*Corresponding author. Tel.

: #1-650-812-4109; fax: #1-

650-812-4105.
E-mail address: kneissl@parc.xerox.com (M. Kneissl)
Journal of Luminescence 87}89 (2000) 135}139
Invited Paper
Performance and optical gain characteristic
of InGaN MQW laser diodes
Michael Kneissl*, Chris G. Van de Walle, David P. Bour, Linda T. Romano,
Lynford L. Goddard, Cyrus P. Master, John E. Northrup, Noble M. Johnson
Electronic Materials Laboratory, Xerox Parc, 3333 Coyote Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
Abstract
This paper discusses the performance of InGaN multi-quantum well (MQW) laser diodes and the e!ects of composi-
tion #uctuations on the optical gain characteristics. Pulsed threshold current densities as low as 4.8 kA/cm` have been
observed for ridge-waveguide laser diodes allowing room-temperature continuous-wave (cw) operation with threshold
currents of 125 mA and operating voltages of 6.5 V. The e!ects of composition #uctuations in the InGaN alloy were
investigated by comparing theoretical and experimental gain spectra obtained from true spontaneous emission measure-
ments, cavity length studies and cw laser emission spectra. We "nd that the distributed losses in our structures are of the
order of 45}50 cm. Using a simple logarithmic gain}current relationship, we were able to describe the experimental
results with a characteristic gain g
"
"72 cm and a transparency current density J

"2.5 kA/cm`. Optical gain

calculations have been performed for InGaN quantum-well structures, based on band structures generated with an
e!ective-mass Hamiltonian and taking pseudomorphic strain into account. We "nd that a very modest amount of
composition #uctuation (standard deviation in the In content (0.008), which produces inhomogeneous broadening, is
consistent with the experimental observations. This is consistent with TEM structural studies, which show that there is
negligible phase separation in In
V
Ga
V
N MQW with indium content smaller than x"0.1. 2000 Elsevier Science
B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: InGaN; Multiple quantum wells; Laser diodes; Gain
Enormous progress has been made in the development
of short-wavelength AlGaInN laser diodes in the past
couple of years [1], driven by a broad range of applica-
tions, particularly high-density optical data storage. To-
day's most advanced devices are operating with lifetimes
greater than 10 000 h [2,3] with the commercialization of
blue/violet laser light sources now a reality (see for
example article in Ref. [4]). Several other groups have
meanwhile demonstrated room-temperature cw opera-
tion of InGaAlN laser diodes [5}8] on the path to
commercialization. Nevertheless, relatively little is
known about the physics of the optical gain and the
origin of the lasing mechanisms in these devices. For
example, one of the still ongoing discussions is the e!ect
of band-gap inhomogeneities on the optical properties of
InGaN multi-quantum wells (MQWs) [9,10]. Some of
the previous studies have indicated, that localized states
originating from indium composition #uctuations in the
InGaN MQW active region may enhance the optical
gain in laser structures [9] and therefore be even bene"-
cial for laser operation. However, there have also been
experimental and theoretical investigations showing that
random alloy #uctuations result in a broadening of the
spontaneous emission and gain spectra, which would
lead to a reduced peak gain [10] and therefore higher
threshold current densities.
InGaN composition #uctuations are certainly present
in all laser devices and one would expect that alloy
#uctuations would become more dominant with
0022-2313/00/$- see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 2 2 - 2 3 1 3 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 2 4 7 - 1
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the InGaN MQW ridge-wavegu-
ide laser diode structure.
Fig. 2. <}I and }I characteristics of a 3 m;500 m ridge-
waveguide laser diode under cw operation at 203C.
increasing indium content. In our investigation of laser
diodes with di!erent indium content in the InGaN
MQW active region we did observe a wavelength de-
pendence of the threshold current densities. Laser opera-
tion has been achieved at emission wavelengths ranging
from 386 to 433 nm, which corresponds to an indium
content of 5}15% in the InGaN quantum wells. We
found increased threshold current densities for devices
operating at longer emission wavelengths. In order to
investigate this behavior, the e!ects of composition
#uctuations in the InGaN alloy were investigated by com-
paring theoretical and experimental gain spectra for devices
with varying indium content in the InGaN MQWs.
The InGaAlN "lms in this study were grown on a-face
sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor
deposition (MOCVD). First, a 4 m thick, Si-doped GaN
layer was grown, followed by a 0.1 m thick Si-doped
In
""`
Ga
""`
N defect reducing layer, a 0.5 m thick Si-
doped Al
""`
Ga
""`
N cladding layer and a 0.1 m thick
Si-doped GaN waveguiding layer. The active region was
formed with "ve In
V
Ga
V
N/ In
""`
Ga
""`
N quantum
wells with a well width of 35 As and a barrier width of
60 As . We compared two sets of samples, one with an
indium content of x"8%, the other with an indium
content of x"12% in the In
V
Ga
V
N quantum well.
The indium concentrations, quantum well width and
barrier width were determined by using X-ray di!raction
and assuming pseudomorphically strained layers and
Vegard's law. On top of the InGaN MQW active region,
a &200 As thick p-doped Al
"`
Ga
"`
N tunnel barrier
layer was grown for carrier con"nement, followed by
a 100 nm GaN : Mg upper waveguide layer, a 0.5 m
thick Mg-doped Al
""`
Ga
""`
N cladding layer and
a 0.1 m thick, Mg-doped GaN contact layer. A sche-
matic diagram of the laser diode structure is shown in
Fig. 1. After MOCVD growth, 3 m wide ridge-wavegu-
ide laser structures were fabricated with cavity length
ranging from 300 up to 1500 m. Mirrors were formed by
chemically assisted ion beam etching [11], and sub-
sequently a high re#ective dielectric coating was depos-
ited on both facets in order to minimize the mirror loss.
Finally, the sapphire substrate was thinned to about
100 m and the laser diodes were soldered p-side up onto
a copper heatsink.
Fig. 2 shows the light output and the voltage vs.
current characteristics of a 3 m;500 m ridge-wavegu-
ide In
"
Ga
""
N MQW laser diode device operating un-
der cw conditions at 203C. Threshold currents as low as
125 mA with threshold voltages of 6.6 V have been ob-
tained. From the device dimensions this corresponds to
a threshold current density of 8.3 kA/cm`. The maximum
light output was more than one mW per facet. cw laser
operation was observed up to 403C. The room-temper-
ature cw emission spectrum of the same laser diode
measured at a DC forward current of 160 mA is shown in
Fig. 3. The peak emission wavelength in this case is near
407 nm with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of
about 0.2 As , which is the limit of the resolution of our
spectrometer. Fabry}Perot oscillations are clearly re-
solved around the main peak with an average longitudi-
nal mode spacing of 0.48 As . From this mode spacing
a refractive index value of &3.46 can be derived.
In order to characterize the optical gain and the dis-
tributed loss in our laser structures, we measured the
pulsed threshold current density of laser diodes for di!er-
ent cavity length as shown in Fig. 4. The data represent
the results of measurements on two sets of laser diodes
with an indium content in the InGaN MQW active
region of x"8%, one with uncoated mirrors (squares)
and the other with a high-re#ection coating (diamonds).
Pulsed threshold current densities as low as 4.8 kA/cm`
have been observed. The re#ectivity of the uncoated
etched mirrors was R"14%, the mirrors with the high-
re#ection coating had a re#ectivity of about R"45%.
The dotted lines in Fig. 4 are the calculated curves for the
cavity length dependence of the threshold current density.
Using a simple logarithmic gain}current relationship
g

