424 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 30, NO.

2, FEBRUARY 1994

Growth and Fabrication of High-Performance

980-nm Strained InGaAs Quantum-Well
Lasers for Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers
Naresh Chand, Senior Member, IEEE, Sung Nee George Chu, Niloy K. Dutta, Fellow, IEEE,
John Lopata, Michael Geva, Alexei V. Syrbu, Alexandru Z. Mereutza, and Vladimir P. Yakovlev

(Invited Paper)

Abstract-A 980-nm strained InGaAs uantum-well (QW) laser I. INTRODUCTION

is the preferred pump source for an E&-doped fiber amplifier
for the next generation of lightwave communication systems ITH the advancements in telecommunication, almost
because of lower noise, high power conversion efficiency, and low every comer of the world is now interconnected,
temperature sensitivity. Obtaining long lifetime, narrow far field, and our telecommunication needs are far greater than ever.
high power output in the fundamental transverse mode centered
*
at 980 5 nm, and planarity of the structure while maintaining
low threshold current density ( J t h ) and high differential quantum
With telecommunication culture coming closer to computer
culture and with a perfect alignment of a whole range of
efficiency (7)are the major challenges. Here, we report our work disparate technologies, we now want broad-band ( ~ 1 5 Mb/s)0
aimed at optimizing the design, growth, and fabrication of 980- integrated services network for voice, high-resolution video,
nm lasers to address some of these issues. We demonstrate very data, and special interactive services. To meet these goals,
low broad-area J t h of 47 A . cm -', operation up to 20O"c, and a the next generation of lightwave networks are expected to
very low linewidth enhancement factor of 0.54 of these lasers, We
have also monolithically integrated 980-nm lasers with 850-nm have ultrahigh speed and high transmission capacity, en-
GaAs QW lasers. To minimize coincorporation of nonradiative hanced functionality, flexible hardware platform, self-healing
recombination impurities like oxygen and displacement of the and mutual restoration capability, and simplified operations.
p/n junction due to Be diffusion during MBE growth, we suggest An erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) which can be used
that the Be doping should be dispensed with on the p-side of the as a power amplifier to boost transmitter power, an optical
GRIN region and the n-side GRIN region should be doped with
Si. The optical properties of InGaAs QW's are insensitive to the repeater to amplify a weak signal, and an optical preamplifier
type of the arsenic beam used, As2 versus AS^. Although strained to increase receiver sensitivity is likely to play a major role
InGaAs QW lasers grown using As2 at a constant substrate [l]. With the use of an EDFA, no detection, regeneration, or
temperature as low as 570C have a lower J t h , they also exhibit retransmission of signal is required, thus eliminating the need
a 10-25% lower 7 as compared to the As4 counterpart in which for high-speed electronic circuits, high-speed optical receivers,
the AlGaAs cladding layers are grown at -700C. To obtain a
planar structure and to prevent the fabrication related defects, and optical transmitters at the repeater stations. As the com-
we have used a novel method in which the laser structure is first munications needs increase, an EDFA-based network system
grown by MBE, and mesas are formed by in situ melt etching (unlike the regeneration-based system) can be upgraded easily
using Si02 stripes as a mask followed by regrowth of p--p-n by changes in the terminal stations. For example, an EDFA
AlGaAs isolating layers by LPE. Compared to ridge waveguide is bit rate independent and thus with wavelength-division
(RWG) lasers, the buried heterostructure lasers so fabricated
have significantly lower threshold current, higher power output, multiplexing (WDM), the network transmission capacity can
higher temperature operation, lower cavity losses, and kink-free be increased many fold by changes in the terminal stations
light-current (L-I) characteristics, as expected. A CW power of U 1 9 121.
150 mW/facet at 986 nm was measured from a 400-pm-long BH An EDFA consists of a short length of an optical fiber whose
laser with 11-pm active stripe width. A minimum threshold cur- core has been doped with less than 0.1 % Er, an optically rare
rent of 2.5 mA was measured for lasers with 3.0-pm active width
and 300-400 pm cavity length. The L - I characteristics of 500-, earth element. As shown in Fig. 1, Er ions are pumped up to an
800-, and 1300- pm-long lasers with 3.0-pm active width were upper energy level by the absorption of light from the pump
linear up to the currents corresponding to a current density of 10 source, 980 or 1480 nm. The transition to the ground state
kA . cm-'. At higher current densities, a sublinear increase of emits a photon that may be either spontaneous or stimulated.
power with current was observed. Stable fundamental transverse In the presence of photons possessing the transition energy,
mode operation was obtained up to 100-mW emitted power.
stimulated emission produces additional photons identical to
the stimulating photons at a rate proportional to their flux. Sig-
Manuscript received June 30, 1993; revised October 4, 1993.
N. Chand, S . N.G. Chu, N. K. Dutta. and J. LoData are with AT&T Bell nal photons in the EDFA Of the excited
Laboratories, Mumy Hill, NJ 07974.
M. Geva is with AT&T Bell Laboratories, Breinigsville, PA 18031.
state 111. -
- _ which amDlifies the signal. The long; - lifetime of the
excited state [l], approximately 10 ms, assures that, instead
A. V. Syrbu, A. Z. Mereutza, and V. P. Yakovlev are with the Kishinev
Polytechnic Institute, Shtefan, Cel Mare, 168, Kishinev 277012, Moldova. Of emitting noise by emission, most erbium ions
IEEE Log Number 9215764. will wait to amplify signals by stimulated emission.
0018-9197/94$04.00 0 1994 IEEE
CHAND et al.: GROWTH AND FABRICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE 98C-nm STRAINED InGaAs QW U S E R S 425

power output in the fundamental transverse mode centered at

980 6 5 nm [l], [47], planarity of the structure [12]-[19] for
ease of mounting and better heat sinking, and longer lifetimes
[35] are the major considerations in laser structure design.
0

[Link] Regarding reliability, like any other lasers, InGaAs strained

QW lasers also degrade [35], but no failure mode specific to
them has been observed [28], [36]-[40] despite a compressive

-
U 1.53-1.56
U
m
stress -1- 3 x dynes/cm2 in the active region. On
a the contrary, these lasers are immune to sudden failure and
m they show signs of longer lifetimes than their AlGaAs/GaAs
w
counterparts. For example, (100) dark line defects, which have
0.9 1.0 11 1.2 1.3 1.4 high growth velocity in GaAs QW lasers, are suppressed in
WAVELENGTH (pm) InGaAs QW lasers [36], [37]. A similar effect was observed
when In was added into the AlGaAs QW region in AlGaAs
Fig. 1. The optical gain spectra of transmission fiber. The inset shows energy QW lasers [38]. It is believed that the incorporation of In in
levels of erbium ions.
the active region retards the propagation of defects because
the In atoms are larger than Ga, Al, and As atoms, and
Currently, 1480-nm pump lasers are more widely used, also, In acts as a dislocation pinning agent. Furthermore, as
largely because they are more readily available and there is a compared to AlGaAs/GaAs lasers, the energy released due
greater confidence in their reliability. The shorter wavelength to radiative or nonradiative recombination in InGaAs QW
980-nm diode lasers offer many advantages over the 1480- lasers is comparatively lower. This, combined with fewer
nm counterparts [3], [6]. They are more efficient (lower nonradiative recombination centers 1471-[49] in the InGaAs
threshold current density [7]-[20], higher differential quantum QW active region (to be discussed in detail later) and the
efficiency, and higher power output [21]-[29]) and less tem- transparency of the GaAs substrate for 980-nm emission,
perature sensitive [30]-[34], thereby requiring less electrical reduces the rates of recombination-enhanceddefects reactions,
power, less cooling, and simplified circuitry. Amplifiers with such as diffusion, dissociation, and annihilation [50].
980-nm pump lasers also have a lower noise figure close to Typical failure mechanisms of 980-nm lasers are illustrated
the 3-dB quantum limit [6]. The present reliability of 980-nm in Fig. 2 where dark-line defects (DLDs) in the electrolumi-
lasers is less than satisfactory, especially for undersea appli- nescence from the degraded ridge waveguide window lasers
cations. If their reliability can be improved to an acceptable are shown. In Fig. 2(a), failure occurred due to incorporation
level, they would be the pump lasers of choice. However, the of defects in the bulk of the laser structure. In Fig. 2(b), many
initial concems over the long-term reliability due to built-in DLDs originate from the edges of the ridges, apparently due to
compressive strain in the active region have abated somewhat imperfect reactive ion etching. In Fig. 2(c), the device fails due
[35]-[40]. The progress in growth and fabrication of 980- to catastrophic damage of the AR-coated mirror facet caused
nm lasers has been so rapid that the state-of-the-art lasers by the high optical power density. Thus, the devices in (a), (b),
are now commercially available [39]. We expect the 980- and (c) of Fig. 2 illustrate degradation of InGaAs lasers due to
nm laser reliability to improve in the near future to a level defects related to growth, process, and mirror facets, respec-
comparable to any other type of semiconductor laser [35]. tively. These devices come from three different wafers, and
Besides AlGaAs/GaAs/lnGaAs, an InGaF/GaAs/InGaAs laser all of the failed devices on a given wafer exhibited an almost
[20]-[23], also grown on GaAs substrates, has emerged as identical failure mechanism. These results show the necessity
another promising strained material system for 980-nm pump of optimized conditions for growth, fabrication, and coating
lasers. Ease of growth and device fabrication, uniformity, of facets. In this paper, we report our work concerning the
reproducibility, and reliability will determine the choice of optimization of growth and fabrication processes for achieving
the material system. All major epitaxial techniques (MBE, the desired performance and minimizing or preventing the
CBE, MOMBE, and MOCVD) have been used to grow high- incorporation of bulk defects (such as oxygen) and process-
performance lasers with comparable excellent results. related defects. For the latter, we have used a novel method for
In the strained InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure sys- fabricating buried heterostructure lasers. Work is in progress
tem, the biaxial compressive stress, which is accommodated to prevent the facet damage.
elastically without generating misfit dislocations, reduces the
nonparabolicity and splits the light and heavy hole valence AND CoNsIDERAnoNs
bands. This lowers the effective hole mass in-plane of the
junction, and consequently the effective density of states in the
valence band is reduced. This allows the population inversion A. Basic Structure
needed for lasing to occur at a lower current, and the lighter The typical device structure, shown in Fig. 3, is essentially
effective hole mass also results in an increased modulation similar to that of an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum-well (QW) laser,
bandwidth [41]-[43]. An interesting review paper by Coleman except that the GaAs QWs are replaced by InGaAs quantum
[44] discusses the physics of the strained InGaAs QW lasers wells sandwiched between GaAs spacer layers. One, two, and
in detail. Besides reliability, narrow far field [45], [46], high three QWs have been used successfully. Lasers with multiple
426 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1994

