HIGH-POWER HIGHLY-RELIABLE OPERATION OF 0.98-MU-M INGAAS-INGAP STRAIN-COMPENSATED SINGLE-QUANTUM-WELL LASERS WITH TENSILE-STRAINED INGAASP BARRIERS

We compared 0.98-mu m lasers with a strain-compensated active layer co nsisting of a compressive InGaAs well. and tensile-strained InGaAsP ba rriers with identical lasers that have a conventional active layer wit h GaAs barriers. It was shown that the lasers with InGaAsP barriers ha ve better temperature characteristics due to the larger energy gap dif ference between a well and barriers. Because of the high characteristi c temperature, 200-mW operation was obtained with the InGaAsP-barrier laser even at 90 degrees C without any significant deterioration. We a lso showed that the operation of the lasers with a strain-compensated active layer was highly reliable, The degradation rate of these lasers was four times smaller than that of the lasers with GaAs barriers due to the better crystal quality in their active layer. The estimated li fetime at 25 degrees C for the lasers with a strain-compensated active layer was more than 170000 hours.