Room-temperature, continuous wave lasing in planar microcavities with quantum dots

High-quality planar cavities with low-absorption mirrors based on Al0.2Ga0.8As/Al0.9Ga0.1As layers demonstrate continuous wave lasing at a wavelength of 956 nm. At 300 K, the threshold power density and the quality-factor at the threshold are (4.2 ± 0.3) kW/cm2 and (6800 ± 220). Increasing the pump level above two thresholds results in an enlargement in the quality-factor to at least 19 000. Efficient lateral heat dissipation in planar semiconductor microcavities is confirmed by the low mode-energy shift of approximately 400 μeV at two lasing thresholds.