(a) Growth related defects 4000i AeGaAs GRIN

(b) Process related defects

(c) Catastrophicoptical damage

Fig. 3. Typical schematic of an In0 zGm sAs/GaAs strained layer GRIN-

SCH-QW laser for low threshold current density.
Fig. 2. Electroluminescence from the degraded InGaAs strained three QW's
RWG window lasers, illustrating different degradation mechanisms.
may differ somewhat from the actual temperature. The growth
conditions of InGaAs QW's and the In content were optimized
by using transmission electron microscopy characterization
QW's for the active region have higher differential gain and and by studying the photoluminescence (PL) properties of the
optical confinement factor [41]-[43], but may lead to the similar laser-type structures, but with thin AlGaAs cladding
generation of misfit dislocations due to increased total InGaAs layers. Williams et al. [9] and Choi et al. [SI also measured
thickness [34], [513. Multiple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers very low broad area &, of 56 and 65 A . cm-2 in lasers
have also shown a greater relaxation oscillation frequency grown by MBE and MOCVD, respectively, using a similar
(fres) [41]-[43] than single-quantum-well (SQW) lasers be- structure. Note that a very low &, is not the figure of merit
cause of their larger differential gain. The thickness of the of communication lasers because the devices operate at many
In,Gal-,As QW's and the InAs content y largely determine times the threshold current. The useful device structure and
the emission wavelength [34], although the AlGaAs and GaAs fabrication process are quite different from those used to
barrier heights and their thicknesses also have influences. demonstrate a lower Jth. Narrow far field, high power output
It is important not to exceed the critical thickness of the in the fundamental transverse mode centered at 980 f 5 nm,
InGaAs strained layers as, otherwise, the strain will be relieved planarity of the structure, and long lifetime dictate the actual
by generating misfit dislocations. Furthermore, the growth device structure.
conditions of the InGaAs QW active region are optimized so The structure in Fig. 3 has a large optical beam divergence,
that the growth mode is two-dimensional (2D) and there is no typically 50' or higher, in the direction perpendicular to the
dilation in the InGaAs QW thickness. By suitably varying the junction, which leads to a highly elliptical far-field pattern
InAs content and/or QW thickness, the emission wavelength and low power coupling efficiency into optical fibers. Wu
can be as high as 1.1 pm without creating misfit dislocations. and coworkers [45] reported a new periodic-index separate-
The variation of wavelength with temperature is 4-5 WC confinement heterostructure (PINSCH) laser structure which
due to band gap change [28]. The AlAs content x in the simultaneously reduces the transverse beam divergence and
AI,Gal-,As cladding layers can be varied from 0.35 to 0.6 increases the maximum power output. Dutta and coworkers
as shown by the shaded region in Fig. 3, but the carrier [46] have used large optical cavity design to reduce the
confinement factor is found to increase with increasing x [7], transverse beam divergence. In both approaches, the carrier
[47], [52]. However, as will be discussed later, for buried confinement is reduced, which causes a modest increase of
heterostructure (BH) lasers, an AlAs content of -0.35 is Jth.
preferred in the cladding layer [131. Both separate-confinement
heterostructure quantum-well (SCH-QW) and graded-index B. Necessity of Substrate Misorientation
SCH-QW (GRINSCH-QW) structures have been used. We observe that by misorienting the (100) GaAs sub-
We obtained the lowest broad area threshold current density strate towards (111) A by 3 4 ' , incorporation of impurities
of 47 A . cm-2 in an MBE-grown GRINSCH-QW laser struc- like oxygen is reduced in AlGaAs, and the AlGaAs/GaAs
ture which uses two [Link] QW's sandwiched between heterointerfaces are smoother and sharper. This reduces the
50-A-thick GaAs spacer layers [7]. The GaAs substrate used defect-assisted recombination in the bulk and at the surface,
was 3' off (100) towards (111) A. The AlAs content in the resulting in improved performance of lasers and HBT's. The
cladding layer was 0.6. In the GRIN region, x was graded effects are more pronounced if the AlAs content in the
from 0.6 to 0.05. The n- and p-doped cladding and 75% of the cladding layers of lasers is 5040%. This is discussed in detail
GRIN regions were grown at a substrate temperature of 7OO0C, elsewhere [7], [48], [49], [53]-[55].
while the GaAs and InGaAs quantum wells region were grown
at 560'C. The growth temperature was ramped down from C . Necessity of GaAs Spacer Layers in the Active Region
700 to 560'C and vice versa during the remaining 25% of the For reasons discussed below, it is necessary to incorporate
GRIN regions adjacent to the QW's. The substrate temperature thin GaAs spacer layers between InGaAs active and AlGaAs
was measured using a series 2000 IRCON pyrometer, and GRIN regions.
 ~

CHAND et al.: GROWTH AND FABRICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE 98C-nm STRAINED InGaAs QW LASERS 421

102' E I

DEPTH (pm)

Fig. 4. SIMS depth profiles of A1 and 0 in an AIGaAs/GaAs GRIN-

SCH-SQW laser structure.

Oxygen, a common contaminant in AlGaAs irrespective of

the growth technique that forms nonradiative recombination
centers in GaAs and AIGaAs, tends to accumulate near the
active region of an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well lasers [49],
[53], [ S I . Moreover, the Be-doped AlGaAs cladding layer
tends to have a higher 0 content than Si-doped counterparts,
as shown in Fig. 4. Apparently, the Si doping suppresses and
the Be doping favors incorporation of 0 in AlGaAs without
any contribution from the Be source itself. To study these DEPTH em)
effects further, we sequentially grew undoped, Si-doped, and
Fig. 5. SLMS depth profiles of A1 and 0 in Si-doped, Bedoped, and undoped
Be-doped Alo.6Gao.4Aslayers, each 1.35 pm thick, separated &.6Ga0,4As/GaAs heterostructures grown on (a) 3' off (100) towards
from each other by 400-Aundoped GaAs, simultaneously on ( 1 l l ) A substrate, and (b) (100) substrate.
(100) and 3" off-axis substrates. In addition, a monolayer of
GaAs was periodically incorporated 0.15 pm apart in all three
on the off-axis substrate due to lower 0 level in the off-axis
AI o . ~ G a ~ . ~layers.
A s All of these layers were grown at 700C.
The values of x = 0.60 and the growth temperature of 700C sample.
were chosen because these are the typical parameters used Besides assuring very clean growth conditions, the highest
in the growth of AlGaAs in high-performance AlGaAs-based available purity of source material is necessary to minimize the
lasers. 0-like nonradiative recombination centers. In InGaAs strained
The secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiles QW lasers, if there are no GaAs spacer layers between the
InGaAs and AlGaAs GRIN regions, there can be a similar
of AI and 0 in these structures are shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b)
for the off-axis and on-axis substrates, respectively. Comparing accumulation of oxygen at the InGaAs/AlGaAs inverted inter-
the integrated 0 concentration in undoped and Si-doped layers, face that would degrade the laser performance. With the GaAs
the 0 content is lower on the off-axis substrate, consistent spacer layers, the oxygen impurities, if in existence, will be
with the earlier results [48]. The 0 level in the Si-doped physically separated from the InGaAs QW regions. This is
layer is roughly an order of magnitude lower than that in the apparently the reason that we and others observe significant
Be-doped layers on both substrates. The average 0 level in improvement in laser performance with GaAs spacer layers
general is higher in these two samples as compared to what we [7], [8], [56]. In fact, due to the GaAs region outside InGaAs
normally observe (e.g., Fig. 4), apparently due to insufficiently well, Xin et ai . [57] reported performance of InGaAs lasers
outgassed source materials as these samples were grown in the independent of AlGaAs layer quality.
fifth run after opening the MBE system to the atmosphere.
The spikes in oxygen profiles in Fig. 5 are due to surface D . Choice of AlAs Content in the Cladding Layer
segregation of 0 atoms in AlGaAs and their subsequent trap- As discussed earlier, the AlAs content (5)in the cladding
ping at the GaAs/AlGaAs inverted heterointerfaces. Evidently, layer can vary between 0.35 and 0.6. A choice of x = 0.6
a single monolayer of GaAs is sufficient to trap the surface- results in a higher carrier confinement factor [7], [52] and
riding 0 impurities. Note the variations of amplitude and thus a lower Jth. Furthermore, contrary to our expectations,
full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the 0 spikes with the [Link] appears to have a lower 0 content than A1
dopants and substrates used. In the undoped AlGaAs layers, 0.35Ga0.65As. This was observed in a test structure used to
both samples have the 0 spikes, but the shape of spikes study the residual oxygen incorporation in A1,Gal-,As as
suggests the presence of abrupt and smoother GaAs/AlGaAs a function of x. Undoped, Si-doped, and Be-doped AlGaAs
heterointerfaces on the off-axis substrate, even when the GaAs separated by GaAs layers were sequentially grown at 7OOOC
is just one monolayer thick. In Si-doped AlGaAs layers in Fig. on (100) GaAs substrate. In each Al,Gal_,As region, the
5, we see small 0 spikes on the on-axis substrate, but no spike AlAs content was sequentially reduced in steps from 1 to 0.6
428 1[EEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1994

