Numerical study of strained InGaAs quantum well lasers emitting at 2.33 μm using the eight-band model

We investigate the band structure of a compressively strained In(Ga)As/In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As quantum well (QW) on an InP substrate using the eight-band k · p theory.Aiming at the emission wavelength around 2.33 μm,we discuss the influences of temperature,strain and well width on the band structure and on the emission wavelength of the QW.The wavelength increases with the increase of temperature,strain and well width.Furthermore,we design an InAs /In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As QW with a well width of 4.1 nm emitting at 2.33 μm by optimizing the strain and the well width.     

An optically pumped GaN/AlGaN quantum well intersubband terahertz laser

We propose an optically pumped nonpolar GaN/AlGaN quantum well(QW) active region design for terahertz(THz) lasing in the wavelength range of 30 μm～ 40 μm and operating at room temperature.The fast longitudinal optical(LO) phonon scattering in GaN/AlGaN QWs is used to depopulate the lower laser state,and more importantly,the large LO phonon energy is utilized to reduce the thermal population of the lasing states at high temperatures.The influences of temperature and pump intensity on gain and electron densities are investigated.Based on our simulations,we predict that with a sufficiently high pump intensity,a room temperature operated THz laser using a nonpolar GaN/AlGaN structure is realizable.     

Tapered Bragg reflection waveguide edge emitting lasers with near circular twin-beam emission

An edge emitting laser with two symmetrical near-circular spots located far field （FF） is demonstrated using tapered double-sided Bragg reflection waveguides （BRWs）. The BRWs consist of six pairs of top p-type and bottom n-type A10.Ga0.9 As/A10.3 Ga0.7As Bragg reflectors with a period thickness of 850 nm. The device has a 4° tapered angle configuration and exhibits two stable circular beams with a separation angle of 52°. Typical FF angles of 5.87° and 7.8° in the lateral and vertical directions, respectively, are achieved. The lateral FF angle in the ridged section is independent of the injection current （〉0.8 A） beeause of narrow ridge （-10 μm） confinement. By contrast, the FF angle in the tapered section shows an increase rate of 1.2 1.66°/A. The periodic modulation of the lasing wavelength is observed to be sensitive to self-heating effects.     

Optimum Indium Concentration for Growth of 1.3μmInAs/InxGa1-xAs Quantum Dots in a Well

Five InAs/InxGa1-xAs quantum dots in a well （DWELL） with different indium concentration x are grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. The high quantum dot density is observed in the InAs/In0.3Ga0.7As DWELL. The photoluminescence （PL） experiments indicate that the ground state peaks of InAs/In0.15 Ga0.85As and InAs/In0.22 Ga0.78As DWELLs shift to 1.31 and 1.33μm, respectively. The optical properties are investigated by using the PL and piezoreflectance spectroscope methods. An abnormal blue shift has been observed with the further increase of x from 0.22 to 0.30.     

A method to extend wavelength into middle-wavelength infrared based on InAsSb/(Al)GaSb interband transition quantum well infrared photodetector

We present a method to extend the operating wavelength of the interband transition quantum well photodetector from an extended short-wavelength infrared region to a middle-wavelength infrared region. In the modified In As Sb quantum well, Ga Sb is replaced with Al Sb/Al Ga Sb, the valence band of the barrier material is lowered, the first restricted energy level is higher than the valence band of the barrier material, the energy band structure forms type-II structure. The photocurrent spectrum manifest that the fabricated photodetector exhibits a response range from 1.9 μm to 3.2 μm with two peaks at 2.18 μm and 3.03 μm at 78 K.     

Impact of GaNAs strain compensation layer on the electronic structure of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The strain and electron energy levels of InAs/GaAs(001) quantum dots (QDs) with a GaNAs strain compensation layer (SCL) are investigated. The results show that both the hydrostatic and biaxial strain inside the QDs with a GaNAs SCL are reduced compared with those with GaAs capping layers. Moreover, most of the compressive strain in the growth surface is compensated by the tensile strain of the GaNAs SCL, which implies that the influence of the strain environment of underlying QDs upon the next-layer QDs’ growth surface is weak and suggests that the homogeneity and density of QDs can be improved. Our results are consistent with the published experimental literature. A GaNAs SCL is shown to influence the strain and band edge. As is known, the strain and the band offset affect the electronic structure, which shows that the SCL is proved to be useful to tailor the emission wavelength of QDs. Our research helps to better understand how the strain compensation technology can be applied to the growth of stacked QDs, which are useful in solar cells and laser devices.     

Efficiency droop alleviation in blue light emitting diodes using the InGaN/GaN triangular-shaped quantum well

The InGaN/GaN blue light emitting diode(LED) is numerically investigated using a triangular-shaped quantum well model,which involves analysis on its energy band,carrier concentration,overlap of electron and hole wave functions,radiative recombination rate,and internal quantum efficiency.The simulation results reveal that the InGaN/GaN blue light emitting diode with triangular quantum wells exhibits a higher radiative recombination rate than the conventional light emitting diode with rectangular quantum wells due to the enhanced overlap of electron and hole wave functions(above 90%) under the polarization field.Consequently,the efficiency droop is only 18% in the light emitting diode with triangular-shaped quantum wells,which is three times lower than that in a conventional LED.     

