Above-room-temperature continuous-wave mid-infrared photoluminescence fromPbSe/PbSrSe quantum wells

Strong photoluminescence between 3 and 4 mu m was observed at temperatures as high as 55 degrees C from PbSe/PbSrSe multiple-quantum-well structures g rown on BaF2 (111) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy. Fabry-Perot interf erence fringes dominated the spectra, indicating that the luminescence was primarily due to stimulated emission processes. Peak emission energies were determined by fitting Gaussian functions to the spectra, and they showed t hat emission energies at 25 degrees C decreased from 402 to 312 meV as quan tum-well thickness increased from 40 to 200 Angstrom. The temperature tunin g coefficient was also observed to decrease from 0.400 meV/K for a 200 Angs trom multiple-quantum-well sample to 0.313 meV/K for a 40 Angstrom multiple -quantum-well sample. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(9 9)02149-X].