Effect of the active region thickness on characteristics of semiconductor lasers based on asymmetric AlGaAs/GaAs/InGaAs heterostructures with broadened waveguide

The effect of the active region thickness on the basic characteristics of high-power semiconductor lasers based on AlGaAs/GaAs/InGaAs asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures grown by MOCVD epitaxy has been studied. It is shown that the threshold current, temperature sensitivity of the threshold current density, internal quantum efficiency of stimulated emission, and differential quantum efficiency are improved as the active region thickness increases. It is demonstrated that the maximum attainable optical emission power of a semiconductor laser and the internal quantum efficiency of photoluminescence are the most sensitive to defect formation in the heterostructure and become lower as the critical thickness of the strained InxGa1-x As layer in the active region is exceeded.