Quasi RT-CW operation of InGaAs/InGaAsP strained quantum well lasers

Lasers with emission wavelength of 1.8-2.1 mum offer many important applica tions to laser spectroscopy, eye-safe medical care and trace chemical detec tion. Strained InGaAs/InGaAsP structures on InP substrates have been report ed as an alternative approach for the development of semiconductor laser di odes in the spectral range 1.8-2.1 mum due to the superior InP substrate qu ality and mature processing technology. In this paper. we report the fabric ation and performances of InGaAs/InGaAsP/InP strained quantum well lasers g rown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. The diodes show good I-V charact eristics, and the typical turn-on voltage at room temperature is around 0.4 -0.5 V. A threshold current of about 120 mA is achieved for a chip with 500 mum cavity length and 4.5 mum stripe width. The maximum output power with 10% duty cycle is 18 mW. The main peak of the laser. spectrum is located at 1.84 mum. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.