Strain-compensated InGa(As)P-InAsP active regions for 1.3-μmwavelength lasers

The demonstration of an optimized strain compensated multiple-quantum-well (MQW) active region for use in 1.3-μm wavelength lasers is described. Utilizing narrow bandgap tensile-strained InGaAsP instead of wide bandgap InGaP barriers in strain-compensated lasers, we observe a reduction in threshold current density (Jth) from 675 to 310 A/cm² and in T₀ from 75 K to 65 K for 2-mm long seven quantum-well devices. Additionally, the lowest reported Jth for MBE grown 1.3-μm wavelength lasers of 120 A/cm² for single-quantum-well (SQW) 45-mm-long lasers was attained     

Enhanced relaxation oscillation frequency of 1.3 μmstrained-layer multiquantum well lasers

Dependence of relaxation oscillation frequency (f_r) on the bandgap wavelength of InGaAsP barrier layers (λ_g ^b) and number of quantum wells (N_w) were investigated for the first time, for 1.3 μm InGaAsP/InGaAsP compressively strained multiquantum well (MQW) lasers. 1.3 times higher f_r was confirmed for strained-layer MQW lasers with large N _w (N_w⩾7) and wide bandgap barrier layers (λ_g^b=1.05 μm) at the same injection level, compared with unstrained MQW lasers having the same well thicknesses and the same emitting wavelength. This enhancement mainly results from increased differential gain due to strain effects separated from the quantum-size effect     

Long-wavelength GaInNAs(Sb) lasers on GaAs

The boom in fiber-optic communications has caused a high demand for GaAs-based lasers in the 1.3-1.6-μm range. This has led to the introduction of small amounts of nitrogen into InGaAs to reduce the bandgap sufficiently, resulting in a new material that is lattice matched to GaAs. More recently, the addition of Sb has allowed further reduction of the bandgap, leading to the first demonstration of 1.5-μm GaAs-based lasers by the authors. Additional work has focused on the use of GaAs, GaNAs, and now GaNAsSb barriers as cladding for GaInNAsSb quantum wells. We present the results of photoluminescence, as well as in-plane lasers studies, made with these combinations of materials. With GaNAs or GaNAsSb barriers, the blue shift due to post-growth annealing is suppressed, and longer wavelength laser emission is achieved. Long wavelength luminescence out to 1.6 μm from GaInNAsSb quantum wells, with GaNAsSb barriers, was observed. In-plane lasers from these samples yielded lasers operating out to 1.49 μm, a minimum threshold current density of 500 A/cm² per quantum well, a maximum differential quantum efficiency of 75%, and pulsed power up to 350 mW at room temperature     

Threshold currents of 1.3-μm bulk, 1.55-μm bulk, and1.55-μm MQW DFB P-substrate partially inverted buried heterostructurelaser diodes

We investigate the threshold currents of 1.3-μm bulk, 1.55-μm bulk, and 1.55-μm multi-quantum-well (MQW) distributed feedback (DFB) P-substrate partially inverted buried heterostructure (BH) laser diodes experimentally and theoretically. In spite of the larger internal loss of the 1.55-μm bulk laser diodes, the threshold current of the 1.55-μm bulk DFB P-substrate partially inverted BH laser diode is almost the same as that of the 1.3-μm bulk DFB P-substrate partially inverted BH laser diode. The experimentally obtained average threshold current of the 1.3-μm bulk DFB P-substrate partially inverted BH laser diodes is 17 mA and that of the 1.55 μm bulk DFB P-substrate partially inverted BH laser diodes is 16 mA. The calculated threshold current of the 1.3-μm bulk DFB laser diode is 15.3 mA and that of the 1.55-μm bulk DFB laser diode is 18.3 mA, which nearly agree with the calculated values, respectively. We have fabricated two types of five-well 1.55-μm InGaAs-InGaAsP MQW DFB P-substrate partially inverted BH laser diodes. One has barriers whose bandgap energy corresponds to 1.3 μm, and the other has barriers of which bandgap energy corresponds to 1.15 μm. The calculated threshold current of the MQW DFB laser diode with the barriers (λ_g =1.3 μm) is 8.5 mA, which nearly agrees with the experimentally obtained value of 10 mA. However, the calculated threshold current of the MQW DFB laser diode with the barriers (λ_g=1.15 μm) is 7.9 mA which greatly disagrees with the experimentally obtained value of 19 mA, which suggests that the valence band discontinuity between the well and the barrier severely prevents the uniform distribution of the injected holes among five wells     

