Comparison of quantum well structures for room temperature continuous wave 980 nm lasers grown on (001) Si by MOCVD

We report room temperature (RT) continuous-wave (CW) lasing of quantum well (QW) lasers grown on (001) Si substrates emitting at 980 nm. Two different QW structures, including conventional compressively strained InGaAs/GaAs QWs and strain-compensated InGaAs/GaAs/GaAsP QWs, were investigated. Photoluminescence properties and device performance of both structures on native GaAs and (001) Si substrates are discussed. By adding GaAsP barriers to the InGaAs/GaAs QWs, the lowest threshold current density of ridge waveguide edge-emitting QW lasers obtained on Si is 550 A/cm2, measured on a 10 μm × 2 mm device at RT. The working temperature of the InGaAs/GaAs/GaAsP QW lasers grown on Si can be over 95 °C in the CW mode. This work suggests a feasible approach to improve the 980 nm laser performance on Si for monolithic optoelectronic integration.