Observation of enhanced spontaneous emission coupling factor in nitride-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser.

We demonstrate an enhancement of spontaneous emission coupling factor β in a nitride-based vertical-microcavity surface-emitting laser. The 2.5λ vertical microcavity, the quality factor of which reaches 740, is sandwiched between a nitride and an oxide distributed Bragg reflector. From input–output measurements and analyses of the rate equations, the β of the lasing mode at a wavelength of 396.1 nm is estimated to be 1.6×10[sup -2]. The estimated β can be well accounted for by a simple theoretical model. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]