Low-threshold 1.5 mu m quaternary quantum well lasers grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy

We report the growth and characterization of low-threshold 1.5 mu m wavelength strained-layer InGaAsP/InP separate confinement heterostructure multi-quantum well lasers grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Valved crakcer cells were used to supply group V fluxes of As-2 and P-2. A threshold current density of 387 A/cm(2) was achieved for a 1440 mu m long broad-area laser having 5 QWs. A low threshold current of 18.5 mA was measured for a 5 x 280 mu m(2) as-cleaved ridge waveguide laser. These results are fully comparable to the results for similar devices grown by other techniques.