Continuous wave vertical cavity surface emitting lasers at 2.5 μm with InP-based type-II quantum wells

A concept for electrically pumped vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) for emission wavelength beyond 2 μm is presented. This concept integrates type-II quantum wells into InP-based VCSELs with a buried tunnel junction as current aperture. The W-shaped quantum wells are based on the type-II band alignment between GaInAs and GaAsSb. The structure includes an epitaxial GaInAs/InP and an amorphous AlF3/ZnS distributed Bragg reflector as bottom and top (outcoupling) mirror, respectively. Continuous-wave operation up to 10 °C at a wavelength of 2.49 μm and a peak output power of 400 μW at −18 °C has been achieved. Single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio of 30 dB for mesa diameters up to 14 μm is presented. The long emission wavelength and current tunability over a wavelength range of more than 5 nm combined with its single-mode operation makes this device ideally suited for spectroscopy applications.

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