GaN based ultraviolet laser diodes

In the past few years, many groups have focused on the research and development of GaN-based ultraviolet laser diodes (UV LDs). Great progresses have been achieved even though many challenges exist. In this article, we analyze the challenges of developing GaN-based ultraviolet laser diodes, and the approaches to improve the performance of ultraviolet laser diode are reviewed. With these techniques, room temperature (RT) pulsed oscillation of AlGaN UVA (ultraviolet A) LD has been realized, with a lasing wavelength of 357.9 nm. Combining with the suppression of thermal effect, the high output power of 3.8 W UV LD with a lasing wavelength of 386.5 nm was also fabricated.