1.3-μm InAsP n-type modulation-doped MQW lasers grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

The effect of n-type modulation doping as well as growth temperature on the threshold current density of 1.3-/spl mu/m InAsP strained multiple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) was investigated for the first time. We have obtained threshold current density as low as 250 A/cm/sup 2/ for 1200-/spl mu/m long devices. The threshold current density per well for infinite cavity length J/sub th//N/sub w/spl infin// of 57 A/cm/sup 2/ was obtained for the optimum n-doping density (N/sub D/=1/spl times/10/sup 18/ cm/sup -3/) and the optimum growth temperature (515/spl deg/C for InP and 455/spl deg/C for the SCH-MQW region), which is about 30% reduction as compared with that of undoped MQW lasers. A very low continuous-wave threshold current of 0.9 mA have been obtained at room temperature, which is the lowest ever reported for long-wavelength lasers using n-type modulation doping, and the lowest results grown by all kinds of MBE in the long-wavelength region. The differential gain was estimated by the measurement of relative intensity noise. No significant reduction of differential gain was observed for n-type MD-MQW lasers as compared with undoped MQW lasers. The carrier lifetime was also reduced by about 33% by using n-type MD-MQW lasers. Both reduction of the threshold current and the carrier lifetime lead to the reduction of the turn-on delay time by about 30%. The 1.3-/spl mu/m InAsP strained MQW lasers using n-type modulation doping with very low power consumption and small turn-on delay is very attractive for laser array application in high-density parallel optical interconnection systems.