AI,Ga~,As/GaAs HETEROSTRUCTURES 1020

Be-DOPED+ SCDOPED+UNDOPED- I
E 1019

-z
I
E
U

P
!j1018
I-

w
0

8 1017

1016
0 1 2 3
DEPTH @m) DEPTH @m)

Fig. 6 . SIMS depth profiles of Al and residual 0 in undoped, Si-doped, and - -profiles of AI and 0 in an AlGaAshGaAs strained QW
Fig. 7. SIMS depth
Be-doped Al,Gal-,As layers with z = 1.0,0.6,0.5, and 0.0 in each layer. laser structure.

to 0.5 to 0.35 to 0.0. The SIMS depth profiles of A1 and 0

in this sample, is shown in Fig. 6. In this case, the average (N536) I
lo19a) UNDOPED GRIN REGION (b) DOPED GRIN REGION
(N535)

residual oxygen has been reduced to ~3 x 1OI6 cm by -

extensive outgassing of sources and by optimizing the growth
conditions. Consistent with the results of Fig. 5, the Si-doped
AlGaAs has the lowest residual oxygen level independent of
the AlAs content, and both Be-doped and undoped AlGaAs
layers have similar dependence of oxygen level on A1 content.
For 5 2 0.4, the oxygen levels in both Be-doped and undoped
layers are as low as in Si-doped layers, but for z = 0.35, the
oxygen level increases to 1017 cm-3 with some accumulation
at the heterointerfaces, shown by peaks A, B , C,and D in Fig.
6. Thus, for lower ambient oxygen in the cladding layers, an 6
AlAs content of about 0.6 is more appropriate. Indeed, with DEPTH em)

careful preparation of our source materials and with 1z: = 0.6 in

(a) (b)
the cladding layer, we have reduced the ambient oxygen level
below the SIMS detection limit in Alo.6Gao.4As/GaAs/InGaAsFig. 8. SIMS depth profiles of AI and Be in AIGaAdGaAs GRINSCH-SQW
lasers with (a) undoped and (b) daped GRIN regions.
strained QW GRINSCH lasers, as shown by the SIMS depth
profiles of A1 and 0 in Fig. 7. In contrast to the results of
AlGaAs/GaAs lasers in Fig. 5, in the InGaAs/GaAs case there [59]. Displacement of the p/n junction from the QW active
is a depletion of 0 in the active QW region, possibly because region requires minority carrier diffusion or drift into the active
of the 100-A-thick GaAs spacer layer on each side between QW region for lasing, and also causes majority carrier current
the InGaAs QW and AlGaAs GRIN region, and a lower flow out of the active region. As explained by Anthony [60],
growth temperature (about 560OC) of the active QW region, the latter does not contribute to lasing, but adds to the current
compared to 7OOOC for AlGaAs/GaAs lasers in Fig. 5. The necessary to achieve lasing, and also reduces differential
lower growth temperature minimizes the surface segregation quantum efficiency.
and accumulation of 0 near the active QW region. This result The extent of Be diffusion is found to depend on the dopants
also suggests that strained InGaAs QW lasers should be more in the graded index (GRIN) regions adjoining the GaAs active
reliable than the GaAs QW lasers. layer. When the GRIN segments are left intentionally undoped,
As will be discussed later, for BH lasers, a lower AlAs Be diffuses through the entire p-side GRIN, the quantum well
content (-0.35) in the cladding layer is more desirable. active, and a significant portion of the n-side GRIN, as shown
in Fig. 8(a). The diffused Be atoms pile up near the Si dopants
E . Doped Versus Undoped Grin Regions next to the edge of the n-AlGaAs cladding layer irrespective
As reported in detail elsewhere [48], [58] and shown in of the thickness of the undoped GRIN region. However, when
Fig. 8, we observe Be diffusion by SIMS during MBE growth the GRIN regions are doped, respectively, with Be and Si
of GaAs/AlGaAs GRINSCH laser structures. For growth at on the p and n sides, the displacement of the p n junction
700C, we find that Be from the p-type AlGaAs cladding caused by Be diffusion is significantly reduced, as shown in
layer diffuses into the quantum well and beyond. As a result, Fig. 8(b). Assuming that Be diffuses from a constant source at
the p-n junction is displaced from the heterojunction. The the surface into an n-type layer as a singly charged interstitial
phenomenon is similar to that discussed in detail by Anthony donor, Swaminathan et a1 . [58] have predicted that increasing
CHAND et al.: GROWTH AND FABRICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE 98(klm STRAINED InGaAs QW LASERS 429

- -
5c
-
1
----
"--'-
N536 Undoped Grin)
N535IDopdGrin1
N312 (Doped Grin

!!
T=6K
L =1016pm
W = 100 pn
T =WOK

- , m m . . " m m . m m a
-250
c
5
4
c

- 200
s93
0 -

--5 991 -
- 0 eon 0 -
989 - 0
0 0
760 780 800 820 840 0
0 0 0 0
Wavelength (pm) 987 I I I / _

Fig. 9. Comparison ofcathodoluminescence (CL) intensity in AlGaAs/GaAs.