Influence of free carrier plasma effect on carrier-inducedrefractive index change for quantum-well lasers

The influence of the free carrier component due to the plasma effect on carrier-induced refractive index change and its dependency on polarization for multiple-quantum-well (MQW) and bulk lasers are experimentally studied. The ratios of the component to the total index change, R_fc, are 0.6, 0.4, and 0.1 for 1.3-μm MQW, 1.3-μm bulk, and 0.8-μm MQW lasers, respectively. The TM/TE polarization ratios of the component, R_TMTE/, are 0.8 and 0.3 for 1.3-μm MQW and 0.8-μm MQW lasers. The relationship between the index change and the carrier overflow (to barrier and separate confinement heterostructure layers) for MQW lasers is also discussed. Large R_fc and R_TMTE/ for the 1.3-μm MQW laser result from the carrier overflow     

Experimental analysis of temperature dependence of oscillationwavelength in quantum-well FP semiconductor lasers

We experimentally evaluated the temperature dependence of the oscillation wavelength in 1.3-μm GaInAsP-InP strained multiple-quantum-well (MQW) semiconductor lasers compared to bulk lasers. The temperature dependence of the oscillation wavelength can be characterized by two newly introduced coefficients α₁ and α₂ which are the gain peak wavelength shift coefficients under the constant current condition and under the constant temperature condition, respectively. These two coefficients of various MQW structure lasers are the same as those of bulk lasers. This result means that the oscillation wavelength shift coefficient dλ/dT is only a function of the characteristic temperature T₀. The higher T₀ induces the large temperature dependence of the oscillation wavelength, When the characteristic temperature T₀ is equal to the characteristic temperature T_ltr of the transparency current I_tr, the oscillation wavelength shift coefficient dλ/dT takes the maximum value which is determined by the thermally induced bandgap narrowing effect dλ _g/dT. One possibility to solve the paradox between a high characteristic temperature T₀ and the small temperature dependence of the oscillation wavelength is the introduction of the temperature-independent leakage current     

Compressively strained 1.3 μm InAsP/InP and GaInAsP/InP multiplequantum well lasers for high-speed parallel data transmission systems

Turn-on delay times in the pulse response of compressively strained InAsP/InP double-quantum-well (DOW) lasers and GaInAsP/InP multiple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers emitting at 1.3 μm were investigated. DQW lasers with 200-μm cavity length and high-reflection coating achieved both a very low threshold current (1.8 mA) and a small turn-on delay time (200 ps), even under a biasless 30-mA pulse current. Compressively strained or lattice-matched GaInAsP MQW lasers and GaInAsP double-heterostructure (DH) lasers were also fabricated and compared. It was observed that the carrier lifetime was enhanced for InAsP DQW lasers and strained GaInAsP MQW lasers compared to the lattice-matched GaInAsP MQW lasers and conventional double-heterostructure lasers. To explain this increase in the carrier lifetime, the effect of the carrier transport on the carrier lifetime was studied. The additional power penalty due to the laser turn-on delay was simulated and is discussed     

Low-threshold 1.5 μm compressive-strained multiple- andsingle-quantum-well lasers

