Porous silicon as a light source for rare earth-doped CaF2 laser

Claim 2

A microcavity structure for generating intense spectral emissions, comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a CaF 2 thin film comprising a rare earth-dopant for generating said intense spectral emissions in response to said CaF 2 thin film being optically pumped; a reflective cavity-forming medium for forming a cavity to reflect said intense spectral emissions; a porous-Si layer for optically pumping said CaF 2 thin film; and activating circuitry for pumping said porous silicon layer.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said rare earth-dopant comprises Nd.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said reflective cavity-forming medium comprises a plurality of Bragg reflectors.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said Bragg reflectors number approximately 10 pairs for high reflectivity that produces a vertical surface emitting laser device.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said porous-Si layer and said CaF 2 thin films layers are positioned between a plurality of electrodes associated with said activating circuitry for emitting light by electroluminscence.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said porous-Si layer is associated with said activating circuitry to be optically pumped.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said porous-Si is positioned between said CaF 2 thin film and said semiconductor substrate for forming a surface emitting laser such that said porous-Si layer is located out of the path of said intense spectral emission.

Claim 11

The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of activating said porous-Si layer by optically pumping said porous-Si layer.

Claim 12

The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of activating said porous-Si layer by electrically pumping said porous-Si layer.

Claim 13

The method of claim 8, wherein said activating step further comprises the step of activating said porous-Si layer to form optical emissions having wavelengths ranging approximately from 5200 through 9000 Å.

Claim 14

The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of forming said porous-Si layer electrochemically.

Claim 15

The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of forming said porous-Si by anodizing crystalline silicon.

Claim 16

The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of forming said porous-Si from a mixture consisting essentially of amorphous silicon, crystalline silicon, silicon oxide, and silicon hydride.

Claim 17

The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of forming said porous-Si by chemical vapor deposition.

Claim 18

The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of forming said porous-Si layer by a sputtering technique.

Claim 19

The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of sputtering said porous-Si layer by molecular beam epitaxy.

Claim 20

A CaF 2 Nd laser cavity on a substrate material, comprising: a porous-Si layer a CaF 2 :Nd film layer; a first electrode; a second electrode; a first plurality of reflector layers; a second plurality reflector layers; and a substrate material; said porous-Si layer associated with said first electrode and said first plurality of reflector layers for generating a light to photoluminescently pump said CaF 2 :Nd film layer; said CaF 2 :Nd film layer associated between said first plurality of reflector layers and said second plurality of reflector layers for generating an intense spectral emission in response to being photoluminescently pumped by said light from said porous-Si layer; and said first electrode and second electrode for electrically activating said first plurality of reflector layers, said second plurality of reflector layers, said CaF 2 :Nd film layer, and said porous-Si layer.

Claim 21

A CaF 2 Nd laser cavity on a substrate material, comprising: a porous-Si layer a CaF 2 :Nd film layer; a first electrode; a second electrode; a first plurality of reflector layers; a second plurality reflector layers; and a substrate material; said porous-Si layer associated with said first electrode and said first plurality of reflector layers for generating a light to photoluminescently pump said CaF 2 :Nd film layer; said CaF 2 :Nd film layer associated between said first plurality of reflector layers and said second plurality of reflector layers for generating an intense spectral emission in response to being photoluminescently pumped by said light from said porous-Si layer; and said first electrode and second electrode for electrically activating said first plurality of reflector layers, said second plurality of reflector layers, said CaF 2 :Nd film layer, and said porous-Si layer.