Ridge waveguide injection laser with a GaInAs strained-layer quantum well (λ=1 μm)

Abstract
Ridge waveguide lasers emitting near 1 μm have been made on a GaAs substrate using a single GaInAs strained-layer quantum well in a GaAs/AlGaAs graded-index separate confinement heterostructure. The epitaxial layers were grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, and the ridge waveguide was fabricated by chemically assisted ion beam etching. The lasers have threshold currents near 17 mA with fundamental lateral mode operation to five times this value. These are the first reported strained-layer current-injection lasers to run cw at room temperature; they operate, without bonding, to greater than 24 mW/facet (100 mA dc), and have 18 mW/facet (80 mA dc) lifetimes in excess of 144 h.