A 1.31 μm ridge waveguide laser for 10 Gbps direct modulation on an InGaAs ternary substrate

We have developed high performance ridge waveguide laser diodes on an InGaAs ternary substrate grown by a novel bulk crystal growth technique (TLZ method). A low indium content (In: 0.13) InGaAs substrate improves the thermal conductivity and enables laser operation even with a short cavity (L=200 mum). Single lateral mode operation was obtained by reducing the ridge width. This laser operates at a long wavelength of 1.31 mum with a highly strained InGaAs quantum well. These improvements led to the first demonstration of a 10 Gbps data transmission using a ridge waveguide laser on an InGaAs substrate.