Using tertiarybutylarsine (TBAs) as the arsenic precursor and the nitrogen as the carrier gas, high-quality AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) diode laser materials have been grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Photoluminescence and device measurement studies indicate that the quality of the grown AlGaAs/GaAs laser materials can be comparable to those grown by using AsH3 as the arsenic precursor and hydrogen as the carrier gas. For the first time, a low threshold current density of 200 A/cm2 for 1000 µm cavity length broad area AlGaAs/GaAs lasers has been achieved by this MOCVD growth method. It has been shown that TBAs and nitrogen gas can be employed in MOCVD growth of the widely used AlGaAs/GaAs laser materials, for substituting the highly toxic source gas AsH3 and the highly explosive carrier gas H2.