Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser including a supported airgap distributed bragg reflector

摘要

A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (200) incorporating a supported air gap distributed Bragg reflector (204) is disclosed. The supported air gap DBR (204) includes a regrowth layer (272) of material that provides mechanical support for the original material layers (214). The supported air gap DBR (204) is fabricated by first growing alternating pairs of a first material (214) and a sacrificial material (216) over a suitable substrate (202). The layer pairs of the first material and sacrificial material are covered by a suitable dielectric material (243). The dielectric material (243) is then selectively removed exposing regions of the first material (214) and sacrificial material (216) where selective regrowth of additional material (272) is desired. The selective regrowth of the additional material (272) provides mechanical support for the semiconductor material (214) that remains after a selective etch removal of the sacrificial material (216).