. Further, a light-drawing weight area 1 can be introduced between an n-type doped area below the barrier layer 2 below the quantum active area 3 and a crystal growth buffer area 8, wherein the light-drawing weight area 1 is formed by high-refractive-index single-layer or multi-layer crystal growth layer materials in the chip design material system, such as AlxGa1-xAl in As/GaAs SystemxGa1-xAs material. The optical traction weight region 1 aims to greatly traction the optical field distribution in the vertical direction of the crystal growth layer to an n-doped region below a quantum active region 3 region, and the n-doped region has lower free carrier absorption loss than a p-doped region, so that the internal absorption loss of an optical chip structure can be greatly reduced, and the laser output power of the optical chip is greatly increased.
In embodiments of the present disclosure, in general, the laser power output of a single-mode ridge waveguide semiconductor laser is proportional to the width of the ridge waveguide. Because the insertion spacing layer 5 is introduced to control the width dimension of the ridge waveguide of the optical chip in single-mode operation, and the width of the ridge waveguide of the optical chip in single-mode operation can be controlled by controlling the thickness of the insertion spacing layer 5, the width of the ridge waveguide area 6 of the single-mode ridge waveguide optical chip can be optimally selected through optimized design, and the laser output power of the optical chip is effectively increased. The thickness of the intervening spacer layer 5 may be any thickness. However, when the insertion spacer layer 5 is introduced, the variation of the difference value of the effective refractive index of the fundamental mode before and after the ridge waveguide is manufactured is reduced, and the thicker the insertion spacer layer 5 is, the smaller the difference value is, and the controllability of the ridge waveguide on the transmission of the fundamental mode is correspondingly reduced. In order to ensure the control of the ridge waveguide to the transmission direction of the fundamental mode light energy, the thickness of the insertion spacer layer 5 cannot be increased without limitation in order to increase the laser output power of the optical chip. Typical values for the thickness of the intervening spacer layer 5 are typically controlled between 0.01 and 1.5 microns to ensure that the difference in the effective indices of the fundamental mode is greater than 0.35% before and after fabrication of the ridge waveguide.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the internal loss of a semiconductor laser is mainly composed of several parts: free carrier absorption in the beam-bound region, absorption between energy bands, carrier absorption in the quantum active region, and waveguide surface scattering absorption, etc. All kinds of semiconductor lasers have the above-mentioned internal loss problem, and the internal loss will greatly affect the operating characteristics of the laser device, such as increasing the laser threshold and reducing the laser skew efficiency.
The internal loss of the semiconductor laser can be divided into two categories, one category is closely related to the concentration n of injected carriers, such as free carrier absorption of a beam-bound region; the other is independent of injected carrier concentration, such as scattering absorption at the waveguide surface. Thus, the net total internal loss factor of a semiconductor laser is:
αint＝α0+σim·n (1)
wherein the first term α0Is a constant, σintIs the effective cross section associated with all absorption loss processes.
Because of light tractionThe weight region 1 can greatly pull the optical field distribution in the vertical direction of the optical chip structure to an n-type doped region below the quantum active region 3 region, and the n-type doped region has lower free carrier absorption loss than a p-type doped region. That is, the effective cross-section σ of the p-type doped region can be greatly reducedintTherefore, the internal absorption loss of the optical chip can be greatly reduced, and the laser power output of the optical chip is greatly increased. In general, the thickness of the light pulling weight region 1 can be any thickness. However, after the photo-pulling weight region 1 is introduced, pulling the gravity center of the light intensity distribution in the vertical direction of crystal growth to one side of the n-type doped region can reduce the light intensity distribution and the light beam binding factor of the quantum active region 3, thereby reducing the quantum efficiency of the optical chip, so generally, the thickness of the photo-pulling weight region 1 cannot be increased without limit, and it is necessary to ensure that the light beam binding factor related to the light intensity distribution of the quantum active region 3 is greater than 3%. In addition, due to the introduction of the optical pulling weight region 1, the thickness of a crystal growth layer is increased in the vertical direction, and a situation of dual modes in the vertical direction may exist, so that the optical chip structure cannot work in a single mode. To avoid this problem, the thickness of the photo-traction weight region 1 cannot be increased without limit, and it is necessary to ensure a single-mode working state in the direction of the crystal growth layer.
