Dilute nitride and related mismatched semiconductor alloys

Lasers based on GaInNAs/GaAs are of major interest as an alternative to InGaAsP/InP for 1.3 μm and even 1.5 μm wavelength emission. Better electron confinement is expected because of the much larger conduction band offset. Other advantages arise because of the improved optical quality that can be achieved in the GaAs/AlGaAs system, and the optically and thermally advantageous Bragg stacks, which make possible the fabrication of monolithically grown vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (VCSOAs). These and other potential device applications have contributed strongly to the interest in this novel material.