Strain-compensated InGaAsSb multiple quantum-wells with digital AlGaAsSb barriers for midinfrared lasers

Midinfrared InGaAsSb-AlGaAsSb strain-compensated multiple quantum-wells (SCMQW) have been grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. Short-period (AlGaAsSb)/sub y/--(AlGaSb)/sub 1-y/ digital barriers were employed to avoid growth interruptions at the barrier-well interfaces, thereby significantly improving the structural and optical properties of the InGaAsSb SCMQW as evidenced by X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements. Based on these high-quality SCMQW, a room-temperature threshold current density as low as 163 A/cm
²
was achieved for 1000-μm-long broad-area lasers emitting at 2.38 μm in pulsed mode. The 880-μm-long lasers retained a high characteristic temperature (T
₀
) of 165 K up to 80/spl deg/C and could operate at temperatures above 100/spl deg/C. A typical wavelength blueshift of 38 meV was observed in the SCMQW laser samples compared to the SCMQW-only samples.