---
title: "Technology"
description: "How photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs) and photonic crystal spatial light modulators (PCSLMs) work."
canonical: https://www.semergytech.com/technology
---

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# How a photonic crystal laser works

We build photonic and electronic components on nanophotonic structures. Our core expertise and IP cover semiconductor lasers, modulators and photonic crystal cavities, on silicon and on other rigid or flexible substrates.

A simplified PCSEL, from top to bottom: a top contact with an emission aperture, upper cladding, the photonic crystal layer, the active region (quantum wells), lower cladding, the substrate and a bottom contact. Light resonates in-plane across the photonic crystal and is diffracted out of the surface as a single-mode beam.

## Photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers

First proposed by S. Noda and colleagues in 1999, PCSELs achieve large-area, coherent lasing with a narrow, single-mode beam. Their electrical and optical cavities are orthogonal: current flows vertically while light resonates in the plane of the photonic crystal.

That design has made PCSELs one of the most promising platforms for high-power diode lasers, with uses in LiDAR, free-space communications, and data and consumer electronics.

- High power density and efficiency
- Narrow, stable, single-mode beam
- Scalable manufacturing on silicon substrates
- A wide range of available wavelengths

## Photonic crystal spatial light modulators

The same nanophotonic structures can control how light is emitted and how it propagates. PCSLMs apply that control to build compact, efficient modulators that integrate with silicon photonics.

- Silicon photonics integration
- Compatible with flexible substrates
- Monolithic device fabrication
- CMOS-compatible processes

## Research and development

Our technology comes out of the Zhou group at the University of Texas at Arlington and collaborators at Stanford University. We keep pushing the devices toward higher performance, lower power and new functions. Read more at [zhoulab.uta.edu](https://zhoulab.uta.edu).

## Intellectual property

We hold IP covering key innovations in photonic crystal design, device fabrication and system integration.

## Contact

Semergytech, Inc., 1903 Stadium Oaks Ct., Arlington, Texas 76011

Email: [info@semergytech.com](mailto:info@semergytech.com)