Design considerations for low-threshold 1.5-μm lasers using compressive-strained quantum wells are discussed. Parameters include transparency current density, maximum modal gain, bandgap wavelength, and carrier confinement. The optical confinement for a thin quantum well in the separate-confinement heterostructure (SCH) and the step graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH) are analyzed and compared. 1.5-μm compressive-strained multiple- and single-quantum-well lasers have been fabricated and characterized. As a result of the compressive strain, the threshold current density is loss limited instead of transparency limited. By the use of the step graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure to reduce the waveguide loss, a low threshold current density of 319 A/cm² was measured on compressive-strained single-quantum-well broad-area lasers with a 27 μ oxide stripe width     

High-performance λ=1.3 μm InGaAsP-InP strained-layerquantum well lasers

Compressively and tensile strained InGaAsP-InP MQW Fabry-Perot and distributed feedback lasers emitting at 1.3-μm wavelength are reported. For both signs of the strain, improved device performance over bulk InGaAsP and lattice-matched InGaAsP-InP MQW lasers was observed. Tensile strained MQW lasers show TM polarized emission, and with one facet high reflectivity (HR) coated the threshold currents are 6.4 and 12 mA at 20 and 60°C, respectively. At 100°C, over 20-mW output power is obtained from 250-μm-cavity length lasers, and HR-coated lasers show minimum thresholds as low as 6.8 mA. Compressively strained InGaAsP-InP MQW lasers show improved differential efficiencies, CW threshold currents as low as 1.3 and 2.5 mA for HR-coated single- and multiple quantum well active layers, respectively, and record CW output powers as high as 380 mW for HR-AR coated devices. For both signs of the strain, strain-compensation applied by oppositely strained barrier and separate confinement layers, results in higher intensity, narrower-linewidth photoluminescence emissions, and reduced threshold currents. Furthermore, the strain compensation is shown to be effective for improving the reliability of strained MQW structures with the quantum wells grown near the critical thickness. Linewidth enhancement factors as low as 2 at the lasing wavelength were measured for both types of strain. Distributed feedback lasers employing either compressively or tensile strained InGaAsP-InP MQW active layers both emit single-mode output powers of over 80 mW and show narrow linewidths of 500 kHz     

Bistable characteristics and all-optical set-reset operations of1.55-μm two-segment strained multiquantum-well DFB lasers

Bistable characteristics and all-optical set-reset operations in 1.55-μm two-segment InGaAsP-InP strained multiquantum-well (MQW) DFB lasers were studied. An extinction ratio as high as 20 dB with a lasing output power of 4 mW was obtained, partially due to the dispersion effect of strained MQW DFB structures. The detailed transient dynamics of the optical set-reset operations were observed for the first time, with optical injection from a single-mode laser, implying a potential for high-speed applications. A switch-on time in subnanosecond region and a switch-off time of 2.5 ns were measured using input pulses with a peak power of 500 μW     

Absorption loss coefficient of the active layer for 1.48-μm bulkand MQW lasers

It is shown that the absorption loss coefficient of the active layer for 1.48-μm bulk lasers is 66 cm^-1 which is between 45 and 107 cm^-1 for 1.3-μm bulk lasers and for 1.55-μm bulk lasers, respectively. It is also described that the absorption loss coefficient of the active layer for 1.48-μm multiple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers is 28 cm^-1 which is about two-fifths of that for 1.48-μm bulk lasers. Therefore, the high slope efficiency of the 1.48-μm MQW lasers is attributed not only to the small optical confinement factor but also to the small absorption loss coefficient of the active layer     

1.3-μm AlGaInAs-InP buried-heterostructure lasers with modeprofile converter

AlGaInAs buried-heterostructure (BH) lasers with a mode profile converter (MPC) have been successfully fabricated for the first time. The thickness of the multiple-quantum-well (MQW) waveguide was vertically tapered by selective area growth (SAG). The threshold current I_th was 14.6 mA with a 600-μm-long cavity and a high-reflective-coated rear facet. The full-width at half-maximum of the far-field pattern in the perpendicular and horizontal directions were 9.2° and 12.6°, respectively. The optical coupling loss between lasers with MPC and a single-mode fiber was 3.0 dB when the distance between the laser and fiber was 20 μm     

