The 2020 UV emitter roadmap

Abstract

Electron-beam pumping of semiconductor materials can be considered an enabling alternative excitation strategy for UV optical emitters. High pump powers of up to 100 Watts and high pump-power densities (e.g., ~1MW/cm2) are accessible to achieve laser operation in both edge type and vertical emitting laser configurations. Especially for the ultra-wide bandgap AlGaN materials e-beam excitation is particularly appealing, as no p-type doping is required in the device heterostructure. As a result, device efficiencies of e-beam pumped spontaneous UV emitters have been shown to meet or exceed state-of-the-art performance levels from conventional LEDs, while delivering high optical output powers. Further advances in miniaturization of various device components will realize a platform technology for compact and efficient emitter systems that can access a wide range of emission wavelengths.