Nano-porous GaN cladding and scattering loss in edge emitting laser diodes

Opt Express. 2022 Jan 17;30(2):2759-2767. doi: 10.1364/OE.445512.

Abstract

We report continuous wave operation of electrically injected InGaN laser diodes using nano-porous GaN n-side cladding with 33% porosity. At 454 nm emission wavelength, the pulsed injection slope efficiency is 0.24 W/A with a high loss of 82 cm-1. The considerable 60 cm-1 of excess loss of the nano-porous clad lasers is attributed to scattering at pores in unintentionally 3% porosified layers, supported by numerical modeling. Simulations comparing porous GaN cladding to AlInN cladding for lasers operating at 589 nm indicate that the porous cladding provides similar internal loss and lower thermal impedance.