STRAINED-LAYER INGAAS GAAS ALGAAS BURIED-HETEROSTRUCTURE QUANTUM-WELL LASERS BY 3-STEP SELECTIVE-AREA METALORGANIC CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION

Strained-layer InxGa1-xAs-GaAs-AlyGa1-yAs buried-heterostructure (BH) quantum-well lasers have been fabricated using three-step selective-area atmospheric pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Selective-area epitaxy is used to produce BH lasers involving only GaAs on GaAs regrowth, eliminating the detrimental effects associated with exposed AlyGa1-yAs found in other fabrication methods. Additionally, selective-area epitaxy provides inplane bandgap energy control to fabricate BH devices with different wavelengths on the same wafer. Threshold currents as low as 11 mA are obtained for a 540-mum-long, 4-mum-wide device with uncoated cleaved facets. The devices operate at room temperature to more than 200 mW/uncoated facet with 40% external differential quantum efficiency. In-plane bandgap energy control results in a wide range of possible laser emission wavelengths for BH lasers grown on the same substrate.