"g
"
ln(J/J

),
136 M. Kneissl et al. / Journal of Luminescence 87}89 (2000) 135}139
Fig. 3. Room-temperature cw emission spectra of a 3 m;
500 m ridge-waveguide laser diode measured at a DC forward
current of 160 mA.
Fig. 4. Pulsed threshold current densities Jth plotted vs. the
inverse cavity length for In
""`
Ga
""`
N MQW laser diodes with
uncoated (squares) and high re#ective coated (diamonds) mir-
rors. The dotted lines represent a "t assuming a logarithmic
gain}current relationship.
Fig. 5. (a) Room-temperature gain spectra obtained from true
spontaneous emission (TSE) measurements from an
In
""`
Ga
""`
N MQW laser diode sample measured at di!erent
pulsed current densities (pulse width 500 ns, repetition frequency
10 kHz). The dotted line indicates the emission wavelength
("400 nm) at lasing threshold. (b) Gain spectra for an
In
"`
Ga
"``
N MQW laser diode sample obtained from TSE
measurements. The dotted line indicates the laser emission
wavelength of "421 nm.
we were able to describe the experimental results with
parameters for the characteristic gain of g
"
"72 cm,
a transparency current density value of J

"
2.5 kA/cm` and a value of "45 cm for the distrib-
uted loss. As can be seen, the calculated curves "t the
measured values for coated and uncoated facets very
well. Thus, the gain}current relationship for nitride lasers
is very similar to QW lasers fabricated from other mater-
ials. However, the transparency current density in this
material system is relatively high, due to the high carrier
e!ective masses, which translates into a high density of
states. The numbers obtained from this study were also in
good agreement with gain spectra that we obtained from
Fabry}Perot modes of cw laser emission spectra based
on the Hakki}Paoli method [12]. The same "t was
performed on a similar set of data obtained from a cavity
length study on laser diodes with 12% indium in the QW
and "421 nm. Also in this case we were able to de-
scribe the data with a simple logarithmic gain}current
relationship. However, the parameters obtained for the
characteristic gain of g
"
"50 cm were lower and the
distributed loss a"50 cm was slightly higher than for
the shorter wavelength sample.
Figs. 5a and b show the measured gain spectra for the
"400 and 421 nm laser sample. A "ber optic cable
feeding into a spectrometer was placed perpendicular
to the pn-junction plane at the bottom of the transpar-
ent sapphire substrate in order to record the true spon-
taneous emission (TSE) spectra of the laser devices at
di!erent pulsed forward currents. The gain spectra were
derived using the relationship between gain and spontan-
eous emission based on a method by Henry et al. [13].
For a certain quasi-Fermi level separation E
'
the gain
spectrum g(h) is related to the spontaneous emission
spectrum S(h) by
g(h)"C
S(h)
(h)`
(1!e'FJ#
'
'I2).
M. Kneissl et al. / Journal of Luminescence 87}89 (2000) 135}139 137
Fig. 6. Calculated room-temperature gain spectra of an
In
""`
Ga
""`
N QW for a carrier density of 2.4;10" cm`. The
curves are for di!erent inhomogeneous broadening parameters
ranging from "0 to 0.06 eV.
The quasi-Fermi level separation E'
'
at lasing thre-
shold was self-consistently determined by requiring that
the location of the gain peak at threshold is the photon
energy of laser emission. Far above the absorption edge
the absorption coe$cient is assumed to be independent
of carrier injection. Thus the Fermi-level splitting E'
'
for lower currents was derived by comparing the
luminescence intensities of the spontaneous emission
spectra (E'
'
) and (E'
'
) at and below threshold for
photon energies su$ciently above the band gap and
using the following relationship:
e#
'
'
I2"
(E'
'
)
(E'
'
)
e#
'
'
I2.
Details of this analysis can be found in Refs. [13}15]. By
combining the results from cavity length studies, TSE
gain measurements and data obtained from the cw laser
emission based on the Hakki}Paoli technique [12] we
were able to quantify the absolute value of modal gain
from the TSE measurements. As can be seen from Fig. 5a
a maximum modal gain of 65 cm can be derived for