Optically pumped GaN/AlGaN quantum well intersubband terahertz laser

We propose an optically pumped nonpolar GaN/AlGaN quantum well (QW) active region design for terahertz (THz) lasing in the wavelength range of 30 μm～ 40 μm and operating at room temperature. The fast longitudinal optical (LO) phonon scattering in GaN/AlGaN QWs is used to depopulate the lower laser state, and more importantly, the large LO phonon energy is utilized to reduce the thermal population of the lasing states at high temperatures. The influences of temperature and pump intensity on gain and electron densities are investigated. Based on our simulations, we predict that with a sufficiently high pump intensity, a room temperature operated THz laser using a nonpolar GaN/AlGaN structure is realizable.     

High quality above 3-μm mid-infrared InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb multiple-quantum well grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The GaSb-based laser shows its superiority in the 3–4 μm wavelength range. However, for a quantum well(QW) laser structure of InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb multiple-quantum well(MQW) grown on GaSb, uniform content and high compressive strain in InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb are not easy to control. In this paper, the influences of the growth temperature and compressive strain on the photoluminescence(PL) property of a 3.0-μm InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb MQW sample are analyzed to optimize the growth parameters. Comparisons among the PL spectra of the samples indicate that the In0.485GaAs0.184Sb/Al0.3Ga0.45In0.25As0.22Sb0.78MQW with 1.72% compressive strain grown at 460 C posseses the optimum optical property. Moreover, the wavelength range of the MQW structure is extended to 3.83 μm by optimizing the parameters.     

Room-Temperature Operation of 2.4 μm InGaAsSb/A1GaAsSb Quantum-Well Laser Diodes with Low-Threshold Current Density

GaSb-based 2.4μm InGaAsSb/AIGaAsSb type-I quantum-well laser diode is fabricated. The laser is designed consisting of three In0.35 Ga0.65As0.1Sb0.9/Al0.35 Ga0.65 As0.02Sb0.98 quantum wells with 1% compressive strain located in the central part of an undoped Al0.35Ga0.65As0.02Sb0.98 waveguide layer. The output power of the laser with a 50-μm-wide i-ram-long cavity is 28roW, and the threshold current density is 400A/cm2 under continuous wave operation mode at room temperature.     

Passively Q-switched S-band thulium fluoride fiberlaser with multi-walled carbon nanotube

A stable, passively Q-switched thulium fluoride fiber laser(TFFL) using a multi-walled carbon nanotube(MWCNT)-based saturable absorber(SA) for operation in the S-band region is proposed and demonstrated.The proposed TFFL has a central lasing wavelength of 1486.4 nm and an input power range of 87.1–126.6 m W.The output pulses have a repetition rate and pulse width range of 30.1–40.0 k Hz and 9.0–3.2 μs, respectively,with a maximum pulse energy of 28.9 n J. This is the first time, to the author's knowledge, of the successful demonstration of a passively Q-switched S-band TFFL using an MWCNT-based SA.     

Q-Switched Large-Mode-Area Yb-Doped Fibre Laser Using GaAs as Saturable Absorber

A passive Q-switched large-mode-area Yb-doped fibre laser is demonstrated using a GaAs wafer as the saturable absorber. A high Yb doping concentration double-clad fibre with a core diameter of 30μm and a numerical aperture of 0.07 is used to increase the laser gain volume, permitting greater energy storage and higher output power than conventional fibres. The maximum average output power is 7.2W at 1080nm wavelength, with the shortest pulse duration of 580ns and the highest peak power of 161W when the laser is pumped with a 25W diode laser operating at 976nm. The repetition rate increases with the pump power linearly and the highest repetition rate of 77kHz is obtained in the experiment.     

Low Threshold Distributed Feedback Quantum Cascade Lasers with Widely Spaced Emission Wavelengths

We report lasing properties of distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers （DFB QCLs） including a doublephonon-resonance active region, at wavelength of about 8.4 μm. A broad gain spectrum is generated due to the coupling between the lower laser level in the active region and the levels in the injector, and is demonstrated by the lasing spectrum of the corresponding Fabry-Perot QCLs whose width is 0.5 μm at 1.5 times of the threshold current. As a result, the DFB QCLs employing different grating periods exhibit a wavelength span of 0.18μm at room temperature and total wavelength coverage of 0.28μm at various heat sink temperatures. A high side mode suppression ratio of about 30dB and a low threshold current density of 1.78kA/cm^2 are achieved as the lasers operate at room temperature in pulsed mode.     

Finite element analysis of stress and strain distributions in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

In this paper, we perform systematic calculations of the stress and strain distributions in InAs/GaAs truncated pyramidal quantum dots (QDs) with different wetting layer (WL) thickness, using the finite element method (FEM). The stresses and strains are concentrated at the boundaries of the WL and QDs, are reduced gradually from the boundaries to the interior, and tend to a uniform state for the positions away from the boundaries. The maximal strain energy density occurs at the vicinity of the interface between the WL and the substrate. The stresses, strains and released strain energy are reduced gradually with increasing WL thickness. The above results show that a critical WL thickness may exist, and the stress and strain distributions can make the growth of QDs a growth of strained three-dimensional island when the WL thickness is above the critical value, and FEM can be applied to investigate such nanosystems, QDs, and the relevant results are supported by the experiments.     

