We fabricated optically pumped and electrically injected ultraviolet (UV) lasers on reduced-threading-dislocation-density (reduced-TDD) AlGaN templates. The overgrowth of sub-micron-wide mesas in the Al0.32Ga0.68N templates enabled a tenfold reduction in TDD, to (2-3) × 108cm%2. Optical pumping of AlGaN hetero-structures grown on the reduced-TDD templates yielded a low lasing threshold of 34kW/cm2 at 346 nm. Roomtemperature pulsed operation of laser diodes at 353nm was demonstrated, with a threshold of 22.5 kA/cm2. Reduced-TDD templates have been developed across the entire range of AlGaN compositions, presenting a promising approach for extending laser diodes into the deep UV.
Realization of efficient laser diodes with ultra-violet (UV) emission from ∼260-360 nm would enable many applications including fluorescence-based biological agent detection, sterilization, and portable water purification. While InGaN-based laser diodes are well developed down to ∼370 nm, achieving shorter UV wavelengths requires higher Al-content AlGaN alloys with increasing challenges in achieving p-type doping, strain-management, and low threading-dislocation-density (TDD) AlGaN templates. Given these challenges, few groups have reported AlGaN-based edge-emitting laser diodes (LDs) with emission < 355 nm.[1, 2] Most recently, random lasing via Anderson localization in AlGaN nanowire structures has demonstrated a novel approach to realizing deep-UV laser diodes.[3]