∼8.5 μm-emitting InP-based quantum cascade lasers grown on GaAs by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Room-temperature, pulsed-operation lasing of 8.5 μm-emitting InP-based quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), with low threshold-current density and watt-level output power, is demonstrated from structures grown on (001) GaAs substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Prior to growing the laser structure, which contains a 35-stage In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As lattice-matched active-core region, a ∼2 μm-thick nearly fully relaxed InP buffer with strained 1.6 nm-thick InAs quantum-dot-like dislocation-filter layers was grown. A smooth terminal buffer-layer surface, with roughness as low as 0.4 nm on a 10 × 10 μm2 scale, was obtained, while the estimated threading-dislocation density was in the mid-range × 108 cm−2. A series of measurements, on lasers grown on InP metamorphic buffer layers (MBLs) and on native InP substrates, were performed for understanding the impact of the buffer-layer's surface roughness, residual strain, and threading-dislocation density on unipolar devices such as QCLs. As-cleaved devices, grown on InP MBLs, were fabricated as 25 μm × 3 mm deep-etched ridge guides with lateral current injection. The results are pulsed maximum output power of 1.95 W/facet and a low threshold-current density of 1.86 kA/cm2 at 293 K. These values are comparable to those obtained from devices grown on InP: 2.09 W/facet and 2.42 kA/cm2. This demonstrates the relative insensitivity of the device-performance metrics on high residual threading-dislocation density, and high-performance InP-based QCLs emitting near 8 μm can be achieved on lattice-mismatched substrates.