Mirror fabrication for full-wafer laser technology

Abstract

The fabrication of etched mirrors for AlGaAs semiconductor lasers is described. The coating techniques for the passivation and reflectivity modification of the etched mirror surfaces are presented. Measurements on coated lasers show excellent beam quality, and satisfactory uniformity of laser characteristics across a wafer. Lasers which operate in a single transverse mode at output powers up to about 50 mW and have catastrophic optical damage (COD) thresholds greater than 120 mW have also been demonstrated.