1.3-μm-range InGaAs metamorphic laser for low power consumption operation

We demonstrated a 1.3-μm-range metamorphic short cavity laser with a high characteristic temperature (T₀=200K). The bias current for 10-Gbps modulation at high temperature was reduced and we revealed the potential for low-power consumption operation.

1. Introduction

There is a strong demand for the efficient use of electric power in telecom and Ethernet systems. The power consumption of light sources can be greatly reduced by removing the temperature controller of laser modules and suppressing the rise in the drive current at high temperature. We use metamorphic growth technology to increase the flexibility when choosing materials with lattice constants different from that of InP with the aim of realizing improved carrier confinement under high temperature. Several lasers have been realized with a lattice constant between those of GaAs and InP by using metamorphic growth technology [1]–[3]. A metamorphic laser operates at high temperature; however, the characteristic temperature still needs to be increased. In this paper, we report the improved temperature characteristics of a laser on an InGaAs metamorphic buffer with an increased conduction band offset between the p-cladding layer and the separately confined hetero-structure (SCH) that we achieved by inserting an electron stopper layer.