CARRIER LEAKAGE IN BLUE-GREEN II-VI SEMICONDUCTOR-LASERS

Carrier confinement in blue-green II-VI semiconductor lasers was investigated. For devices longer than 300 mu m an energy barrier of 260-280 meV was found to confine the electrons, the carrier being mainly responsible for leakage, within the active region. Shorter devices show more leakage due to an increased importance of mirror losses which require higher threshold gain. Due to the low conductivity of the p-type cladding layer there is a sizable contribution of drift to the total leakage current. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.