History and Developments of Semiconductor Lasers

Abstract

A brief history of the creation of semiconductor lasers is presented. Basic attention is given to injection lasers including homo- and heterojunction laser diodes, quantum-well heterostructures, quantum cascade systems, etc. General steps in the development of the semiconductor lasers and inventions in the injection lasers are described. Theory modeling the spectral and output characteristics of the laser semiconductor sources is discussed. Set of applied semiconductor materials for laser technology and techniques and number of corresponding lasing wavelengths are listed. In addition, principal fields of application of semiconductor lasers and as well as growing total volume in the laser market are involved. Modern trends in semiconductor quantum electronics are also grounded.