Long-Wavelength Semiconductor Lasers

PREFACE: Since its invention in 1962, the semiconductor laser has come a long way. Advances in material purity and epitaxial growth techniques have led to a variety of semiconductor lasers covering a wide wavelength range of 0.3-100microns. The development during the 1970s of GaAs semiconductor lasers, emitting in the near-infrared region of 0.8-0.9micron, resulted in their use for the first generation of optical fiber communication systems.