Towards high-performance nitride lasers at 1.3 (mu)m and beyond

The paper reports on recent observations of structural and optical properties of long-wavelength GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well semiconductors and the performance features of GaInNAs/GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and edge-emitting lasers. The results obtained indicate that GaInNAs VCSELs and possibly edge-emitting lasers will complement, or even replace, dominant InP-based light sources in 1.3-(mu)m short-haul data transmission systems. Whether GaAs lasers will ever become competitive with InP lasers at 1.4-1.6 (mu)m is an open issue at the moment. Long-wavelength GaAs technology still has some distance to go in addressing remaining concerns; however, the authors believe that it is most likely to bring about the long-awaited breakthrough in component technology for optical fibre networks.