GaInAs/AlGaInAs DH and MQW lasers with 1.5-1.7 mu m lasing wavelengths grown by atmospheric pressure MOVPE

The first successful growth and fabrication of long wavelength (1.5-1.7 mu m) DH and MQW lasers by atmospheric pressure MOVPE in a 'phosphorus-free' material system is reported. The GaInAs/AlGaInAs DH and MQW lasers were grown on InP substrates. DH lasers emitting at around 1690 nm exhibit threshold current densities down to 2.8 kA/cm/sup 2/ at 25 degrees C; the characteristic temperature is 50 K in the 15-55 degrees C range. First MQW lasers with 1565 nm emission wavelength have threshold current densities around 3.2 kA/cm/sup 2/.<>     

Determination of the wavelength dependence of Auger recombinationin long-wavelength quantum-well semiconductor lasers using hydrostaticpressure

The variation of the threshold current of an unstrained 1.48-μm InGaAsP quantum-well (QW) laser has been measured as a function of hydrostatic pressure up to 27 kbar. We combine this result with theoretical calculations to extract the bandgap dependence of the Auger coefficient, C, over a range of 200 meV. We find that over this range C reduces by a factor of about three. We have calculated the bandgap dependence of the main Auger processes and conclude that the dominant Auger process over this wavelength range could either be the phonon-assisted CHCC process or the band-to-band CHSH process. Based on this result, we have estimated the threshold current density of strained and unstrained lasers with wavelengths ranging from 1.75 to 1.3 μm using both these processes. We get good agreement between theory and experiment in both cases and show that Auger recombination is the dominant current contribution in 1.5- and 1.3-μm devices     

Transverse modes under external feedback and fiber couplingefficiencies of VCSEL's

We report a detailed study on the transverse mode behavior of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's) under strong external feedback. Backreflections from a glass facet result, periodically depending on the feedback phase, in variations of the transverse mode pattern of strongly index guided multitransverse-mode-emitting lasers. As a result, butt-coupling efficiencies of these lasers strongly depend on laser-fiber distance. For typical active VCSEL diameters around 15-μm fiber-coupled powers into standard 50 μm-core diameter graded-index (GI) silica fibers vary by nearly 10 dB. Even for high-numerical aperture 100-μm-core diameter fibers, power variations of up to 2 dB are observed     

Novel design scheme for high-speed MQW lasers with enhanceddifferential gain and reduced carrier transport effect

We present a theoretical analysis exploring the optimum design of high-speed multiple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers for 1.55-μm operation. Various combinations of well and barrier materials are examined for lattice-matched, strained-layered (SL), and strain-compensated (SC) MQW lasers with InGaAsP and InGaAlAs barriers. The gain characteristics are investigated for these MQW lasers with various barrier bandgap wavelengths and are used to evaluate the modulation characteristics based on the carrier dynamics model which includes a set of Poisson, continuity, and rate equations. The importance of band engineering aimed at simultaneously reducing the carrier transport effect and enhancing the differential gain is described. It is shown that SC-MQW lasers with InGaAlAs barriers have an advantage in reducing the density of states in the valence band by reducing the overlap integral between the heavy- and light-hole wave functions, which effect has previously been discarded as a minor correction in designing conventional InGaAsP-based MQW lasers. Furthermore, the hole transport rate across the barriers can be drastically reduced in SC-MQW lasers due to the reduced effective barrier height for the holes. Based on this novel design scheme, a 3-dB bandwidth approaching 70 GHz is expected for 20-well SC-MQW lasers with InGaAlAs barriers as a result of both the large differential gain and reduced transport effect     

