Patterned quantum well semiconductor injection laser grown by molecular beam epitaxy

A novel quantum well semiconductor laser structure is described. This patterned quantum well laser utilizes the thickness variations and nonplanarity exhibited by quantum wells grown on grooved substrates in order to achieve lateral carrier confinement and real index waveguiding. Index guided GaAs/AlGaAs patterned quantum well lasers with ∼1-μm-wide active layer stripes and threshold currents as low as 6 mA have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy. This patterned quantum well laser configuration is particularly attractive for fabricating quantum wire and quantum box semiconductor injection lasers.