Strain-compensated AlAs/(In,Ga)As heterostructures for short wavelength intersubband absorption and laser emission


Strain-compensated AlAs/(In,Ga)As heterostructures for short wavelength intersubband absorption and laser emission

Semtsiv, M. P.; Ziegler, M.; Dressler, S.; Masselink, W. T.; Georgiev, N.; Dekorsy, T.; Helm, M.

We have investigated intersubband transitions in strain-compensated AlAs/(In,Ga)As heterostructures, demonstrating both absorption and quantum-cascade laser emission at short wavelengths. Short-wavelength optical transitions in such structures are associated with a number of challenges in both the growth and design, including managing the internal strain and designing around indirect valleys. We achieve absorption peaks at wavelengths as short as 1.7 micrometer in fully strain-compensated AlAs/(In,Ga)As structures. Quantum cascade lasers based on similar heterojunctions exhibit laser emission as short as 3.7 micrometer. These lasers exhibit low-temperature threshold current densities of 860 A/cm2 in pulsed mode and output power as high as 6W per facet (12W total). At room temperature, the threshold current density is 4.5 kA/cm2 and the maximum power 240 mW per facet.

Keywords: infrared; intersubband absorption; quantum cascade laser; semiconductor quantum wells

  • (Proceedings of MBE 2004) Journal of Crystal Growth 278(2005)1-4,526-531
  • Lecture (Conference)
    Int. Conf. on Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE 2004), Aug. 22-27, 2004, Edinburgh, UK

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Publ.-Id: 6615