LPE growth and characterization of InP/InGaAsP ridge‐waveguide lasers at 1.3 μm‐wavelength

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents the fabrication and the lasing characteristics of 1.3 μm‐wavelength ridge‐waveguide laser. The epitaxial material used in this study was grown applying the step‐cooling technique of liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). The growth conditions for InGaAsP layers lattice‐matched to the (001) InP‐substrate are reported for lattice compositions corresponding to photoluminescence peak wavelengths of 1.07, 1.14, and 1.31 μm. We have used a conventional multiple‐bin sliding boat to grow the LPE layers and a second apparatus for achieving batches of melts of uniform compositions. In the LPE apparatus the various batch melts (In–Sn In–Zn; In–Ga–As of different composition) were saturated with phosphorus using the seed dissolution technique. The epitaxial layers were grown by a single phase technique at a constant temperature. This LPE growth technique is useful for the fabrication of double‐heterostructure wafers with an uniform alloy composition and a well‐defined layer thickness.Using these epitaxial materials, metal‐clad ridge‐waveguide (MCRW) lasers have been prepared with stripe widths of 3.5 μm. CW threshold currents of 18 mA at room temperature are achieved for 200 μm long cavities. These lasers have T0 values ranging from 50 to 70 K and well linear L‐I‐characteristics.