Low threshold current density 1.5 mu m strained-MQW laser by n-type modulation-doping

1.5 mu m. n-type modulation-doping InGaAsP/InGaAsP strained multiple quantum wells grown by low pressure metalorganic chemistry vapor decomposition technology is reported for the first time in the world. N-type modulation-doped lasers exhibit much lower threshold current densities than conventional lasers with undoped barrier layers. The lowest threshold current density we obtained was 1052.5 A/cm(2) for 1000 mu m long lasers with seven quantum wells. The estimated threshold current density for an infinite cavity length was 94.72A/cm(2)/well, reduced by 23.3% compared with undoped barrier lasers. The n-type modulation doping effects on the lasing characteristics in 1.5 mu m devices have been demonstrated.

Gain measurement and anomalous decrease of peak gain at long wavelength for InAs/GaAs quantum-dot lasers

Mode gain spectrum is measured by the Fourier series expansion method for InAs/GaAs quantum-dot (QD) lasers with seven stacks of QDs at different injection currents. Gain spectra with distinctive peaks are observed at the short and long wavelengths of about 1210 nm and 1300 nm. For a QD laser with the cavity length of 1060 mu m, the peak gain of the long wavelength first increases slowly or even decreases with the injection current as the peak gain of the short wavelength increases quickly, and finally increases quickly before approaching the saturated values as the injection current further increases.

Metamorphic growth of 1.25-1.29 mu m InGaAs quantum well lasers on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

We demonstrate 1.25-1.29 mu m metamorphic laser diodes grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using an alloy-graded buffer layer (GBL). Use of Be in the GBL is effective to reduce surface/interface roughness and improves optical quality. The RMS surface roughness of the optimized metamorphic laser is only two atomic monolayers for 1 x 1 mu m(2). Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images confirm that most dislocations are blocked in the GBL. Ridge waveguide lasers with 4 mu m wide ridge were fabricated and characterized. The average threshold current under the pulsed excitation is in 170-200 mA for a cavity length of 0.9-1.5 mm. This value can be further reduced to about 100 mA by high-reflectivity coating. Lasers can work in an ambient temperature up to at least 50 degrees C. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of rapid thermal annealing on 1.3-1.55 mu m GaInNAs(Sb) lasers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) has been demonstrated as an effective way to improve the crystal quality of GaInNAs(Sb) quantum wells (QWs). However, few investigations have been made into its application in laser growth and fabrication. We have fabricated 1.3 mu m GaInNAs lasers, both as -grown and with post-growth RTA. Enhanced photoluminescence (PL) intensity and decreased threshold current are obtained with RTA, but the characteristic temperature T-o and slope efficiency deteriorate. Furthermore, T-o has an abnormal dependence on the cavity length. We attribute these problems to the deterioration of the wafer's surface. RTA with deposition Of SiO2 was performed to avoid this deterioration, T-o was improved over the samples that underwent RTA without SiO2. Post-growth and in situ annealing were also investigated in a 1.55 mu m GaInNAsSb system. Finally, continuous operation at room temperature of a GaAs-based dilute nitride laser with a wavelength over 1.55 mu m was realized by introducing an in situ annealing process. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measurement of gain spectrum for Fabry-Perot semiconductor lasers by the Fourier transform method with a deconvolution process

To improve the accuracy of measured gain spectra, which is usually limited by the resolution of the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA), a deconvolution process based on the measured spectrum of a narrow linewidth semiconductor laser is applied in the Fourier transform method. The numerical simulation shows that practical gain spectra can be resumed by the Fourier transform method with the deconvolution process. Taking the OSA resolution to be 0.06, 0.1, and 0.2 nm, the gain-reflectivity product spectra with the difference of about 2% are obtained for a 1550-nm semiconductor laser with the cavity length of 720 pm. The spectra obtained by the Fourier transform method without the deconvolution process and the Hakki-Paoli method are presented and compared. The simulation also shows that the Fourier transform method has less sensitivity to noise than the Hakki-Paoli method.

