Stimulated emission from a Cd1−xMnxTe-CdTe multilayer structure

Abstract

In this letter we report the first observation of stimulated emission from an optically pumped Cd_1−xMn_xTe‐CdTe multilayer structure. This new laser structure was grown by molecular beam epitaxy and consists of an active superlattice (SL) region containing 25 CdTe quantum wells (L_z∼150 Å) alternating with 24 Cd_1−xMn_xTe (x∼0.45) barriers (L_B∼50 Å). The SL is sandwiched between thicker Cd_1−xMn_xTe cladding layers. The substrate consists of a 2‐μm‐thick buffer layer of CdTe on GaAs. The Cd_1−xMn_xTe‐CdTe SL lasers operate at 763–766 nm when optically pumped at ∼25 K with a cavity‐dumped argon ion laser which emits 4‐ns light pulses (514.5 nm) at a repetition rate of 3.8 MHz. The onset of laser action occurs at a peak pump power density of about 1.35×10⁴ W/cm². The mode spacing of the emitted laser radiation is in reasonable agreement with the spacing expected from measured cavity dimensions of the Cd_1−xMn_xTe‐CdTe multilayer.