OXYGEN INCORPORATION, PHOTOLUMINESCENCE, AND LASER PERFORMANCE OF ALGAAS GROWN BY ORGANOMETALLIC VAPOR-PHASE EPITAXY

Photoluminescence (PL) of separate confinement heterostructure, single quantum well (SCH-SQW) laser material provides a quantitative evaluation of the quality of AlGaAs grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. There is a good correlation between the oxygen level in the quantum well confining layers measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy, quantum well PL efficiency, and laser threshold current. When oxygen was reduced from 2.0 x 10(18) cm(-3) to 1.5 x 10(17) cm(-3), the PL intensity increased by a factor of 12, and the threshold current density was improved from 1300 to 240 A/cm(2) for a 100 x 600 mu m device. Oxygen levels were decreased by using a higher growth rate, shorter interface pause time, higher V/III ratio, and an arsine purifier.