Continuous 300 °K laser operation of single‐quantum‐well AlxGa1−xAs‐GaAs heterostructure diodes grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Stripe‐geometry single‐quantum‐well AlxGa1−xAs‐GaAs double‐heterostructure laser diodes (Lz∼200 A) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition are shown to operate continuously at 300 °K on the first (n=1) electron–to–heavy–hole (e→hh) or first (n′=1′) electron–to–light–hole (e→lh) confined‐particle transitions (h/ω−Eg∼11 meV). These laser diodes exhibit an external differential quantum efficiency as high as ηext∼80% (output power 5.4 mW at 65 mA drive current).