Photopumped lasing at 1.25 μm of GaInNAs-GaAs multiple-quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We report room-temperature (RT) continuous-wave (CW) photopumped operation of long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) employing a Ga/sub 0.7/In/sub 0.3/N/sub 0.007/As/sub 0.993/-GaAs multiple-quantum-well (MQW) active layer grown directly on a GaAs-AlAs distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). Evidence for laser oscillation includes spectral linewidth narrowing, clamping of spontaneous emission, and a distinct increase in slope efficiency at threshold. By taking advantage of lateral growth rate nonuniformity, we obtained laser emission over an extremely broad 110-nm wavelength range, from 1.146-1.256 μm. Equivalent threshold current density over this range was estimated at 3.3-10 kA/cm2.