Dilute magnetic semiconductor (Cd1−xMnxTe) quantum well laser

Abstract

In this letter we report the first observation of stimulated emission from an optically pumped multilayer structure in which Cd_1−xMn_xTe, a dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS), serves as the active quantum well material. The DMS laser structure was grown by molecular beam epitaxy with an active region consisting of 25 Cd_0.81Mn_0.19Te quantum wells of thickness L_Z=125 Å alternating with 24 Cd_0.64Mn_0.36Te barrier layers of thickness L_B=40 Å. The DMS lasers operate in the visible (red) spectral region at 665–670 nm when pumped at T=15 K with a pulsed argon ion laser. The threshold for laser action occurs at a peak pump power density of about 2.0×10⁴ W/cm².