Dielectric Bragg Mirrors for InGaN Surface-Emitting Lasers

An approach to the fabrication of InGaN surface-emitting lasers using lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) on patterned dielectric Bragg mirrors is described. The properties of SiO2/ZrO2 mirrors, annealed to simulate LEO conditions, were investigated using reflectance spectroscopy, electron microscopy, sputtered neutral mass spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction. The mirrors are shown to be sufficiently robust for the proposed application. We show that a blue-shift of the reflectivity stop-band during annealing can be pre-compensated and that a slight reduction in peak reflectivity is related to the formation of crystallite microstructure within the ZrO2 layers.