OXYGEN INCORPORATION, PHOTOLUMINESCENCE, AND LASER PERFORMANCE OF ALGAAS GROWN BY ORGANOMETALLIC VAPOR-PHASE EPITAXY

Photoluminescence (PL) of separate confinement heterostructure, single quantum well (SCH-SQW) laser material provides a quantitative evaluat ion of the quality of AlGaAs grown by organometallic vapor phase epita xy. There is a good correlation between the oxygen level in the quantu m well confining layers measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy, q uantum well PL efficiency, and laser threshold current. When oxygen wa s reduced from 2.0 x 10(18) cm(-3) to 1.5 x 10(17) cm(-3), the PL inte nsity increased by a factor of 12, and the threshold current density w as improved from 1300 to 240 A/cm(2) for a 100 x 600 mu m device. Oxyg en levels were decreased by using a higher growth rate, shorter interf ace pause time, higher V/III ratio, and an arsine purifier.