a current density of 6.3 kA/cm`. Taking into account the
total optical con"nement factor for the "ve quantum-
well active region, which is of the order of &1.1% per
QW, we "nd the material gain of about &1200 cm
at that current level for the devices with 8% indium in
the MQW active region. As can be seen from Fig. 5b,
the gain spectra for the x"12% indium active regions
are signi"cantly broader and the peak gain for the same
current level is reduced. For example, for a current den-
sity of 6.7 kA/cm`, a maximum modal gain of only
38 cm was obtained.
In order to investigate the e!ects of composition #uc-
tuations in the InGaN alloy we compared the experi-
mental gain spectra with theoretical calculations. Our
computational studies of quantum-well gain are based on
the standard expression for optical gain [16], without
inclusion of many-body e!ects. The matrix elements were
calculated based on the band structure and wave func-
tions for a quantum-well structure, obtained from an
e!ective-mass Hamiltonian generated using k ' p theory.
E!ects of strain on the band structure of the quantum
well were fully included. The band structure parameters
were taken from Ref. [17] for GaN and AlN and Ref.
[18] for InN. Band lineups between the quantum well
and the surrounding con"nement and cladding layers
were based on Ref. [19], and large band-gap bowing in
the InGaN quantum well was taken into account [20].
Homogeneous broadening was included using the
standard phenomenological approach, through convolu-
tion of the calculated gain spectrum with a Lorentzian
with a half-width of 0.006 eV [21]. Inhomogeneous
broadening (as would be caused, e.g., by composition
#uctuations in the quantum well) was simulated by as-
suming a Gaussian broadening of the energy levels in the
quantum well, and self-consistently recalculating level
occupations and gain spectra. Examples of the resulting
curves are shown in Fig. 6, labeled with the value of the
carrier density (in 1/cm`) injected into each quantum
well. For the low-indium MQW active region, with an
emission wavelength of 400 nm, the average In composi-
tion in the quantum well is x"0.08. By comparing
theoretical curves for various injected carrier densities
and broadening parameters with the experimental
curves, we "nd that inhomogeneous broadening with
a standard deviation "0.04 eV produces a curve in
good agreement with experiment. If all of this broadening
is attributed to composition #uctuations, it corresponds
to a standard deviation in the In composition of
x"0.008. This is consistent with TEM structural stud-
ies showing that there is negligible phase separation in
In
V
Ga
V
N MQW with indium content smaller than
x"0.1. For the high indium content sample, which has
an emission wavelength of 421 nm and an average In
composition of x"0.12, a larger amount of in-
homogeneous broadening is necessary to simulate the
experimental curve: here the standard deviation in energy
levels is "0.10 eV, which corresponds to a deviation in
In composition of x"0.02.
We conclude that for the 400 nm laser the composition
#uctuations in the InGaNquantum well are very modest;
assuming larger amounts of inhomogeneous broadening
would produce curves much broader than those observed
experimentally. We also note that for these 3.3 nm quan-
tum wells, #uctuations in the well thickness by less than
one monolayer (0.26 nm) produce inhomogeneous
broadening of the same magnitude as our assumed com-
position #uctuations. For the 421 nm laser, the in-
homogeneous broadening is clearly more signi"cant,
indicating a greater tendency towards composition #uc-
tuations and/or well thickness #uctuations with larger In
content.
138 M. Kneissl et al. / Journal of Luminescence 87}89 (2000) 135}139
Acknowledgements
Two of the authors, CVdW and CM would like to
thank W.W. Chow for useful discussions. We also grate-
fully acknowledge technical assistance from Rose Wood,
Mark Teepe, Tanya Schmidt and Fred Endicott. This
work was partially supported by the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under contract
CMDA972-96-0014.
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