Generally, the power output of a single-mode ridge waveguide semiconductor laser is proportional to the width of the ridge waveguide. Because the insertion spacing layer 5 is introduced to control the width dimension of the ridge waveguide of the optical chip in single-mode operation, and the width of the ridge waveguide of the optical chip in single-mode operation can be controlled by controlling the thickness of the insertion spacing layer 5, the ridge waveguide width of the single-mode ridge waveguide optical chip can be optimally selected through optimal design, and the laser output power of the optical chip is effectively increased. The thickness of the intervening spacer layer may be any thickness, but when the intervening spacer layer 5 is introduced, the variation of the difference in effective refractive index of the fundamental mode before and after fabrication of the ridge waveguide is reduced, and the thicker the intervening spacer layer 5, the smaller the difference, and the correspondingly reduced ability of the ridge waveguide to control the propagation of the fundamental mode. In order to ensure the control of the ridge waveguide to the transmission direction of the fundamental mode light energy, the thickness of the insertion spacer layer 5 cannot be increased without limitation in order to increase the output laser power of the optical chip. Typical values for this thickness are typically controlled between 0.01 and 1.5 microns to ensure that the difference in the effective refractive index of the fundamental mode is greater than 0.35% before and after fabrication of the ridge waveguide.
As shown in fig. 1 and 7, another aspect of the present disclosure also provides a method for manufacturing an optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser applied to numerous applications such as optical sensing and optical integration, including steps S1-S4.
In step S1, a substrate 7 is formed,
in step S2, a buffer region 8 is formed on the substrate 7;
in step S3, an optically functional region 9 is formed on the buffer region 8, the optically functional region 9 being used for stimulated radiation to generate laser light;
in step S4, a ridge waveguide region 6 is formed on the optical functional region 9, the ridge waveguide region 6 being used to control the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guide the transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip;
wherein the method further comprises steps S5 and/or S6.
In step S5, before forming the ridge waveguide region 6, forming an insertion spacer layer 5 on the optical function region 9, where the insertion spacer layer 5 is used to control the width of the ridge waveguide when the optical chip operates in a single mode, so as to increase the laser output power of the optical chip;
in step S6, before forming the optical functional region 9, a light-pulling weight region 1 is formed on the buffer region 8, where the light-pulling weight region 1 is used to pull the optical field distribution of the optical functional region 9, so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip.
Therefore, the preparation method of the optical chip structure can realize the preparation of the optical chip structure through a simple process, the operation steps of the whole preparation process are simple, the process conditions are easy to realize, the cost is low, and the efficient preparation of the optical chip structure is facilitated.
The present disclosure also provides a laser, which includes the above optical chip structure applicable to a high-power semiconductor laser, and the laser can be applied to numerous fields such as optical sensing and optical integration.
Based on the optical chip structure of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the visible insertion spacer layer and the light pulling balance area can be introduced separately, or can be introduced into the crystal growth layer design of any one of the common III-V group single mode ridge waveguide semiconductor laser optical chip structures simultaneously, so as to obtain an extremely high laser output power of the optical chip. The optical chip structure is generally suitable for the optimized design of various III-V group semiconductor laser optical chip growth layer structures, wherein typical optical chip types comprise: distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) semiconductor tunable laser chips, Distributed Feedback (DFB) semiconductor laser chips, fabry-perot (FP) laser chips, optical amplifier (SOA) chips, and super-luminescent diode (SLED) chips, among others.
Therefore, a laser device for a plurality of fields such as low-cost and ultrahigh-power optical sensing, optical integration and the like can be constructed according to the optical chip structure disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure, and the laser device has extremely high scientific research value and commercial utilization value.
