High-performance 1.3 μm AlGaInAs/InP strained quantum well lasers grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition

Abstract In this paper, we show that by using the AlGaInAs/InP instead of the GaInAsP/InP materials system, 1.3 μm lasers with excellent high temperature performance can be fabricated, and report on the optimization of the growth conditions. Compressive strained five-quantum-well AlGaInAs/InP lasers showed only a 0.3 dB change in differential quantum efficiency for a temperature change from 25 to 100°C and a large small-signal modulation bandwidth of 8.6 GHz even at 85°C. Tensile-strained three-quantum-well lasers exhibited a 0.63 dB change in differential quantum efficiency for a temperature change from 25 to 100°C. At a heat sink temperature of 25°C the maximum 3 dB modulation bandwidth, limited by heating, was 19.6 GHz for compressive-strained lasers and 17 GHz for tensile-strained lasers. In spite of the Al-containing active layer, no catastrophic optical damage was observed at room temperature up to the highest powers obtained, 218 mW for the compressive and 103 mW for the tensile strained lasers. Preliminary life tests indicated that these lasers are at least as reliable as conventional GaInAsP/InP lasers, with the mean-time-to-failure being 110 years at 85°C. These data indicate that AlGaInAs/InP lasers are attractive for uncooled and low-cost applications, such as fiber-in-the-loop (FITL).

[1]  G. Scilla,et al.  Doping and dopant behavior in (Al,Ga)As grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy , 1989 .

[2]  Rajaram Bhat,et al.  Very low threshold current density 1.5 μm GaInAs/AlGaInAs graded‐index separate‐confinement‐heterostructure strained quantum well laser diodes grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition , 1991 .

[3]  G. Scilla,et al.  Quantitative oxygen measurements in OMVPE AlxGa1−xAs grown by methyl precursors , 1992 .

[4]  R. Bhat,et al.  Growth of high quality AlInAs by low pressure organometallic chemical vapor deposition for high speed and optoelectronic device applications , 1991 .

[5]  A. R. Adams,et al.  Band-structure engineering for low-threshold high-efficiency semiconductor lasers , 1986 .

[6]  Van de Walle Cg.  Band lineups and deformation potentials in the model-solid theory. , 1989 .

[7]  Norihiro Iwai,et al.  High temperature operation of 1.3 mu m GaInAsP/InP GRINSCH strained-layer quantum well lasers , 1993 .

[8]  Low threshold 1.3 mu m strained-layer Al/sub x/Ga/sub y/In/sub 1-x-y/As quantum well lasers , 1992 .

[9]  L. Tiemeijer,et al.  Submilliamp threshold current (0.62 mA at 0 degrees C) and high output power (220 mW) 1.5 mu m tensile strained InGaAs single quantum well lasers , 1992 .

[10]  Eli Yablonovitch,et al.  Band structure engineering of semiconductor lasers for optical communications , 1988 .

[11]  N. Holonyak,et al.  Low‐threshold disorder‐defined buried‐heterostructure AlxGa1−xAs‐GaAs quantum well lasers , 1985 .

[12]  R. C. Potter,et al.  High mobility AlInAs/InP high electron mobility transistor structures grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy , 1991 .

[13]  C. Y. Chen,et al.  Low threshold 1.5 mu m tensile-strained single quantum well lasers , 1991 .

[14]  S. Hiyamizu,et al.  Conduction Band Edge Discontinuity of In0.52Ga0.48As/In0.52(Ga1-xAlx)0.48As(0≦x≦1) Heterostructures , 1986 .

[15]  A. J. Moseley,et al.  High-reflectivity AlGaInAs/InP multilayer mirrors grown by low-pressure MOVPE for application to long-wavelength high-contrast-ratio multi-quantum-well modulators , 1989 .

[16]  L. F. Tiemeijer,et al.  High-performance 1.5 mu m wavelength InGaAs-InGaAsP strained quantum well lasers and amplifiers , 1991 .

[17]  B. Stegmuller,et al.  1.57 mu m strained-layer quantum-well GaInAlAs ridge-waveguide laser diodes with high temperature (130 degrees C) and ultrahigh-speed (17 GHz) performance , 1993, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[18]  J. I. Davies,et al.  Effect of barrier width on performance of long wavelength GaInAs/InP multi-quantum-well lasers , 1988 .

[19]  Niloy K. Dutta,et al.  Long wavelength semiconductor lasers , 1988, Technical Digest., International Electron Devices Meeting.

[20]  Rajaram Bhat,et al.  1.5 mu m compressive-strained multiquantum-well 20-wavelength distributed-feedback laser arrays , 1992 .

[21]  Tawee Tanbun-Ek,et al.  Strained multiple quantum well lasers emitting at 1.3 μm grown by low‐pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy , 1991 .

[22]  C. Zah,et al.  Low-threshold 1.5 mu m compressive-strained multiple- and single-quantum-well lasers , 1991 .

[23]  B. Sermage,et al.  Low-threshold GRIN-SCH AlGaInAs 1•55 μm quantum well buried ridge structure lasers grown by molecular beam epitaxy , 1990 .

[24]  R. Glew,et al.  Very low threshold current density SCH-MQW laser diodes emitting at 1.55 mu m , 1989 .

[25]  R. D. Yadvish,et al.  High temperature characteristics of InGaAsP/InP laser structures , 1993 .

[26]  L. Coldren,et al.  Refractive indexes of (Al,Ga,In)As epilayers on InP for optoelectronic applications , 1992, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.