1.3 μm decoupled confinement heterostructure lasers grown by chemical beam epitaxy

A novel 1.3 μm quantum well laser structure, the decoupled confinement heterostructure (DCH) laser is presented. This laser has, at the same time, deep quantum wells and low band-gap confinement layers, which leads to high optical confinement. Internal barriers prevent carriers from leaking into the confinement layers. We compare results obtained on DCH and conventional 1.3 μm quantum well lasers grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE). The DCH lasers have a transparency current density as low as 140 A/cm2, internal optical losses of only 5 cm−1 and their temperature performance has been improved over that of conventional quantum well lasers. Measurements of the spontaneous emission of these lasers clearly show the reduction of carrier leakage at higher temperatures.