TUNNEL-INJECTION LASER-BASED ON A SINGLE P-GAINASSB P-INAS TYPE-II BROKEN-GAP HETEROJUNCTION/

A new physical approach to the development of a semiconductor laser st ructure for the middle-infrared range is proposed. The structure emplo ys tunneling injection of carriers through a type-II heterojunction in a broken-gap isotype p-GaInAsSb/p-InAs heterojunction. Spontaneous an d coherent emission in such a laser structure were investigated. One-m ode lasing was obtained in the pulsed regime at the wavelength lambda= 3.26 mu m with threshold current density J(th) = 2 kA/cm(2) (T=77 K). The threshold current depended exponentially on the temperature, I-th= I-0 exp(T/T-0), and a high characteristic temperature, T-0=30-60 K, wa s obtained in the temperature range 77-120 K. (C) 1996 American Instit ute of Physics.