Double heterojunction PbS-PbS1−xSex-PbS laser diodes with cw operation up to 96 K

Double heterojunction PbS-PbS1−xSex-PbS laser diodes have been fabricated by hot-wall molecular beam epitaxy. The lasers had stripe geometry of 100-μm width formed by MgF2 passivation. Structures for electron and hole injection, respectively, are compared. Devices with 1-μm-thick active layers showed threshold current densities of about 400 A/cm2 at 77 K and 1.4×104 A/cm2 at 190 K. cw operation could be realized up to 96 K.