LOW-THRESHOLD LATERALLY OXIDIZED GAINP-ALGAINP QUANTUM-WELL LASER-DIODES

Low-threshold, high-efficiency edge-emitting visible AlGaInP-GaInP las er diodes using a buried AlAs native oxides for carrier and optical co nfinement are described. The lasers incorporate a thin AlAs layer in t he upper cladding region, which when laterally wet oxidized, forms a n arrow aperture. The lasers operate with room temperature, continuous-w ave (CW) threshold currents of 11 mA with external differential quantu m efficiency of 34% per facet for an uncoated 300-mu m-long 3.5-mu m-w ide device, As-fabricated lasers exhibited modest performance under CW operation. Post-fabrication annealing was shown to dramatically impro ve the device characteristics.