Fig. 10. Spatial variation of emission wavelength (A) and threshold current
density ( J t h ) of single QW InGaAs lasers on a 3-cm x 1016-pmbar. The
the doping of the n layer retards the diffusion of Be, while that sample was the representative of the whole 5-cm-diameter substrate.
of the p layer enhances it. Further, including the electric field
of the p-n junction in the model leads to peaks and inflections
resembling those observed in the experimental SIMS profiles for GaAs, and -560C for InGaAs. Thus, the active region
in Fig. 8. In view of Be-related oxygen contamination (as is grown in the 550-570C range and the AlGaAs cladding
discussed earlier) and Be diffusion on the p-side of the GRIN layers are grown at about 700OC. This is based on the
region, Be should be dispensed with on the p-side of the earlier work of Tsang and coworkers [61] who observed
GRIN region. However, the Si addition on the n-side of the a marked improvement in AlGaAs/GaAs laser performance
GRIN region is beneficial as it minimizes Be diffusion and p-n when the Ts was increased from 580430C to 700OC. In-
junction displacement. Thus, we suggest that the best option deed, this is our repetitive experience that, even in very
is to dope the n side of the GRIN region with Si and leave clean growth conditions, the optical and electrical properties
the p side of the GRIN region undoped. In fact, the GRIN of 700C-MBE-A1GaAs are far superior to that grown at
region can be doped with Si to a point where the p/n junction 563OOC [7], [SI. Growth temperature of thin spacer GaAs
needs to be located. Doping the active region with Si will also layers is relatively unimportant. However, it is important to
help in reducing the 0 contamination of the active region, as grow InGaAs at ~ 5 6 0 Cwhere In has nearly unity sticking
discussed in the preceding section. The Be doping should begin coefficient. At Ts > 560"C, segregation and desorption of
from the edge of the pAlGaAs cladding layer. The Be atoms In occurs, and the growth mode shifts from two- to three-
will diffuse anyway into the p side of the GRIN region, but dimensional island growth [62]. This makes the control on
the diffused Be will not carry oxygen along. We believe that emission wavelength X very difficult.
0, if present, is coincorporated with Be during MBE growth, As was shown in Fig. 1, the gain of erbium-doped silica
but is immobile compared to the rapidly diffusing Be. glass falls very rapidly if the pump wavelength is outside the
In Fig. 9, we show the CL spectrum from samples N535, 980 f5 nm window. This poses a serious challenge in growth
N536, and N312. The CL intensity is more than an order of and fabrication of these lasers. In our specially designed MBE
magnitude lower in N535 and a factor of 50 lower in N312, system, we observe excellent spatial uniformity of wavelength
both of which have doped GRIN regions. The reason for higher within f l nm on the whole 5-cm-diameter substrate for
CL intensity in N536, which has undoped GRIN regions, InGaAs lasers, but the emission wavelength can very easily
appears to be the combined effect of higher Be concentration shift outside the 980 f 5 nm range due to a slight shift in
due to diffusion and reduced 0 concentration in the active the growth conditions and hence in the device structure. As a
region. When we used the above approach, we observed a typical example, in Fig. 10 we show the spatial uniformity of
significant improvement in yield and degradation behavior. For Jth and A for 1016-pm-long SQW AlGaAshGaAs metal-
example, out of 50 randomly picked laser chips, 49 of them stripe lasers as a function of distance from the edge of a
lased and 42 were within specification. Furthermore, eight of 3-cm-long bar. The bar is the representative of the whole 5-cm-
them were randomly picked for aging studies at 6OoC with 20 diameter substrate. Except for one device near the edge which
mW output. All of them survived the initial aging of 100 h was damaged and has a higher Jth, all 13 other lasers tested
with 1-3% degradation rate. have almost identical &h (212 f 4 A . cm-2) and X(989 f 1
nm), but the A is outside the 980f5 nm window, which makes
these lasers unsuitable as a pump source.
F. Choice of Growth Temperature, As2 Versus Unless otherwise stated, most of work reported here was
AS^, and Wavelength Control carried out using the As4 species during the MBE growth.
If not careful, growth of strained AIGaAsfinGaAs QW Many earlier studies report many advantages to be gained if
lasers can be very complex because of the different optimum the MBE growth of GaAs and AlGaAs is carried out using
growth temperatures (Ts) of AIGaAs, GaAs, and InGaAs. As2 species as opposed to As4. To examine if the As2 species
High-quality growth occurs at .v700C for AlGaAs, -580C has any effect on the sticking coefficient of In and the optical
430 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1994

properties of InGaAs QWs, we have grown a sequence of

four InGaAs/GaAs QWs at (Ts =)630,610,590, and 570OC
using the As2 and As4 species. The As4 species was obtained r908.3 I
from a Riber standard effusion cell, and the A32 species
was obtained using an Re baffle in an arsenic-valved cracker
obtained from EPI. The valved cracker was characterized in
an extensive study [63], and the above growth was carried
out when we established the best possible performance of
the cracker. The cracking temperature was 825C. The beam-
equivalent pressure ratio of V/III species in all cases was
15. The QWs were separated by 1.0-pm-thick GaAs. For WAVELENGTH (nm)
the 570C QW, the In,Gal-,As QW thickness was -80 A
and 2 = 0.2. The Ts was adjusted and measured using a Fig. 11. Comparison of CL spectra of InGaAs/GaAs QWs grown at 570,
short-wavelength pyrometer during the growth of GaAs spacer 590, 610, and 630C using As2 and As4 species.
layers which provided optical and structural isolation between
wells. To prevent any in situ thermal annealing at a temperature of 0.6 in the cladding layer. The laser structure was otherwise
higher than the Ts, the 630C QW was grown first and TS essentially the same as described in Section 11. With AS^, the
was reduced sequentially for the remaining QWs. InGaAs/GaAs active regions and the neighboring 25% of the
The cross sections of the as-grown and annealed samples GRIN region were grown at 570C and the AlGaAs cladding
were examined by cathodoluminescence (CL) in a scanning layers and 75% of the GRIN regions were grown at 700C.
electron microscope at 6 K. The cross-sectional CL avoided the With AS^, the entire structure was grown at 570OC. Here, As2
absorption of shorter wavelength emission of the bottom wells species were obtained using a Ta baffle with T, = 1000C.
into the smaller bandgap QWs near the surface. The electron Before the fabrication of lasers, both wafers were char-
beam voltage and the beam current were 10 kV and 0.1-1 nA, acterized by PL at 6 K, and the resulting PL spectra are
respectively. These values were chosen to minimize the CL shown in Fig. 12. To avoid light absorption, the p+-GaAs cap
excitation volume. In Fig. 11, we compare the CL intensity layer was removed chemically. Because, in both cases, InGaAs
of the InGaAs QWs grown with As4 and As2 sources. In QWs were grown at 570C we did not expect any difference
both cases, because of In desorption, there is such a large between the PL spectra of the two samples. However, Fig. 12
decrease of emission wavelength with increasing TSthat the exhibits a marked difference between the two samples. The
emission from the 630C InGaAs QWs cannot be resolved PL peak of As 4 sample (N610) is 200 times more intense,
from the GaAs signal, suggesting very little incorporation of although more broad, and is shifted to a shorter wavelength as
In at this temperature. We do not observe any effect of the type compared to the As2 sample (N613). Apparently, the p+-GaAs
of arsenic species, As2 versus AS^, on the sticking coefficient cap layer was not completely removed in sample N613, as
of In (i.e., the emission wavelength) and the CL intensity. shown by the small peak at 0.832 pm which is a characteristic
The optical properties of InGaAs QWs in both cases are of Be-doped GaAs. We believe that the difference in PL
remarkably similar. The < 5 nm variation in X between As2 spectra of these two samples is due to the different growth
and As4 sources may be due to a slight variation of Ts or temperatures (Ts) and transparency of the AlGaAs cladding
source fluxes between the two substrates. Furthermore, there layers. Due to higher Ts of AlGaAs in sample N610, the
is no increase in CL intensity by increasing Ts from 570 quality of AlGaAs is better with significantly lower deep
to 630C. Thus, under clean growth conditions, the optical states, but there may also be some intermigration of In and
properties of InGaAs QWs are insensitive to the As species Ga species resulting in the distortion of the InGaAs/GaAs
used, and the high-quality InGaAs QWs can be grown at heterointerfaces. The former reduces the carrier losses and
temperatures as low as 570C. Because of the very strong the light absorption, resulting in an intense light emission,
dependence of the In sticking coefficient on Ts, the Ts needs but the latter shifts the emission to a shorter wavelength
to be precisely controlled to obtain the desired wavelength. with an increased FWHM. In sample N613 (As2 growth), the
A great improvement in control on A can be achieved if the InGaAs QW has relatively sharp and abrupt heterointerfaces
whole AlGaAsnnGaAs laser structure can be grown at a single but poor AlGaAs quality. As a result, the PL spectra has
temperature. Some workers [57] suggest that if the InGaAs smaller FWHM, but due to poor transport of the exciting signal
QW region is separated from the AlGaAs GRIN region by a to the InGaAs QW and absorption of the emitted signal in the
few hundred angstroms of GaAs, the performance of InGaAs AlGaAs layer, the PL intensity is lower.
QW lasers is relatively insensitive to the quality of AlGaAs, On both wafers, broad area metal stripe lasers were fabri-
and thus the AlGaAs cladding layers can be grown at the cated. In Table I, we compare the threshold current densities
same temperature as used for GaAs and InGaAs. It is also of the lasers fabricated on the two substrates as a function of
believed that the high-quality AlGaAs/GaAs lasers can be cavity length. For all three cavity lengths, Jth is approximately
grown at 580400C using the AS:! species. To examine these 10% lower for As2 lasers. This, we believe, is due to the sharp
claims, we have grown identical InGaAs single QW graded- and abrupt heterointerfaces of the As2 InGaAs QW, which
index separate-confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH) laser results in better confinement of carriers, and hence the lower
structures using the As 2 and As4 species with an AlAs content Jth.
CHAND er al.: GROWTH AND FABRICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE 980-nm STRAINED InGaAs QW LASERS 431

0.82 0.86 0.90 0.94 0.98

Wavelength ( pm )

0 60 120" 0 60 12O"O 60 120 180

Fig. 12. 6 K PL spectra of strained AlGaAs/GaAs/InGaAs SQW laser
Current ( mA )
structures grown using As2 and As4 species. As2 was obtained using Ta baffle
and As4 was obtained from a standard Riber effusion cell. The p+GaAs
contact layer was supposed to be removed chemically for PL measurements, Fig. 13. Light versus current ( L I ) curves of metal-stripe lasers grown
but apparently a thin layer of it remained on the As2 structure, and thus a using As2 and As4 species. Although the As2 lasers have consistently lower
small peak at 832 nm is also observed. threshold currents. they also have lower differential quantum efficiencies,
which is obvious from the slopes of the L-1 curves.

