Very low current threshold GaAs/Al0.5Ga0.5As double-heterostructure lasers grown by chemical beam epitaxy.

The first device performance of GaAs/Al(x)Ga(1-x)As double- heterostructure (DH) lasers grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) is reported. Very low averaged current threshold densities of ~500A/cm(2) were obtained for wafers with active layer thicknesses of ~500-1000angstroms and confinement layers of Al0.5Ga0.5As. Such current threshold densities were similar to those obtained from the best wafers grown by other techniques. This unequivocally established that CBE is capable of producing high optical quality multi-layer heterostructures. Further, extreme device uniformity was also obtained.