High-performance strain-compensated InGaAs/InAlAs quantum cascade lasers

We report on the realization of quantum cascade (QC) lasers based on strain-compensated InxGa(1-x)As/In(y)A((1-y))As grown on InP substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction and cross section transmission electron microscopy have been used to ascertain the quality of the QC laser materials. Quasi-continuous wave lasing at lambda approximate to 3.54-3.7 mum at room temperature was achieved. For a laser with 1.6 mm cavity length and 20 mum ridge-waveguide width,quasi-continuous wave lasing at 34 degreesC persists for more than 30 min, with a maximum power of 11.4 mW and threshold current density of 1.2 kA cm(-2), both record values for QC lasers of comparable wavelength.

Design consideration and performance of high-power and high-brightness InGaAs-InGaAsP-AlGaAs quantum-well diode lasers (lambda=0.98 mu m)

In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of the design, fabrication, and performance measurement of high-power and high-brightness strained quantum-well lasers emitting at 0.98 mum, The material system of interest consists of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. Some key parameters of the laser structure are theoretically analyzed, and their effects on the laser performance are discussed. The laser material is grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and demonstrates high quality with low-threshold current density, high internal quantum efficiency, and extremely low internal loss. High-performance broad-area multimode and ridge-waveguide single-mode laser devices are fabricated. For 100-mum-wide stripe lasers having a cavity length of 800 mum, a high slope efficiency of 1.08 W-A, a low vertical beam divergence of 34 degrees, a high output power of over 4.45 W, and a very high characteristic temperature coefficient of 250 K were achieved. Lifetime tests performed at 1.2-1.3 W (12-13 mW/mum) demonstrates reliable performance. For 4-mum-wide ridge waveguide single-mode laser devices, a maximum output power of 394 mW and fundamental mode power up to 200 mW with slope efficiency of 0.91 mW/mum are obtained.

High power 980 nm Al-free strained quantum-well lasers for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

In this paper, we reported on the fabrication of 980 nm InGaAs/InGaAsP strained quantum-well (QW) lasers with broad waveguide. The laser structure was grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on a n(+)- GaAs substrate. For 3 mu m stripe ridge waveguide lasers, the threshold current is 30 mA and the maximum output power and the output power operating in fundamental mode are 350 mW and 200 mW, respectively. The output power from the single mode fiber is up to 100 mW, the coupling efficiency is 50%. We also fabricated 100 mu m broad stripe coated lasers with cavity length of 800 mu m, a threshold current density of 170 A/cm(2), a high slope efficiency of 1.03 W/A and a far-field pattern of 40 x 6 degrees are obtained. The maximum output power of 3.5 W is also obtained for 100 mu m wide coated lasers. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

High-performance 980-nm quantum-well lasers using a hybrid material system of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

We report on the material growth and fabrication of high-performance 980-nm strained quantum-well lasers employing a hybrid material system consisting of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. The use of AlGaAs cladding instead of InGaP provides potential advantages in flexibility of laser design, simple epitaxial growth, and improvement of surface morphology and laser performance. The as-grown InGaAs-InGaAsP(1.6 eV)-AlGaAs(1.95 eV) lasers achieve a low threshold current density of 150 A/cm(2) (at a cavity length of 1500 mu m), internal quantum efficiency of similar to 95%, and low internal loss of 1.8 cm(-1). Both broad-area and ridge-waveguide laser devices are fabricated. For 100-mu m-wide stripe lasers with a cavity length of 800 Irm, a slope efficiency of 1.05 W/A and a characteristic temperature coefficient (T-0) of 230 K are achieved. The lifetime test demonstrates a reliable performance. The comparison with our fabricated InGaAs-InGaAsP(1.6 eV)-AlGaAs(1.87 eV) lasers and Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP (1.6 eV)-InGaP lasers are also given and discussed. The selective etching between AlGaAs and InGaAsP is successfully used for the formation of a ridge-waveguide structure. For 4-mu m-wide ridge-waveguide laser devices, a maximum output power of 350 mW is achieved. The fundamental mode output power can be up to 190 mW with a slope efficiency as high as 0.94 W/A.