TABLE I its peak performance and the residual oxygen in AlGaAs was
COMPARISON OF THRESHOLD CURRENTDENSITIES OF InGaAdAlGaAs
STRAINED SQW LASERS GROWN USING As2 AND As4 SPECIES; WlTH ASz, below the SIMS detection limit.
THE ENTIRESTRUCTURE WAS GROWN AT 570OC; WITH As4, THE AIGaAs
LADD DING LAYERS
WITH 75% OF THE G m WERE GROWN AT 700C AND THE
InGaAs/GaAs AND THE NEIGHBORING 25% OF G m WERE GROWN AT 570C G. (InAs),/(GaAs), Short Period Super Lattices
Versus In,Gal-,As Alloy Quantum Well
Cavity Length Threshold Current Density (A . cm-')
Olm) Recently, (InAs),/(GaAs), and (GaAs),/(AlAs), short-
As4 Species As2 Species period superlattices (SPS's) have received considerable atten-
(N610) (N613)
lo00 150 135 tion for both photonic and electronic applications [63]-[67].
500 180 165 Such superlattices are the ordered counterparts of In,Gal-,As
250 350 310 and Al,Gal-, As random alloys, respectively, and have
exhibited superior optical and transport properties due to
reduced incorporation of residual impurities and the absence
In Fig. 13, we compare the light output versus current of alloy and cluster scattering. High-speed performance of
curves of typical lasers grown using the As2 and As4 species. MODFET's with an ( I ~ A S ) ~ ( G ~ SPSA S )channel
~ layer was
The As4 lasers have higher I t h , but they also have higher found to be superior as opposed to MODFET's with an InGaAs
differential quantum efficiencies (q),as can be seen from the channel [HI, [66]. For the first time, we studied the use of
slopes of the L-I curves. The difference in q varies between six periods of (InAs)l/(GaAs)4 SPS's as a replacement for
10 and 25% for lasers with smaller and larger junction areas, In0 .[Link] QW in AlGaAs/GaAs/Ino.2 [Link] GRINSCH
respectively. Furthermore, from the study of a large number of lasers emitting near 980 nm [68]-[70]. One period of this SPS
devices in both wafers, we observe that the GI curves of As4 consists of one monolayer (ML) of InAs and four ML's of
lasers have relatively uniform slopes (dL/dI). In contrast, we GaAs, resulting in an average of 20% In composition.
observe a wide variation of dL f d I in As2 lasers. We believe
that in As2 lasers the lower &h is due to the higher quality
III. LASERFABRICATION
of the InGaAs/GaAs active region, and the lower q is due to
the poor quality of AlGaAs cladding layers which are grown In our study, we have fabricated broad-area lasers, gain-
in 570C instead of the 700C used for As4 lasers. Because guided metal-stripe lasers, index-guided ridge-waveguide
the lasers operate at currents substantially higher than I t h , (RWG) lasers (with and without windows on the back), and
a higher q is also important in addition to a lower I t h . Thus, buried-heterostructure (BH) lasers.
although it is very encouraging that the AlGaAs-based InGaAs
strained QW lasers can be grown using As2 at temperatures A. Broad-Area Lasers
normally used for growth of GaAs and InGaAs, we see a For broad-area metal-stripe lasers, we deposit, 20-, 40-, 60-
lack of evidence that the overall performance of the devices , 80-, and 100-pm-wide and 800-A Be A4200-A TU600-f%
is as good as that in which the AlGaAs is grown at -700C. Au-thick stripes for p contacts by standard lift-off techniques.
Perhaps by reducing T,, with Re baffles and further optimizing The stripes are oriented along the [liO] with the center-to-
the device structure and growth conditions, this difference can center distance between them 500 pm. We complete the device
be narrowed or eliminated. We must, however, point out that fabrication by thinning the wafer to -100 pm and full-surface
during the growth of these devices, our MBE system was at AuGe/Ni/Ti/Au n-contact, followed by cleaving the sample
 I

432 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1994

into bars of varying width perpendicular to the metal stripes.

This allows fabrication of lasers of varying stripe widths and
cavity length, which can be probed individually and tested
under pulsed conditions. By this method, the current spreading
can be easily accounted for by measuring and plotting the
Ith as a function of the stripe width (w). Dividing the slope
(Ith/W) of the I t h versus W curve by the cavity length L
gives an accurate determination of J t h . ETCH TIME (sec)

Fig. 14. An interferogram taken, using 0.95-pm radiation from a GaAs LED,
B. Ridge-Waveguide Lasers during etching of an AIGaAs/GaAs/Ino .2Gm.8As strained GRINSCH-QW
laser structure 3 NH4OHlHzO2 : 15H20.
For reducing the current spreading and thus the threshold
current, index-guided RWG lasers are fabricated. The main
challenges in the fabrication of high-power 980-nm .pm pump other and from AlGaAs GRIN regions by 100-A-thick GaAs
lasers are to obtain the fundamental transverse mode operation spacer layers. Furthermore, between the GaAs buffer and n+
up to a high power level and better heat sinking. The former -Alo,6Gao.4As cladding layers, ten-period 100-A GaAs/2OO-
requires a narrow active region, 2-3 pm wide or less. In lasers A Alo.6Ga~.4Assuperlattices were used. The thicknesses of
with wider active regions, higher order modes are excited the pAlGaAs and n-AIGaAs cladding layers were 1.79 and
at high powers as normally shown by the kinks in the L-I 1.85 pm, respectively. The signal-to-noise ratio is so high
curves. RWG laser fabrication involves reactive ion etching that all the features of the structure are clearly discernible
(RIE) or wet chemical etching which, if not carefully done, can by changes in slope, period, amplitude, and average intensity
overetch or underetch, and can also induce detects in the active of oscillations. Due to the lower refractive index of AlAs and
region (see Fig. 2) and alter the active region width. However, hence of AlGaAs as compared to that of GaAs and InGaAs,
broad-area and RWG lasers provide a quick evaluation of the the average light intensity is significantly lower during the
material quality. We have used RWG lasers with windows on etching of AlGaAs layers.
the back to study the origin of defect formation. For window The oscillations from the etched region of the laser structure
lasers, -25-pm-wide windows are formed in the n contacts are distinguished clearly. Since the active region consists of
on the substrate side using photolithographic techniques in GaAs/InGaAs QWs which have higher refractive indexes
such a manner that the laser structure is in the center of the as compared to AlGaAs cladding layers, there is a marked
window. Since the 980-nm photon energies are smaller than increase in the peak intensity during the etching of this region.
the band gap of the GaAs substrate, spontaneous emission A similar interferogram was obtained during the etching of the
(electroluminescence) from the active region can be observed AlGaAs/GaAs QW laser structures. For the fabrication of ridge
directly through the windows for dark line defects under an waveguide lasers, the etching of p-AlGaAs can be stopped just
optical microscope. as the intensity starts increasing. Note the presence of a plateau
To avoid guesswork and have full control during the fab- or the absence of interference after the etching of the entire
rication of RWG lasers, the optical interferometry can be heterostructure.
used for in situ real-time monitoring and analysis of wet
chemical etching [71]. The technique is simple to implement C . Buried-Heterostructure Lasers
and interpret. While it provides no chemical information, it Much effort is now directed towards the study of planar
is a fast, accurate, and sensitive technique. We have used a buried-heterostructures [13]-[ 191. The BH lasers have the
sensor comprised of an LED emitting at 0.95 pm and four Si unique advantages of providing excellent optical and electrical
photodetectors, two on each side of the LED, all contained confinement of carriers and reducing the nonradiative recom-
in a transparent pen-like 15-cm-long Teflon tube of 1.25-cm bination centers at the sidewalls. They have low threshold
diameter. The substrate can be placed horizontally or vertically currents, stable guided modes, near-circular far field, good
parallel to the sensor head during etching. When the sensor is dynamic characteristics, high power output, and high reliabil-
in close proximity to the sample being etched, the light from ity. A common method of BH formation includes epitaxial
the LED strikes the wafer surface and is reflected back to the growth of the base laser structure, chemical mesa etching,
detector. The constructive and destructive interference between regrowth of the isolating wide-gap semiconductor layers, and
reflections from the etching surface and buried heterointerfaces a final growth of the low-band-gap layer for ohmic contact
in the structure allows the determination of the etch depth and and planarization. High-performance InGaAs/AlGaAs strained
any degradation of surface quality, identification of heteroin- QW lasers are not easy to fabricate with a similar approach
terfaces, and detection of changes in etch rate and end point, because of the formation of native aluminum oxide on the
all in real time. The etching process can be stopped as soon etched AlGaAs mesa sidewalls which deteriorate the quality
as the desired etch depth is achieved. of lateral confining interfaces. Desorption of aluminum oxide
As an example, Fig. 14 shows an interferogram obtained occurs at a relatively high temperature, which causes thermal
during the etching of a 980-nm I ~ O . ~ G ~ O strained
. ~ A SGRIN- disorder of the initial active QW region. To avoid the formation
SCH triple QWs laser structure in 3NH40H:IHzO 2 : 15Hz0. of native oxide, a relatively low A1 composition (E % 0.20)
In this structure, InGaAs QWs were separated from each is required in the AlGaAs cladding layers. Impurity-induoed
CHAND et al.: GROWTH AND FABRICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE 980-nm STRAINED InGaAs QW LASERS 433

