(AL)GAINP LASER WITH LATERAL CONFINEMENT BY EPITAXIAL-GROWTH ON NONPLANAR SUBSTRATES

Quantum-Well (Al)GaInP stripe lasers with lateral current and carrier confinement have been fabricated making use of the disordering of the natural superlattice at sidewalls with shallow angles during epitaxial growth on (001) GaAs substrates patterned with ridges and trenches. E xcellent device quality is obtained if the substrates are patterned wi th ridges. With a stripe width of 5 mum required for fundamental trans versal mode operation, the threshold current density of these devices is one-half that of conventional planar stripe lasers owing to improve d current confinement.