Tertiarybutylarsine and tertiarybutylphosphine for the MOCVD growth of low threshold 1.55 μm InxGa1-xAs/InP quantum-well lasers
Tertiarybutylarsine (TBA) and teriarybutylphosphine (TBP) are liquid organometallic sources that are a safer alternative to arsine and phosphine. In this work, we have grown high-quality In0.53Ga0.47As/InP quantum wells at a temperature of 590° with TBA and TBP partial pressures of 0.4 and 2.5 Torr, respectively. A low-temperature photoluminescence study indicated optimized column V growth interruption times of 0.5 s for In0.53Ga0.47As wells with InP barriers. Using the optimized growth conditions, we have obtained lattice matched In0.53Ga0.47As/InxGa1-xAsyP1-x single quantum-well lasers emitting at 1.55 μm. Broad-area devices with a length of 3.5 mm exhibit a low threshold current density of 220A/cm2. Broad-area lasers containing four quantum wells had a threshold current density of 300A/cm2 for a 3.0 mm cavity length and CW powers of 40 mW per facet for an as-cleaved 4 × 750 μm device.