Semiconductor switching device for guiding and amplifying radiation

Claim 1

A semiconductor switching device for guiding and amplifying electromagnetic radiation, having a semiconductor body with a substantially flat surface comprising a substrate region which is provided with a connection conductor, a plurality of strip-shaped radiation guiding members which comprise a layer structure having an active layer in which the radiation propagates and having a p-n junction in which each radiation guiding member is provided at its surface with at least one electrode for controlling a current in the forward direction through the p-n junction, at least one first radiation guiding member branching through a transition area into at least two further radiation guiding members which over the greater part of theri length are situated outside each other's amplification profile, and a layer structure on the substrate region which is common to all radiation guiding members and has an active layer of a homogeneous thickness and doping concentration, in which in the transition area between said first and said further radiation guiding members the electrodes of said guiding members have tapering juxtaposed ends, the active layer in the transition area, taken in the direction of width of the radiation guiding members, having a sufficiently small effective refractive index variation for the radiation and the distance between the two adjacent radiation guiding members being sufficiently small such that the guiding members are situated within each other's amplification profile, and the transverse dimensions of all radiation guiding members being sufficiently small such that guiding and amplification of only one single transversal mode of oscillation occurs.