Microgun-pumped blue lasers

Microgun-pumped lasers, in which electron beam pumping is achieved via an array of low-voltage, field-emission microtips, were demonstrated in the blue and blue-green regions of the spectrum. The devices exploit graded index, separate confinement Zn1−xCdxSe/ZnSe heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on In1−xGaxAs(100) substrates. Lasing thresholds were in the 4–20 kW/cm2 range for temperatures between 83 and 225 K, and the device lifetime exceed several hours at a 12.5% duty cycle for a laser operating at 83 K and a wavelength of 478.4 nm.