Abstract

After proper p-doping in ZnSe became possible, several authors have reported on lasers in the II-VI semiconductor system [1,2]. The first results were obtained using a pulsed power supply and at liquid nitrogen temperature. Steady progress has been made since then, but one of the main problems is still the electrical contact to the p-doped semiconductor. The generally used metal contact acts as a reverse-biased Schottky junction. The breakdown voltage is of the order of ten volts, therefore considerable power dissipation takes place there, which makes CW room temperature operation difficult. In this work characterisation of the thermal behavior of such a II-VI semiconductor laser is presented. The results contribute to the understanding of the feasability of CW operation.

© 1993 Optical Society of America