GaN near-UV microdisk lasers: efficient pumping configuration and low lasing threshold

Summary form only given. Shape deformation of a whispering gallery mode (WGM) microdisk laser was recently proposed and demonstrated to achieve high-power directional emission. Here, we demonstrate the first optically pumped, near-UV microdisk gallium nitride (GaN) laser. By using judicious pumping geometry, the lasing threshold was reduced to 60 kW/cm/sup 2/, which is an order of magnitude lower than previously reported for a conventional Fabry-Perot cavity structure. The pumping configuration is as important as the cavity structure in the design of low threshold lasers.