Stimulated Emission and Laser Action in Gallium Nitride

Abstract

Stimulated emission and laser action have been observed near 3.45 eV in single-crystal needles of GaN. These observations support the earlier suggestion that GaN is a direct band-gap semiconductor with Eg∼3.50 eV at 2°K. Furthermore, the occurrence of very high gain (g∼105 cm−1) in the stimulated emission emphasizes the possible device potential of this material.