layer disordering (IILD) has been used successfully [ 161-[ 181

as an alternative method to produce high-performance pla-
nar BH QW lasers. However, the IILD process takes place
at a substantially higher temperature, which causes thermal
disordering of the active region and consequently shifts the
emission wavelength of the initial epitaxial structure.
Here, we have used a novel method of fabricating BH In-
GaAs strained QW lasers in which the laser structure was first
grown by MBE, and mesa formation was done by in situ melt
etching at 580C using Si02 as a mask, followed by regrowth
0 1 2 3 4 5
of the isolating layers in the 580-45OOC range by liquid phase CAVITY LENGTH'' ( m m - ' )
epitaxy (LPE). This method allows etching, preservation of
high-quality sidewalls, regrowth, and planarization all in one Fig. 15. Threshold current density of Alo 6GW 4As/GaAs/Ino 2Gm SAS
step with negligible thermal disordering. The method has been diode lasers on a misoriented GaAs substrate as a function of inverse cavity
length.
used earlier for the growth of GaAs/AIGaAs lasers [72]-[73],
and has resulted in marked improvement in the performance of
InGaAs/AlGaAs lasers as compared to the conventional ridge- B . Very Low Linewidth Enhancement Factor
waveguide (RWG) lasers fabricated on the same substrate. Although unimportant for pump applications, the linewidth
enhancement factor a is an important parameter of semicon-
ductor lasers. The enhancement factor Q is related to the
IV. MONOLITHIC INTEGRATION OF ratio of the change in the refractive index ( n ) with carrier
Ino 2Gao 8As AND GaAs QW LASERS density ( d n / d N ) to the change in gain (G) with carrier
For monolithically integrating 980-nm lasers with other density (dG/dN). Here, N is the carrier density. The degree
electronic and photonic AlGaAs/GaAs components, we have of linewidth broadening is given by (1 a'), and thus it is +
integrated 980-nm InGaAs QW lasers with 850-nm GaAs desirable to reduce a. Because of higher dG/dN in InGaAs
lasers as a test structure. First, the GaAs QW laser structure strained QW lasers, a lower value of Q is expected. In MQW
was grown. Selective area MBE regrowth of [Link] 0.8.4s lasers using In0,2Gao,sAs/GaAs QW's, a was found to be
lasers was then employed through dielectric masks between -1.0 by Dutta et al. [75]. As reported in detail elsewhere [76],
GaAs laser stripes on a GaAs substrate. During regrowth, we have measured a as low as 0.54 in In [Link]/GaAs
polycrystalline material regrew over the dielectric mask which strained SQW lasers emitting at 970 nm from spontaneous
was etched away during the fabrication process. The RWG emission spectra below threshold. On reducing the current
further, a goes down to 0.34.
lasers with I t h in the 30-35 mA range were successfully
fabricated. These devices with uncoated facets had a TOvalue
of 100 K. The overall performance characteristics of 980- C . High-Temperature Operation
nm lasers selectivity grown on dielectric-coated wafers were There is an increasing need for pump lasers capable of
comparable to those on a bare substrate, with no noticeable operating over a wide temperature range to eliminate the need
degradation of 850-nm GaAs QW lasers. The details of the for thermoelectric cooling and its associated circuitry, espe-
study are reported elsewhere [74]. cially for terrestrial applications. In this respect, 980-nm pump
lasers have a great advantage over the 1480-nm InGaAsPDnP
pump lasers. Several groups have successfully operated 980-
V. LASERPERFORMANCE nm lasers up to -2OOOC [30]-[33]. In contrast, 1480-nm
InGaAsPDnP lasers are difficult to operate above 100C due
to rapid temperature dependence of the nonradiative Auger
A . Very Low Threshold Current Density recombination which causes a rapid increase in the I t h and a
Several independent studies have reported very low broad- decrease in the internal quantum efficiency. For [Link] 0.8As
area &, in strained InGaAs QW lasers [7]-[9]. We measured lasers, the Auger recombination is relatively less important,
&, as low as 47 A . cm-' in 1350-pm-long lasers with resulting in a weaker temperature dependence of the threshold
x = 0.6 in the Al,Gal-,As cladding layers grown on 3" current and quantum efficiency. If the strain reduces the &h
off (100) towards (11 l ) A GaAs substrates. The &, increased by a factor of 2, nonradiative Auger recombination is reduced
about 25% with decreasing x from 0.6 to 0.35 due to decreased approximately by a factor of 4. Furthermore, carrier leakage
optical confinement. As shown in Fig. 15, the J t h increased to current from the carrier in the active layer is smaller due to the
100 and 150 A . cm-' with decreasing cavity length to 500 relatively large depth of the energy levels in the [Link].8As
and 250 pm, respectively. Lasers with a similar Jth of 56 and quantum well relative to the [Link] cladding layers.
65 A . cm-' have also been demonstrated in other laboratories For the first time, we reported [30] the successful operation
[8], [9]. As discussed earlier, such low Jth in these lasers is of 7-pm-wide InGaAs RWG lasers up to a record temperature
the result of reduced valence band density of states by in-plane of 180C for 1016-pm-long lasers with a characteristic tem-
compressive stress in the QW plane. perature To of 160OC. Figure 16 shows the pulsed light versus
 I

434 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1994

0 50 io0 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

CURRENT (mA1

F inverse cavity length (llmm)

Fig. 16. Light versus current dependence of a 1016-pn-long
[Link]/GaAsridge laser as a function of temperature. The laser
operates up to 180OC. Fig. 17. Broad-area threshold current density of an (InAs)l/(GaAs)4SPSs
laser plotted as a function of inverse of the cavity length.

current dependence of these lasers at various temperatures

between 20 and 180OC. The threshold current I t h at 20C
was 30 mA, and the extemal quantum efficiency 77 was
0.29 mW/mA per facet. With increasing temperature, the I t h
increased and the 77 decreased. For example, at 100C, the I t h
is 56 mA and the 77 is 0.19 mW/mA. Anomalous threshold
current dependences on temperature were found for shorter
lasers, which was attributed to band filling at high current
densities and a shift of emission from the n = 1 quantum
level to the n = 2 levels. In these lasers, the AlAs content
in the cladding layer was 35%. The maximum operating
temperature should increase with increasing z from 0.35 to
0.60. Indeed, with z = 0.6, the (InAs)l/(GaAs)4 SPSs QW No. of pairs
lasers operated up to 2OOOC with To = 175OC. Chen et al. Fig. 18. Broad-area threshold current density plotted as a function of number
[32] reported CW operation of PINSCH lasers up to 145OC of f,InAs)l/(GaAs)4 pairs.
with To = 170C. Fu et al. [31] have reported CW operation
of gain-guided 50-pm oxide stripe lasers with z = 0.6 in We also fabricated the lasers with different numbers of
the cladding layer up to a temperature of 2OOOC with more (InAs)l/(GaAs)4 layer pairs as the active region. The broad-
than 5-mW single-mode optical power. The cavity length was area Jth of these lasers, as a function of the number of
800 pm. The maximum CW operating temperatures reduced (InAs)l/(GaAs)4 pairs, is plotted in Fig. 18. Note that N pairs
to 170 and 14OOC for cavity lengths of 600 and 300 pm, have N monolayers of InAs in the entire active region. The
respectively. The use of a long laser cavity reduces I t h and data for one monolayer are obtained from [77]. The threshold
the thermal resistance which, combined together, causes less current increases rapidly as the number of pairs decreases.
heating at higher device current densities and enhances both The emission wavelengths for lasers with varying numbers
the maximum operating temperature and the output power of superlattice pairs are shown in Fig. 19 for lasers with one,
level. By optimizing the cavity design for low threshold gain two, four, and six pairs. In plotting the data, it is assumed
and output power requirements, Derry et al. [33] have operated that each pair (InAs)l(GaAs) 4 represents a thickness of 15
In [Link] at up to 22OOC with over 9-mW output A. The solid line in Fig. 19 is a fit to the experimental
power. At 2OO0C, the I t h was as low as 15.9 mA for a 400-p results of the emission wavelength of the Ino.2Ga~,.gAs/GaAs
-long laser with 35/98% reflectivity facets. single-quantum-well laser as a function of well thickness. The
data suggest that the effective band gap of the short-period
D. (InAs),l(GaAs), SPSs Lasers superlattice is similar to that of the 1110.2 [Link] alloy.
To gain insight of the working of the InGaAs QW active We have also fabricated lasers with (InAs)l/(GaAs), super-
region, we fabricated 980-nm lasers by replacing the InGaAs lattice structures with n = 2 and 3. The emission wavelength
QW with (InAs),/(GaAs) ,SPSs. In Fig. 17, we plot the for lasers with the (InAs)l/(GaAs)3 and (InAs)l/(GaAs)z su-
measured broad area I t h as a function of inverse of the perlattice layers (six periods) was 1.22 and 1.23 pm, respec-
cavity length. These devices have six pairs of (InAs)l/(GaAs)s tively.
superlattice layers in the active region. A line is drawn through Index-guided (RWG) lasers were also fabricated using an
the data points indicating the expected linear variation of (InAs)l/(GaAs)4 superlattice active region. The laser width
threshold current density with inverse of the cavity length. The was 3.0 pm. The GI characteristics of RWG lasers of three
intercept on the y axis is the transparency current density, the different cavity lengths are shown in Fig. 20. The threshold
value of which is 20 A/cm2. Thus, the estimated transparency currents of the 250-, 500-, and 1000-pm-long lasers are 10.2,
current density per period of (InAs) 1/(GaAs)4 SPSs is -3.5 24.3, and 32.3 mA, respectively. The extemal differential
A/cm2. quantum efficiency of the 250-pm-long lasers is 0.35 mW/mA.
CHAND et al.: GROWTH AND FABRICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE 980-nm STRAINED InGaAs QW LASERS 435

