MOVPE growth of (GaIn)As/Ga(AsSb)/(GaIn)As type-II heterostructures on GaAs substrate for near infrared laser applications

The growth of high quality (GaIn)As/Ga(AsSb)/(GaIn)As “W”-quantum well heterostructures is discussed with respect to their application in 1300 nm laser devices. The structures are grown using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy and characterized using high-resolution X-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence measurements. The agreement between experimental high-resolution X-ray diffraction patterns and full dynamical simulations is verified for these structurally challenging heterostructures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy is used to demonstrate that the structure consists of well-defined quantum wells and forms the basis for future improvements of the optoelectronic quality of this materials system. By altering the group-V gas phase ratio, it is possible to cover a large spectral range between 1200 nm and 1470 nm using a growth temperature of 550 °C and a V/III ratio of 7.5. A comparison of a sample with a photoluminescence emission wavelength at 1360 nm with single quantum well material reference samples proves the type-II character of the emission. A further optimization of these structures for application in 1300 nm lasers by applying different V/III ratios yields a stable behavior of the photoluminescence intensity using a growth temperature of 550 °C.