GaN photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser at blue-violet wavelengths.

Shorter-wavelength surface-emitting laser sources are important for a variety of fields, including photonics, information processing, and biology. We report on the creation of a current-driven blue-violet photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser. We have developed a fabrication method, named "air holes retained over growth," in order to construct a two-dimensional gallium nitride (GaN)/air photonic-crystal structure. The resulting periodic structure has a photonic-crystal band-edge effect sufficient for the successful operation of a current-injection surface-emitting laser. This represents an important step in the development of laser sources that could be focused to a size much less than the wavelength and be integrated two-dimensionally at such short wavelengths.