200

TEMPERATURE (C)
0 2 4 6
(InA.)1YG.A.~ SPSs PAIRS
Fig. 21. Light versus current characteristics of an (InAs)i/(GaAs)4 SPSs
laser at different temperatures. The cavity length is 500 pm.
Fig. 19. Emission wavelength as a function of number of (InAs)l(GaAs)4
superlattice pairs.
E . Buried-Heterostructure Lasers
As reported in Section III-C, we have used in situ mesa
40- melt etching and LPE growth using Si02 as a mask for the
fabrication of BH lasers. The BH formation was influenced
by the thickness (= 2.0pm) and the AlAs contents of the
cladding layer and the substrate misorientation. The stripes of
the Si02 mask were pattemed to be perpendicular to the axis
of the substrate misorientation. This was necessary to obtain
symmetrical mesas. If the Si02 stripes were parallel to the
misorientation axis, the mesas were not symmetrical. The mesa
melt etching was performed at 580C using undersaturated
0 en 120 180 2 0 Ga-Al-As melt. In the first set of wafers, which had a high
CURRENT (mA) AlAs content (= 0.6) in the cladding layer, the melt etching
Fig. 20. Light versus current characterization of (1nAs)l /(GaAs)4 SPSs occurred in the selective regime with substantial undercutting
ridge waveguide lasers of different cavity lengths. due to faster melt etching of the GaAs cap layer. We kept
the Si02 stripe width at 14 pm, which gave an active layer
width ( W ) of 8-11 pm for a 2.0-pm-thick pAlo.6Gao.&
These values are comparable to that of [Link].8 As/GaAs
cladding layer. In the second set of wafers, which had a lower
quantum-well lasers. The l-mm-long lasers emit near 980 nm.
AlAs content (0.3) in the cladding layer, we had no difficulty
The extemal differential ( V D ) of a laser is given by
in reducing the active layer width to 3.0 pm and obtaining
vertical sidewalls. The LPE regrowth consists of sequentially
grown p- -p-n Alo.4Ga0.6Asisolating layers by ramp cooling
of the Al-Ga-As solution from 580 to 45OOC to provide
where 7;is the intemal quantum efficiency, a is the internal electrical and optical lateral confinement. For comparison, we
loss (not the linewidth enhancement factor defined earlier), L also fabricated RWG lasers with a ridge width varying between
is the cavity length, and R is the facet reflectivity. Thus a plot 3 and 7 pm.
of l / v ~as a function of cavity length should be a straight A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) cross-sectional view
line. The value of a obtained from this analysis of the data is of the BH laser on a wafer in the first set is shown in
15 cm-l. Since most of the optical mode is outside the active Fig. 22, which is self-explanatory. A [Ol 13 cross-sectional
region in the laser, the value of a , which represents the internal transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) micrograph reveal-
loss, can be reduced using lower doped cladding layers. ing high-quality heterointerfaces, formed by in situ etching
The light versus current characteristics of a laser at different and regrowth between the InGaAdAlGaAs QWs and the
temperatures is shown in Fig. 21. Note that the laser action AlGaAs isolating layers, is shown in Fig. 23. Figure 22
is observed to temperatures as high as 200C, which is and the EM images taken at various positions show very
similar to that reported for In [Link].8As/GaAsquantum-well smooth heterointerfaces with no sign of formation of any
lasers. The extemal differential quantum efficiency is found to defect whatsoever. In Fig. 24, we plot the light versus current
depend weakly on temperatures in the range 20-1OO0C. For (&I) characteristics for typical BH and RWG lasers as a
temperatures in the 20-80C range, the measured TOis 175 function of temperature. In both cases, the lasers have uncoated
K. At high temperatures, TOis lower. facets and the cavity length is 320 pm. The active region
From the above results, we conclude that the overall perfor- stripe widths are 9.9 and 7.0 pm for BH and RWG lasers,
mance of (InAs),/(GaAs), SPSs QW lasers is comparable respectively. The I t h is consistently lower for BH lasers at all
to their counterparts which employ InGaAs random alloy as temperatures. In addition, the BH lasers operated successfully
the active region. up to 190C, whereas the RWG exhibited degradation above
 I

436 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECI'RONICS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1994

Fig. 22. SEM cross section of a strained InGaAs-GaAs QW BH laser grown CAVITY LENGTH ( pm )
and fabricated by MBE and in siru mesa etching followed by LPE regrowth
of p--p-n AlGaAs cladding layers. Fig. 25. CW light output of strained InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs BH lasers as a
function of cavity length.

"0 100 200 300 400

CURRENT ( mA )

Fig. 26. CW L-I characteristics per face of InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs BH

lasers of different cavity lengths with uncoated facets.
Fig. 23. A [200] centered dark-field [Oll] XTEM micrograph showing
the heterointerfaces, formed by in situ etching and regrowth, between the
InGaAs/GaAs QW's and the AlGaAs isolating layers.

L = 800 pm

z 3 -40 -20 0 20 40 -20 0 20

Y

E ANGLE, 8 ( degrees )
3 2
Fig. 27. Far-field pattems of InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs BH laser with
W = 3 p m and L = 800pm.
1

0
0 40 80 120 160 However, due to the large active width, these BH lasers emit
Current ( mA )
in several longitudinal modes.
Fig. 24. Comparison of temperature dependence of L-I characteristics of As stated earlier, by reducing the AlAs content to 0.3 in
strained InGaAs/GaAs/AIGaAs QW BH and RWG lasers. the cladding layer of the second set of wafers, we are able
to reduce the active region width (W) to 3 pm, which is
important for the fundamental mode operation. In Fig. 25,
158OC. The yield and uniformity of BH lasers were remarkably we plot the CW L- I characteristics as a function of cavity
high despite the fact that the sample processed was very small. length ( L )of typical lasers on one of these wafers. We obtain a
The BH lasers were tested up to 97OC with 45 mW output minimum I t h of 2.5 mA for 300400-pm-long lasers. The L-I
power per facet, and no kinks in the G I curves were observed. characteristics per facet of three typical lasers with uncoated
In contrast, the RWG laser had kinks in the L-I curves which facets fabricated on this wafer with L = 500,800, and 1300
shifted to a lower current with increasing temperature. Further, pm are shown in Fig. 26. All three lasers exhibit kink-free
on another wafer in this batch, a CW power of 150 mW per GI characteristics up to currents corresponding to a current
facet at 986 nm was measured from a typical 400-pm-long density of 10 kA . cm-2. At higher current density, a sublinear
BH laser W = 11pm and with no kinks in the G I curves. increase of power with current is observed.
CHAND et al.: GROWTH AND FABRICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE 980-nm STRAINED InGaAs QW LASERS 437

Far-field patterns shown in Fig. 27 of a typical laser with ACKNOWLEDGMENT

W = 3 p m and L = 8OOpm show stable fundamental We are highly grateful to our collaborators, S. Banerjee,
transverse mode operation up to 100 mW emitted power. The P. R. Berger, E. A. Fitzgerald, T. D. Harris, W. S. Hobson,
beam divergence angles parallel (e,,)and perpendicular (81) A. S . Jordan, R. F. Karlicek, Jr., M. Schnoes, A. Srivastava,
to the active layer are 16 and 36O, respectively. V. Swaminathan, and J. P. van der Ziel, for their valuable
contributions to this work in various forms. We also thank D.
P. Wilt and M. A. Washington for many useful discussions,
VI. SUMMARY their support, and encouragement in this work.

