cw electro-optical characteristics and preliminary reliability of double-heterostructure GaAs-AlxGa1−xAs lasers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The cw threshold currents and total forward series resistances of the proton-bombarded stripe-geometry lasers fabricated from GaAs-Al0.3Ga0.7As double-heterostructure (DH) wafers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are at least as low as those similar-geometry lasers grown by liquid phase epitaxy. Yields for such laser diodes of ≳90% were obtained. Randomly picked diodes fabricated from an early MBE DH wafer having a 0.4-μm GaAs active layer have operated continuously at a constant output power of ∼2 mW/mirror in a ∼38 °C dry-nitrogen ambient for more than 13 000 h and are still operating.