All-solid-source MBE growth of AlGaInAsP-based optoelectronic devices

All-solid source molecular beam epitaxy, SS-MBE, has opened the possibility of growing GaInAsP and AlGaInP semiconductors over a wide band-gap range without use of toxic gases as source materials. In particular, the key discovery facilitating a controlled alloying of phosphorus with other elements has been the development of multi-zone P/sub 2/ cells. With these cells one can couple ease of solid material handling with a long source material lifetime and convenient flux control previously only available with gaseous sources. In this paper, we concentrate on phosphorus containing lasers and super-bright resonant-cavity light emitting diodes (RC-LEDs), grown by SS-MBE on InP or GaAs substrates. The lasers discussed cover a spectral region from 630 nm to 1300 nm; the RC-LED's emit at 670 nm and 1300 nm. Their performance characteristics, including reliability data, will be presented.