Midinfrared surface-emitting PbSe/PbEuTe quantum-dot lasers

Midinfrared laser emission from self-organized PbSe quantum dots in a high-finesse vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser structure is reported. The structure was grown by molecular-beam epitaxy and consists of high reflectivity epitaxial EuTe/PbEuTe Bragg mirrors with a PbSe/Pb1−xEuxTe quantum-dot superlattice as the active region. Narrow laser emission at 4.2–3.9 μm induced by optical pumping is achieved at temperatures up to 90 K. The observation of simultaneous two-mode emission indicates a width of the inhomogeneously broadened PbSe dot gain spectrum of about 18 meV.