Room-Temperature CW Lasing of a GaN-Based Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser by Current Injection

We report the demonstration of CW lasing at room temperature in a GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) by current injection. The active region of the VCSEL consisted of a two-pair InGaN/GaN quantum well active layer. The optical cavity consisted of a 7 lambda-thick GaN semiconductor layer and an indium tin oxide layer for p-contact embedded between two SiO(2)/Nb(2)O(5) dielectric distributed Bragg reflectors. The VCSEL was mounted on a Si substrate by wafer bonding and the sapphire substrate was removed by laser lift-off. Under CW operation for an 8-mu m aperture device, the threshold current was 7.0mA and the emission wavelength was approximately 414 nm. (C) 2008 The Japan Society of Applied Physics