There are many advantages in using 980-nm lasers as the

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F. J. Grunthaner, M. Y. Yen, R. Femandez, T. C. Lee, A. Madhukar, Sung Nee George Chu received his B.S. degree in
and B. F. Lewis, MBE growth and TEM studies of thin GaAs/InAs physics from National Taiwan University, and M.S.
(100) MQW structures, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 46, pp. 983-985, 1985. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science from the
J. M. Gerad, J. Y. Marzin, C. dAnterroches, B. Soucail, and P. Voisin, University of Rochester.
Optical investigation of the band structure of InAs/GaAs short-period Dr. Chu is a distinguishedmember of the techni-
superlattices, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 55, pp. 559-561, 1989. cal staff in the Semiconductor Electronics Research
H. Toyoshima, K. Onda, E. Mizuki, N. Samato, M. Kuzuhara, T. Itoh, Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray
A. Okamoto, T. Anan, and T. Ichihashi, MBE growth of InAs/GaAs Hill, NJ. He joined the AT&T Bell Laboratories in
superlattice on GaAs substrates and its application to a superlattice 1980 and has been working on various photonics
channel MODFET, J. Appl. Phys., vol. 69, pp. 3941-3949, 1991. materials, device structures, and reliability for the
T. Yao, A new high-electron mobility monolayer superlattice, Japan. uast 13 years. He has published over 180 Dawrs
* . in
J . Appl. Phys., vol. 22, pp. L680-L682, 1983. the major journals, and hblds two patents in this area.
N. Chand, N. K. Dutta, S.N. G. Chu, and J. Lopata, (InAs)l/(GaAs)r He is currently a member of the Electrochemical Society and the American
superlattices strained QW laser at 980 nm, Electron. Lett., vol. 27, pp. Physical Society, and has been active in the Electrochemical Society, serving
2009-2010, 1991. on various subcommittees of the Electronics Division.
N. K. Dutta, N. Chand, J. Lopata, and R. Wetzel, Performance
characteristics of (InAs)l/(GaAs), SPSs QW laser, Electron. Lett.,
vol. 28, pp. 2326-2327, 1992.
N. K. Dutta, N. Chand, and J. Lopata, Carrier-induced change in index,
gain, and lifetime for (InAs)l/(GaAs)rsuperlatticelasers, Appl. Phys.
Lett., vol. 61, pp. 7-9, 1992.
N. Chand and R. F. Karlicek, Jr., Real-time monitoring and analy-
sis of chemical wet etching of 111-V compound semiconductors, J .
Niloy K. Dutta (M82-SM8&F90) received his M.S. and Ph.D. in physics
Electrochem. Soc., vol. 140, pp. 703-705, 1993.
Zh. I. Alferov, V. M. Andreyer, A. 2. Mereutza, A. V. Syrbu, and V. from Cornell University in 1976 and 1978, respectively. He received his
P. Yakovler, Extremely low threshold current AlGaAs BH QW lasers [Link]. (Honors) and [Link]. in physics from St. Stephens College, New Delhi,
grown by LPE, Appl. Phys. Len., vol. 57, pp. 2873-2875, 1990. in 1972 and 1974, respectively.
A. Y. Syrbu, Buried heterostructure formation processes for high- Dr. Dutta is head of the Optoelectronic Device Research Department at
perfonnance devices, in Advanced Semiconductor Epitaxial Growth AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ. He joined Bell Laboratories
Processes and Lateral and Vertical Fabrication, R. J. Malik et al., Ed., in 1979, where he has made numerous contributions to the research and
Proc. SPIE 1676, 1992, pp. 122-129. development of semiconductor lasers for lightwave transmission systems. He
P. R. Berger, N. K. Dutta, J. Lopata, S. N. G. Chu, and N. Chand, has coauthored a book on Long Wavelength Semiconductor Lasers.
Monolithic integration of GaAs and [Link] lasers by MBE on He is a fellow of the IEEE, the Optical Society of America, and the
GaAs, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 58, pp. 269&2700, 1991. International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE).
N. K. Dutta, J. Wynn, D. L. Sivco, and A. Y. Cho, Linewidth
enhancement factor in strained QW lasers, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 56,
pp. 2293-2294, 1990.
S. Banerjee, A. K. Srivastava, and N. Chand, Reduction in linewidth
enhancement factor for In0 2Gao.s As/GaAs/[Link] strained
QW lasers, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 58, pp. 2198-2199, 1991.
M. L. Dotor, P. Huertas, J. Melendez, A. Mazuelas, M. Garriga, John Lopata received a B.S. degree in Chemistry
D. Golmayo, and F. Briones, Quantum well laser with single InAs from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in
monolayer in active region, Electron. Lett., vol. 28, p. 935, 1992. 1980 and an M.S. degree in materials science and
engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology
in 1987.
Employed at AT&T Bell Laboratories since 1981
as a member of the technical staff, he has con-
tributed to the fabrication of long-wavelength semi-
conductor lasers used in voice and data transmis-
sion. He is currently employed in the Compound
Semiconductor Device Research Laboratory, with
research interests that include high-power pump lasers and photonic integrated
Naresh Chand (M87, SM87) was bom in Meerut, circuits.
India, in 1951. He received the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering in 1983, and the [Link]. de-
gree in solid-state electronics in 1980, both from the
University of Sheffield, UK. In 1974 he received
the [Link].(Tech.) degree in electronics engineering
from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science,
Pilani, India. Michael Geva received a B.S. in physics and math-
From 1974 to 1979, he was with the Indian ematics and M.S. in physics from The Hebrew
government, in the Department of Electronics, New University of Jerusalem, Israel, in 1972 and 1974,
Delhi, where he was involved in the evaluation, respectively, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in applied
planning, and development of the Indian electronicindustry in general and the physics from Yale University in 1979 and 1982,
semiconductor industry in particular. Between 1985 and 1986 he conducted respectively.
postdoctoral research at the Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of In 1982, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with Professor Hadis Morkoc. Since 1986, he Murray Hill, NJ, as a member of the technical staff,
has been a member of the technical staff in the compound semiconductor and was engaged in research and development of
device research laboratory of AT&T Bell Laboratones, Murray Hill, NJ, where 111-V lasers and other devices. From 1984 to 1987,
he is at present working on the development of high-reliability 0.98-pm he served as chief engineer of Isomed, a research
lasers and nonhermetic 1.3-pm uncooled lasers. Over the years, he has made and development laboratory in Jerusalem, Israel, studying issues related to
numerous contributions in various aspects of III-V materials and devices for plasma physics. In January 1988, he retumed to AT&T Bell Laboratories
photonic and high-speed electronic applications. Some of his research areas as a member of the technical staff at the Solid State Technology Center in
include: diffusion, LPE, and MBE growth of 111-V semiconductors; GaAs- Breinigsville, PA, where he has been engaged in the R&D of photonic devices.
on-Si technology; elimination of defects and impurities in GaAs/AlGaAs He is at present concentrating on characterization of materials and devices
heterostructures; and processing, characterization, and modeling of HBTs, using surface analytical techniques. He has published 55 joumal papers and
MODFETs, MESFETs, QWIPs, optical waveguides, phototransistors, and authored a book chapter on SIMS Analysis of InF and Related Materials.
lasers. He holds two patents.
440 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1994

Alexei V. Syrbu was bom in Moldova on Decem- Vladimir P. Yakovlev was bom in Moldova on Jan-
ber 5, 1950. He received the degree in electronic uary 25, 1951. He received the degree in electronic
engineering in 1972 from the Kishinev Polytechnic engineenng in 1973 from the Kishinev Polytechnic
Institute and the Ph.D. in 1979 from the Institute of Institute, and Ph.D. in 1985 from the Institute of
Applied Physics, Moldavian Academy of Sciences. Applied Physics, Moldavian Academy of Sciences.
Since 1972, he has been with the Laboratory of His dissertation involved the fabrication, charac-
Optoelectronics of the Kishinev Polytechnic Insti- terization, and analysis of AlGaAs/GaAs injection
tute. In 1976-1977 he conducted research at the lasers with lateral mode control using LPE and
A. F. Ioffe Institute, Leningrad. For two months in situ melt-back, under the guidance of Prof. J.
in 1982 and 1990 he was a visiting fellow at the Alferov.
Sheffield University, Great Britain. His research Since 1973, he has been with the Laboratory of
addressed AlGaAs/GaAs and InGaAsP/InP LPE growth and melt-etching Optoelectronics of the Kishinev Polytechnic Institute, where he worked on
selectivity and new processes for high-performance light-emitting device the growth and fabrication of solar cells, and on semiconductor lasers and
fabncation. In 1983 Dr. Syrbu was awarded the Soviet Union prize for their applications in fiber optics, medicine, etc. His current research interests
contribution to light-emitting devices. include epitaxial growth, semiconductor lasers, and optical communications.

Alexandru Z. Mereutza was bom in Moldova

on November 4, 1960. He received the degree in
physics in 1983 from the Kishinev State University
and Ph.D. in 1993 from the Institute of Applied
Physics, Moldavian Academy of Sciences. Since
1986 he has been with the Laboratory of Optoelec-
tronics of the Kishinev Polytechnic Institute. His
research interests include A3B5 epitaxial growth,
laser diodes, and applications.