High-speed photodetector characterization using tunable laser by optical heterodyne technique - art. no. 60200A

An ultra-wide-band frequency response measurement system for optoelectronic devices has been established using the optical heterodyne method utilizing a tunable laser and a wavelenath-fixed distributed feedback laser. By controlling the laser diode cavity length, the beat frequency is swept from DC to hundreds GHz. An outstanding advantage is that this measurement system does not need any high-speed light modulation source and additional calibration. In this measurement, two types of different O/E receivers have been tested. and 3 dB bandwidths measured by this system were 14.4GHz and 40GHz, respectively. The comparisons between experimental data and that from manufacturer show that this method is accurate and easy to carry out.

High Characteristic Temperature 1.3 mu m InAs/GaAs Quantum-Dot Lasers Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We report the molecular beam epitaxy growth of 1.3 mu m InAs/GaAs quantum-dot (QD) lasers with high characteristic temperature T-0. The active region of the lasers consists of five-layer InAs QDs with p-type modulation doping. Devices with a stripe width of 4 mu m and a cavity length of 1200 mu m are fabricated and tested in the pulsed regime under different temperatures. It is found that T-0 of the QD lasers is as high as 532K in the temperature range from 10 degrees C to 60 degrees C. In addition, the aging test for the lasers under continuous wave operation at 100 degrees C for 72 h shows almost no degradation, indicating the high crystal quality of the devices.

A 10 Gb/s Directly-Modulated 1.3 mu m InAs/GaAs Quantum-Dot Laser

We demonstrate 10 Gb/s directly-modulated 1.3 mu m InAs quantum-dot (QD) lasers grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The active region of the QD lasers consists of five-stacked InAs QD layers. Ridge-waveguide lasers with a ridge width of 4 mu m and a cavity length of 600 mu m are fabricated with standard lithography and wet etching techniques. It is found that the lasers emit at 1293 nm with a very low threshold current of 5 mA at room temperature. Furthermore, clear eye-opening patterns under 10 Gb/s modulation rate at temperatures of up to 50 degrees C are achieved by the QD lasers. The results presented here have important implications for realizing low-cost, low-power-consumption, and high-speed light sources for next-generation communication systems.

Delay of the excited state lasing of 1310 nm InAs/GaAs quantum dot lasers by facet coating

In this letter, we present a facet coating design to delay the excited state (ES) lasing for 1310 nm InAs/GaAs quantum dot lasers. The key point of our design is to ensure that the mirror loss of ES is larger than that of the ground state by decreasing the reflectivity of the ES. In the facet coating design, the central wavelength is at 1480 nm, and the high- and low-index materials are Ta2O5 and SiO2, respectively. Compared with the traditional Si/SiO2 facet coating with a central wavelength of 1310 nm, we have found that with the optimal design the turning temperature of the ES lasing has been delayed from 90 to 100 degrees C for the laser diodes with cavity length of 1.2 mm. Furthermore, the characteristic temperature (T-0) of the laser diodes is also improved.

Micro Fabry-Perot interferometers in silica fibers machined by femtosecond laser

Micro Fabry-Perot (F-P) interferometers (MFPIs) are machined in a single-mode fiber (SMF) and a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) by using a near-infrared femtosecond laser, respectively. The strain and temperature characteristics of the two MFPIs with an identical cavity length are investigated and the experimental results show that the strain sensitivity of the PCF-based MFPI is smaller than that of the SMF-based MFPI due to their different waveguide structures, while the two MFPIs have close temperature sensitivities which are much smaller than that of an in-line SMF etalon sensor reported previously. These MFPIs in silica fibers are compact, stable, inexpensive, capable for mass-production and easy fabrication, offering great potentials for wide sensing applications. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

808 nm high-power laser grown by MBE through the control of Be diffusion and use of superlattice

808 nm high-power laser diodes are gown by MBE. In the laser structure, the combination of Si-doped GRIN (graded-index) region adjacent to n-AlGaAs cladding layer with reduced Be doping concentration near the active region has been used to diminish Be diffusion and oxygen incorporation. As compared with the laser structure which has undoped GRIN region and uniform doping concentration for Si and Be, respectively, in the cladding layers, the slope efficiency has increased by about 8%. Typical threshold current density of 300 A/cm(2) and the minimum threshold current density of 220 A/cm(2) for lasers with 500 mu m cavity length are obtained. A high slope efficiency of 1.3 W/A for coated lasers with 1000 mu m cavity length is also demonstrated, Recorded CW output power at room temperature has reached 2.3 W.