Low-temperature growth of GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells for 1.3 μm lasers using metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy

GaInNAs/GaAs quantum-well (QW) lasers emitting at 1.3 μm were grown using metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) in the limit of very low growth rate and temperature. The material was characterized by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy as well as by implementation in broad-area (BA) edge-emitting lasers. While the PL intensity was found to decrease by more than two orders of magnitude between 1175 and 1350 nm, the corresponding BA laser threshold current showed a much more modest increase. For a 1.28-μm laser the transparency current was 0.8 kA/cm2, the slope efficiency 0.24 W/A per facet and T₀=100 K. Comparison between PL emission properties and BA laser performance revealed a complex relationship. A high PL intensity does not necessarily lead to low threshold-current lasers. In these cases, the FWHM seems to be the more relevant parameter for QW optimization