High power AlGaInP laser diodes with zinc-diffused window mirror structure

The technology of zinc-diffusion to improve catastrophic optical damage (COD) threshold of compressively strained GaInP/AlGaInP quantum well laser diodes has been introduced. After zinc-diffusion, about 20 μm-long region at each facet of laser diode has been formed to serve as the window of the lasing light. As a result, the COD threshold has been significantly improved due to the enlargement of bandgap by the zinc-diffusion induced quantum well intermixing, compared with that of the conventional non-window structure. 40-mW continuous wave output power with the fundamental transverse mode has been realized under room temperature for the 3.5μm-wide ridge waveguide diode. The operation current is 84 mA and the slope efficiency is 0.74 W/A at 40 mW. The lasing wavelength is 656 nm.     

Low-Threshold and High-Power Oxide-Confined 850 nm AlInGaAs Strained Quantum-Well Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers Based on Intra-Cavity Contacted Structure

The low-threshold and high-power oxide-confined 850 nm AlInGaAs strained quantum-well （QW） vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers （VCSELs） based on the intra-cavity contacted structure are fabricated. The threshold current of 0.1 mA for a 10-μm oxide-aperture device is obtained with the threshold current density of 0.127kA/cm^2. For a 22-μm oxide-aperture device, the peak optical output power reaches to 14.6mW at the current injection of 25 mA under the room temperature and pulsed operation with a threshold current of 2mA, which corresponds to the threshold current density of 0.526kA/cm^2. The lasing wavelength is 855.4nm. The full wave at half maximum is 2.2 nm. The analysis of the characteristics and the fabrication of VCSELs are also described.     

The influence of strain-reducing layer on strain distribution and ground state energy levels of GaN/AlN quantum dot

This article deals with the strain distributions around GaN/AlN quantum dots by using the finite element method. Special attention is paid to the influence of Al_0.2Ga_0.8N strain-reducing layer on strain distribution and electronic structure. The numerical results show that the horizontal and the vertical strain components are reinforced in the GaN quantum dot due to the presence of the strain-reducing layer, but the hydrostatic strain in the quantum dot is not influenced. According to the deformation potential theory, we study the band edge modifications and the piezoelectric effects. The result demonstrates that with the increase of the strain reducing layer, the transition energy between the ground state electron and the heavy hole increases. This result is consistent with the emission wavelength blue shift phenomenon observed in the experiment and confirms that the wavelength shifts toward the short wavelength range is realizable by adjusting the structure-dependent parameters of GaN/AlN quantum dot.     

A Photovoltaic InAs Quantum-Dot Infrared Photodetector

A photovoltaic quantum dot infrared photodetector with InAs/GaAs/AIGaAs structures is reported. The detector is sensitive to normal incident light. At zero bias and 78K, a clear spectral response in the range of 2-7μm has been obtained with peaks at 3.1, 4.8 and 5.7μm. The bandgap energies of GaAs and Al0.2Ga0.8As at 78K are calculated and the energy diagram of the transitions in the Quantum-Dot Infrared Photodetector （QDIP） is given out. The photocurrent signals can be detected up to 110 K, which is state-of-the-art for photovoltaic QDIP, The photovoltaic effect in our detector is a result of the enhanced band asymmetry as we design in the structure.     

Pulse Operation of Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser by Pulsed Gas Discharge with the Assistance of Spark Pre-ionization

The continuous wavelength chemical oxygen-iodine laser can be turned into pulse operation mode in order to obtain high energy and high pulse power. We propose an approach to produce iodine atoms instantaneously by pulsed gas discharge with the assistance of spark pre-ionization to achieve the pulsed goal. The influence of spark pre-ionization on discharge homogeneity is discussed. Voltage-current characteristics are shown and discussed in existence of the pre-ionization capacitor and peaking capacitor. The spark pre-ionization and peaking capacitor are very helpful in obtaining a stable and homogeneous discharge. The lasing is achieved at the total pressure of 2.2-2.9 kPa and single pulse energy is up to 180 mJ, the corresponding specific output energy is 1.0 3/L.     

Experimental Investigation of an L-Shaped Very-Small-Aperture Laser

An L-shaped very-small-aperture laser （VSAL） with high power output and field enhancement effect is fabricated and characterized. As a comparison, a conventional rectangular VSAL and a double-aperture VSAL containing one L-aperture and one rectangular aperture are also fabricated and measured. The confined optical fields in the vicinity of apertures of VSAL are detected using an apertured near-field scanning optical microscope. The experimental results reveal that the power output from the L-shaped VSAL increases about 13 times than the rectangular VSAL with a comparable aperture area. It is indicated that the L-shaped VSAL has strong power output enhancement effect. The near-field distribution of the double-aperture VSAL indicates that the L-aperture has the field confinement and enhancement effect stronger than the rectangular aperture.