Performance and characterization of GaAs-(GaAl)As double heterojunction lasers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Double heterojunction GaAs-(GaAl)As lasers have been fabricated from material grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) with active layer thicknesses between 0.08 and 0.33 mm. They had threshold current densities as low as or lower than the best liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) devices. The lowest measured threshold current density was 560 A cm−2. The measured gain-current density characteristic of MOCVD-grown GaAs was comparable to that of our best LPE-grown GaAs. The dimensional uniformity of multilayer structures over a growth area of 17 cm2 is typically 10%. Further cw reliability measurements on oxide-insulated stripe geometry lasers indicate no fundamental obstacles to obtaining room-temperature degradation rates as low as 0.8% per 1000 h over a 6000-h period.