Technology Development Of Semiconductor Lasers

Semiconductor Lasers are commonly known as laser diodes. They are called semiconductor lasers because they use semiconductor materials as the working substance. Semiconductor lasers are composed of fiber-coupled semiconductor laser modules, beam combining devices, laser energy transmission optical cables, power systems, control systems and mechanical structures. Laser output is achieved under the driving and monitoring of the power supply system and control system.

1. Introduction to semiconductor lasers
Semiconductor lasers are commonly known as laser diodes. They are called semiconductor lasers because they use semiconductor materials as the working substance. Semiconductor lasers are composed of fiber-coupled semiconductor laser modules, beam combining devices, laser energy transmission optical cables, power systems, control systems and mechanical structures. Laser output is achieved under the driving and monitoring of the power supply system and control system. Commonly used working materials for semiconductor lasers include gallium arsenide (GaAs), cadmium sulfide (CdS), indium phosphide (InP), zinc sulfide (ZnS), etc. There are three main excitation methods according to different working materials: electrical injection, pump type and high-energy electron beam excitation.

（1）. Electrical injection is a semiconductor laser
Generally, working materials such as GaAS, CdS, InP, and ZnS are used as the main materials to make semiconductor junction diodes. When electrical injection is received, the working material is excited along the forward bias injected current, so that at the node plane area produces stimulated emission.

（2）. Punp laser
Generally, the germanium single crystal (P-type semiconductor single crystal) with holes as carriers or the germanium single crystal with electrons as carriers (N-type semiconductor single crystal) doped with acceptor impurities in the crystal is used as the working material. , and use lasers emitted by other lasers as pump excitations to achieve population inversion.

（3）. High energy electron beam excited semiconductor laser
Generally, the selection of working materials is similar to that of pump lasers, and semiconductor germanium single crystals are also used. However, it is worth noting that in the selection of P-type semiconductor single crystals, high-energy electron beam excitation semiconductor lasers mainly use PbS. Mainly CbS and ZnO.

There are many types of semiconductor lasers, and there are many classification methods based on their chip parameters and packaging methods. Among them, the main classification methods of fiber output semiconductor lasers are as follows:

2. Development of semiconductor laser technology
Since the invention of the world's first semiconductor laser in 1962, semiconductor lasers have undergone tremendous changes and greatly promoted the development of other science and technology.

In recent years, low-power semiconductor lasers used in the field of information technology have developed rapidly. For example, DFB and dynamic single-mode laser diodes used for optical fiber communications, as well as visible light wavelength laser diodes widely used in optical disc processing, and even ultra-short pulse laser diodes have made substantial innovative progress.

Low-power laser diodes themselves also have the development characteristics of high integration, high speed and tunability. The development of large-scale high-power semiconductor lasers is also accelerating.

In the 1980s, the output power of independent laser diodes was above 100mW and reached a conversion efficiency of 39%. In the 1990s, Americans once again raised the indicator to a new level, reaching a conversion efficiency of 45%. In terms of output power, it also changed from W to KW level.

At present, with the support of research and development projects in various countries, laser technologies such as chip structure, epitaxial growth and device packaging of semiconductor lasers have made great progress, and the performance of unit devices has also achieved major breakthroughs: the electro-optical conversion efficiency has reached more than 70%, which is very low. The beam divergence angle, the continuous output power of a single bar exceeds kilowatts, and the use of carbon nano (CN) heat sink can increase the cooling efficiency of the laser by 30% compared with traditional semiconductor bar installation technology. The output power of a single tube with a width of 100μm reaches 24.6W, and the high-power continuous working life is as long as tens of thousands of hours.

High-efficiency and high-power semiconductor lasers have also rapidly developed into fully solidified lasers, giving LDP solid-state lasers new development opportunities and prospects.

3. Semiconductor laser market size
Semiconductor lasers have the advantages of small size, light weight, long life, high operational reliability, low energy consumption, high electro-optical conversion efficiency, easy mass production, and low price. They are widely used in CD laser record players, optical fiber communications, optical memories, and lasers. Printers, etc. have been widely used, covering the entire field of optoelectronics.

With the continuous development and breakthrough of technology, semiconductor lasers are developing in the direction of shorter emission wavelength, higher emission power, ultra-small size and long life to meet the needs of various applications, and the product types are becoming increasingly rich. It has also been widely used in laser processing, 3D printing, laser radar, laser ranging, medical and life sciences, etc. In addition, high-power direct semiconductor lasers are widely used in cutting and welding fields by coupling into optical fibers for transmission.

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