cw GaAs/GaAlAs DH lasers grown by Peltier-induced LPE

GaAs/GaAlAs DH lasers were grown for the first time by Peltier-induced LPE. Peltier-induced LPE is an LPE technique in which an electric current is passed through the semiconductor-solution interface and cools it by the Peltier effect. The growth takes place at constant furnace temperature and the growth rate is proportional to the applied current. In this way, widely different growth rates were used for each of the four layers in the double heterostructure and the active layer was grown at average rates of 100–200 Å/min. Mesa stripe lasers were made from the resulting material and lased in cw mode at room temperature. Tests on pulsed devices showed Jth/d?5 kA/cm2 μm for devices from several wafers. Measurements of characteristic temperature, external slope efficiency, internal quantum efficiency, optical loss, and minority-carrier lifetime yielded 150–160 °K, 22–30%, 50–66%, 20–45 cm−1, and 2.5–3.5 nsec, respectively. Thus, it was concluded that the Peltier-induced LPE results in material and laser devices of quality comparable to those produced by normal LPE.