So far, the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The above-mentioned embodiments are intended to illustrate the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention in further detail, and it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are only exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and the like made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. An optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser, comprising:
a substrate, a first electrode and a second electrode,
a buffer region on the substrate;
the optical functional area is positioned on the buffer area and used for generating laser by stimulated radiation;
the ridge waveguide area is positioned on the optical functional area and used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip;
wherein, the optical chip structure further comprises:
the insertion spacing layer is positioned between the optical function area and the ridge waveguide area and is used for controlling the width of the ridge waveguide when the optical chip operates in a single mode so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip; and/or
And the optical traction weight area is positioned between the buffer area and the optical function area and is used for realizing traction on the optical field distribution of the optical function area so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip.
2. The optical chip structure of claim 1,
the preparation materials of the substrate, the buffer zone and the light traction weight zone are n-type doping materials;
the preparation materials of the insertion spacing layer and the ridge waveguide region are p-type doped materials.
3. The optical chip structure of claim 1,
the refractive index of the buffer area is smaller than that of the optical functional area and the optical traction weight area of the optical chip structure.
4. The optical chip structure of claim 1, wherein the optical functional region further comprises:
the barrier layer is positioned on the light traction weight area and used for blocking the overflow of the current carrier of the optical functional area and preventing the light energy loss of the optical functional area;
the quantum active region is positioned on the barrier layer and used for generating laser by stimulated radiation;
and the light constraint area is positioned on the quantum active area and is used for constraining the light radiation of the optical functional area.
5. The photonic chip structure of claim 4, wherein the quantum active region comprises a quantum well structure, a quantum wire structure, or a quantum dot structure.
6. The photonic chip structure of claim 4, wherein the optical pulling weight region comprises:
the plurality of light traction layers are sequentially arranged between the buffer area and the barrier layer of the light function area in a laminated manner;
wherein, in two adjacent light traction layers, the refractive index of the light traction layer close to the buffer zone is smaller than that of the light traction layer close to the barrier layer.
7. The photonic chip structure of claim 4, wherein the refractive index of the photo-pulling weight region increases linearly in a direction from the buffer region to the blocking layer.
8. The optical chip structure according to claim 4, 6 or 7, wherein the light confinement region comprises:
a plurality of light-confining layers sequentially stacked between the quantum active region and the intervening spacer layer;
wherein, in two adjacent light confinement layers, the refractive index of the light confinement layer close to the quantum active region is greater than the refractive index of the light confinement layer close to the intervening spacer layer.
9. The optical chip structure according to claim 4, 6 or 7, wherein the refractive index of the light confining region decreases linearly in a direction from the quantum active region to the intervening spacer layer.
10. The optical chip structure according to claim 1, further comprising:
and the etching barrier layer is positioned between the insertion spacing layer and the ridge waveguide region and is used for controlling the formation thickness of the ridge waveguide region in the process of forming the ridge waveguide region.
11. A method of fabricating an optical chip structure of a high power semiconductor laser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 comprising:
a substrate is formed and,
forming a buffer region on the substrate;
forming an optical functional area on the buffer area, wherein the optical functional area is used for generating laser by stimulated radiation;
forming a ridge waveguide region on the optical functional region, wherein the ridge waveguide region is used for controlling the single-mode operation of the optical chip and guiding the optical transmission of the laser beam in the optical chip;
wherein the method further comprises:
before the ridge waveguide area is formed, an insertion spacing layer is formed on the optical function area, and the insertion spacing layer is used for controlling the width of a ridge waveguide of an optical chip during single-mode operation so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip; and/or
Before the optical functional area is formed, an optical traction weight area is formed on the buffer area and used for realizing traction on optical field distribution of the optical functional area so as to improve the laser output power of the optical chip.
12. A laser comprising an optical chip structure of the high power semiconductor laser of any one of claims 1-10.
CN202111515335.3A 2021-12-13 2021-12-13 Optical chip structure of high-power semiconductor laser, preparation method of optical chip structure and laser Active CN114204417B (en)

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4128815A (en) * 1975-10-07 1978-12-05 Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Public Corp. Single transverse mode operation in double heterostructure junction laser
US20040013147A1 (en) * 2002-04-03 2004-01-22 Manuela Buda Low divergence diode laser

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4128815A (en) * 1975-10-07 1978-12-05 Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Public Corp. Single transverse mode operation in double heterostructure junction laser
US20040013147A1 (en) * 2002-04-03 2004-01-22 Manuela Buda Low divergence diode laser

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