Semiconductor pump laser technology

Recent progress in high-power semiconductor lasers for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers is described, focusing on 1.48-μm InGaAsP/InP lasers and 0.98-μm InGaAs/GaAs lasers. The experimental output powers exceed 200 mW (the maximum power was 325 mW) for 1.48-μm lasers, and simulation results indicate that over 400 mW could be obtained by optimizing parameters in strained-layer (SL) multiple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers. Stable operation over a few thousand hours under 100-mW power is demonstrated for liquid-phase-epitaxy-grown lasers, MQW lasers, and SL-MQW lasers grown by all-metal organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE). For 0.98-μm lasers, improvement in the fiber coupling efficiencies and long-term reliabilities are described. Their power coupled into a single-mode fiber has reached over 100 mW, with coupling efficiencies of approximately 40%. Although reliability seems to be one of the drawbacks compared with 1.48-μm lasers, stable operation for over 10,000 h at 50°C and 30 mW has been reported     

Long-wavelength (9.5-11.5 μm) microdisk quantum-cascade lasers

Quantum-cascade whispering-gallery-mode disk lasers emitting at 9.5-μm and 11.5-μm wavelength are reported. Taking advantage of the high-quality resonator (Q≈200), the threshold current density of disk lasers emitting at 9.5 μm is reduced below the value of the corresponding ridge waveguide geometry (J_th,disk=2.39 kA.cm ^-2 versus J_th,ridge=3.0 kA.cm^-2). Additionally, the increase in wavelength compared to previously reported disk lasers at 5.0 μm is a significant step toward the microcavity regime (by an effective scaling factor of 2.5, comparing identical disk sizes), disk diameters from 125 μm down to 20 μm are used to study the approach to the microcavity regime by size reduction. Far-field pattern measurements identify scattering from the pedestal as an important outcoupling mechanism for microdisk lasers. An excellent agreement between the measured and calculated free spectral range of the whispering gallery modes allows us to estimate the beta factor of the microdisks, resulting in β≈0.05 for a 20-μm diameter disk. A two-level rate equation model is evaluated for the quantum-cascade disk laser as a tool for a direct measurement of β. Nevertheless, the actual measurement is at present blurred by luminescence (light-emitting diode) from the disk center accompanied by an unbalanced carrier distribution between the whispering gallery laser and the center light-emitting diode     

Barrier composition dependence of differential gain and externaldifferential quantum efficiency in 1.3-μm strained-layermultiquantum-well lasers

Dependence of the differential gain and the external differential quantum efficiency on the composition of InGaAsP barrier layers were investigated for 1.3 μm InGaAsP-InGaAsP compressively strained layer (SL) multiquantum well (MQW) lasers. In this investigation, we compared between SL-MQW lasers and unstrained MQW lasers having the same well thicknesses and the same emitting wavelength in order to clarify the effect of strain for each barrier composition. As a result It has been found that the barrier composition has large influence on the differential gain and the external differential quantum efficiency in the SL-MQW lasers. Narrower band-gap barrier means little effect of strain on the differential gain due to the electron overflow from a well layer, while wider band-gap barrier means degradation in the differential gain and the external differential quantum efficiency due to the nonuniform injection of hole into a well layer. In this experiment, the barrier composition of 1.05 μm is suitable for 1.3 μm InGaAsP-InGaAsP SL-MQW lasers to realize large differential gain and high external differential quantum efficiency simultaneously     

High-speed 1.5-μm compressively strained multi-quantum wellself-aligned constricted mesa DFB lasers

A great improvement in the high-speed characteristics for compressively strained multi-quantum-well (MQW) distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers with self-aligned constricted mesa structures is described. Negative wavelength detuning is an important factor in making possible the extraction of potential advantages for the compressively strained MQW DFB lasers. A 17-GHz bandwidth, which is the highest among the 1.5-μm MQW DFB lasers, is demonstrated. A wavelength chirp width of 0.42 nm at 10 Gb/s is obtained due to a reduced linewidth enhancement factor that has a magnitude of less than 2. Nonlinear damping K factor in a DFB laser with 45-nm negative detuning has drastically decreased to 0.13 ns, about half of that for unstrained MQW lasers. This is mainly due to an enhanced differential gain as large as 6.9×10 ^-12 m³/s. The estimated intrinsic maximum bandwidth is 68 GHz