Surface-emitting lasers with optical cavity along the [111] direction

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Abstract
Monolithic horizontal cavity GaAs/GaAlAs surface‐emitting lasers with cavities along the [111] direction have been demonstrated for the first time. The vertical facet of the devices was fabricated by reactive‐ion etching and the 45° outcoupler micromirror was fabricated by ion‐beam etching. Typical uncoated devices have threshold current densities of 330 A/cm2, which is the lowest ever reported for GaAs/GaAlAs surface‐emitting lasers. The coated devices have external differential quantum efficiencies as high as 40% (0.6 W/A), and output powers (pulsed) in excess of 3 W. The output power is the highest ever reported from GaAs/GaAlAs horizontal cavity surface‐emitting lasers with dry‐etched outcoupler micromirrors.