Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
81 words
A semiconductor laser comprising a plurality of layers (10-17) of semiconducting materials wherein at least one intermediate layer (13, 14, 15) is selected to be sufficiently thin that size quantization occurs, characterised in that the device has first and second lasing regions (21, 22) and is configured so that light losses associated with photons generated by laser action in said first region (21) are different from the Ight losses associated with photons generated by laser action in said second region (21).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
81 words
A semiconductor laser comprising a plurality of layers (10-17) of semiconducting materials wherein at least one intermediate layer (13, 14, 15) is selected to be sufficiently thin that size quantization occurs, characterised in that the device has first and second lasing regions (21, 22) and is configured so that light losses associated with photons generated by laser action in said first region (21) are different from the Ight losses associated with photons generated by laser action in said second region (21).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
83 words
A semiconductor laser device in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising, first contact means (18) providing electrical contact to a basal layer (10) of said device and second contact means (19, 20) providing electrical contact to an upper layer (17) of said device, characterised in that said second contact means (19, 20) comprises a first strip-like contact (19) overlying said first lasing region (21) of said device and a second strip-like contact (20) overlying said second lasing region (22) of said device.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
A semiconductor laser device in accordance with claim 2, characterised in that said first and second strip-like contacts (19, 20) extend parallel to each other but laterally spaced apart over said upper layer (17) (Fig. 2)'.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
78 words
A semi-conductor device in accordance with claim 3, characterised in that a first end face region (23) of said device associated with said first strip-like contact (19) and said first region (21) is provided with a partially reflective coating (25) to vary the level of light loss at said first end face region (23) relative to the light loss at a second end face region (23') associated with said second strip-like contact (20) and said second region (22).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
48 words
A semiconductor device in accordance with claim 3, characterised in that the lengths of said first and second strip-like contacts (19, 20) are selected to be different from each other whereby to vary the light losses and optical gain associated with said first and second regions (21, 22).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
A semiconductor device in accordance with claim 2, characterised in that said first and second strip-like contacts (19, 20) extend substantially co-linear to each other (Fig. 3).