Continuous-wave lasing of single-mode metamorphic quantum dot lasers for the 1.5-μm spectral region

Lasers based on InAs/InGaAs quantum dots grown on metamorphic (In,Ga,Al)As layers deposited by MBE on GaAs substrates exhibited emission near 1.5 μm with a differential quantum efficiency of about 50%. The narrow-stripe lasers operate in a single transverse mode and withstand continuous current density above 20 kA cm^?2 without significant degradation. A maximum continuous-wave output power of 220 mW is obtained. Neither current nor beam filamentation was observed up to the highest pumping levels.     

Heterostructures of Single-Wavelength and Dual-Wavelength Quantum-Cascade Lasers

The results of development of the basic structure and technological conditions of growing heterostructures for single- and dual-frequency quantum-cascade lasers are reported. The heterostructure for a dual-frequency quantum-cascade laser includes cascades emitting at wavelengths of 9.6 and 7.6 μm. On the basis of the suggested heterostructure, it is possible to develop a quantum-cascade laser operating at a difference frequency of 8 THz. The heterostructures for the quantum-cascade laser are grown using molecularbeam epitaxy. The methods of X-ray diffraction and emission electron microscopy are used to study the structural properties of the fabricated heterostructures. Good agreement between the specified and realized thicknesses of the epitaxial layers and a high uniformity of the chemical composition and thicknesses of the epitaxial layers over the area of the heterostructure is demonstrated. A stripe-structured quantum-cascade laser is fabricated; its generation at a wavelength of 9.6 μm is demonstrated.     

Single-Lobe Single-Wavelength Lasing in Ultrabroad-Area Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers Based on the Integrated Filter Concept

We have studied broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers grown in the antiwaveguiding approach (AVCSELs). The AVCSEL-type devices were fabricated in the ridge stripe geometry with openings in the top contact layer. Surface lasing was realized and evaluated for the devices with and without the integrated absorber section, acting as a selective filter for the emission modes propagating at finite tilt angle with respect to the normal to the surface (F-AVCSEL). It was found that the conventional AVCSEL device lases in high-order excited modes, tilted with respect to the normal to the surface, while lower order modes evolve at higher current densities causing a dramatic broadening of the emission spectrum. On the contrary, the F-AVCSEL emission is composed of a single spectral feature, which remains hardly affected up to the highest current densities >10 kA/cm². The far-field pattern is composed of a single zero-angle lobe with a beam divergence defined by the size of the opening in the top contact. No spectral features due to parasitic high-order modes were observed. The Gaussian-type single-wavelength surface-emitting lasing with an output power of 70 mW was realized in all-epitaxial wavelength-selective filter concept.     

Influence of optical losses on the dynamic characteristics of linear arrays of near-infrared vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The effect of the level of internal and external optical losses on the dynamic characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) in the spectral region of 850 nm is studied. It is shown that an increase in optical losses leads to a decrease in the speed of laser response and to the predominance of thermal effects, while a decrease in losses for the output of radiation brings about an increase in the response speed of the laser and the dominance of damping of the effective modulation frequency. Linear matrix emitters with the 1 × 4 format based on fast-response VCSEL with individual element addressing are produced and studied. Individual laser emitters with a current-aperture diameter of 5–7 μm provide lasing in the continuous-wave mode at room temperature in the region of 850 nm with threshold currents no higher than 0.5 mA, a differential efficiency no lower than 0.6 W/A, a modulation frequency as high as 20 GHz, and a MCEF factor of ～10 GHz/mA^1/2.     

Optical anisotropy of InAs quantum dots

The optical anisotropy of InAs quantum dots (QDs) synthesized in the regime of either continuous or submonolayer deposition on a singular GaAs(100) surface have been studied using polarized photoluminescence measurements. It is established that an isolated array of QDs formed in a continuous deposition regime possesses a weak (<1–2%) optical anisotropy, whereas the vertical matching (coupling) of such QDs via less than 15-nm-thick spacer layers leads to an 8% linear polarization of PL along the [0$ \bar 1 $ \bar 1 1] crystallographic direction. QDs formed in the regime of submonolayer deposition exhibit a strong (17–20%) anisotropy of emission from the ground and excited states of QDs in the same crystallographic direction.     

High-Power Low-Beam Divergence Edge-Emitting Semiconductor Lasers with 1- and 2-D Photonic Bandgap Crystal Waveguide

We report on edge-emitting lasers based on the 1- and 2-D longitudinal photonic bandgap crystal concept. The longitudinal photonic bandgap crystal (PBC) design allows a robust and controllable extension of the fundamental mode over a thick multilayer waveguide to obtain a very large vertical mode spot size and a narrow vertical beam divergence.     

Spontaneous Emission and Lasing of a Two-Wavelength Quantum-Cascade Laser

Semiconductors - The results of experiments on the fabrication (by molecular-beam epitaxy) and investigation of the heterostructures of a two-frequency quantum-cascade laser produced on the basis...     

Spectral Shift of Quantum-Cascade Laser Emission under the Action of Control Voltage

Technical Physics Letters - Spectral redistribution of the intensity of short- and long-wavelength emission components within gain bandwidth of a 7- to 8-μm quantum-cascade laser under the...     

Efficient electro-optic semiconductor medium based on type-II heterostructures

An electro-optic medium based on the type-II semiconductor superlattice is proposed. Electrooptic modulation of the intensity of optical reflectance of the electro-optic medium integrated into a vertical Fabry-Perot cavity is studied by the optical-reflectance-spectroscopy method. The experimental data are approximated using an oscillator model of exciton absorption. The efficiency of the electro-optic medium in the case of detuning from the absorption peak by 50 meV in electric fields of 0–50 kV/cm is 10^?9 m/V at a medium filling factor of 100%.     

Degradation-robust 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers for 25Gb/s optical data transmission

Highly efficient fast vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for the 850-nm spectral range, promising for the development of optical interconnections with a data transmission rate of 25 Gbit/s per channel, are fabricated and studied. Lasers with a selectively oxidized current aperture 6 μm in diameter demonstrate multimode lasing with a quantum efficiency of 35–45% and a threshold current of 0.5–0.7 mA in the temperature range 20–85°C. According to the results of small-signal frequency analysis, the maximum modulation frequency of the lasers exceeds 17 GHz, with the rate of its increase with current exceeding 9 GHz/mA^1/2, which provides VCSEL operation at a rate of 25 Gbit/s in the entire working temperature range. Endurance tests for 3000 h did not reveal any sudden degradation of the lasers. The optical power at working point and the threshold current changed relative to that at the beginning of the tests by no more than 5 and 10%, respectively.