1.

3 lm InAs=GaAs quantum-dot laser Ground-state lasing is achieved up to 120 C for the p-doped device,
with low-threshold current density and but only up to 90 C for the reference undoped laser. The inset of Fig. 2
shows ground-state lasing spectra of the p-doped laser, with lasing
negative characteristic temperature above wavelengths of 1299 and 1335 nm at RT and 100 C, respectively. The
room temperature main part of Fig. 2 shows the L–I characteristic for this device at RT,
indicating a very low RT Jth of 48 A=cm2. The present Jth is, to the best
T.J. Badcock, H.Y. Liu, K.M. Groom, C.Y. Jin, M. Gutiérrez, of our knowledge, the lowest reported value for a 1.3 mm p-type
M. Hopkinson, D.J. Mowbray and M.S. Skolnick modulation doped QD laser.
The combination of a high-growth-temperature GaAs spacer layer and
p-type modulation doping has been utilised to obtain a low-threshold-
current-density, high-temperature-stability 1.3 mm InAs=GaAs quan-
tum-dot laser. A room-temperature threshold current density of
48 A=cm2 and a negative characteristic temperature over the tempera-
ture range from 50 to 40 C is achieved for a five-layer device with
as-cleaved facets.

Introduction: Ideal quantum dot (QD) lasers are predicted to exhibit a

very low threshold current density ( Jth) and temperature-insensitive
operation [1]. However, it is found that the temperature stability of Jth
for real QD lasers, based on self-assembled QDs, around and above
room temperature (RT) is not significantly improved in comparison to Fig. 1 Dark-field (200) cross-sectional TEM image of active region of
quantum well lasers [2, 3]. One possible reason for the low character- five-layer InAs=InGaAs DWELL laser structure incorporating high-
growth-temperature GaAs spacer layers
istic temperature (T0) of QD lasers is carrier thermal excitation out of
the lasing states to higher QD states and=or states in the barriers [4].
This is expected to be particularly important for holes, owing to their
relatively small state separation. However, it has been proposed that
p-type modulation doping of the QDs may reduce the effects of hole
RT
excitation, resulting in an improved value of T0 [5, 6]. Applying this
technique, a temperature-independent Jth (T0 ¼ 1) has been experi-
mentally demonstrated for 1.3 mm InAs=GaAs QD lasers up to 100°C
output power, a.u.

 65 C [7, 8]. However, this temperature stability comes at the

expense of an increase in the absolute value of Jth [5, 7].
1260 1280 1300 1320 1340 1360
Recently, it has been shown that the growth temperature of the GaAs
l, nm
spacer layers (SPLs) in 1.3 mm multilayer InAs=GaAs QD lasers is critical
for device optimisation. In particular the use of high-growth-temperature
spacer layers (HGTSLs) inhibits dislocation formation [3, 9], resulting in RT
extremely low Jth values, e.g. 17 A=cm2 at RT for continuous-wave
Jth = 48 A/cm2
operation of a three-layer device [2]. However, the introduction
of the HGTSLs does not significantly improve the temperature stability
of Jth [2, 3]. In this Letter, it is demonstrated that the combination of
HGTSLs and p-type modulation doping results in QD lasers with a 20 40 60 80
negative T0 between 50 and 40 C and a low RT Jth of 48 A=cm2. current, mA

Fig. 2 Light against current characteristic at room temperature for p-type

Experiment: The five-layer InAs=InGaAs=GaAs dot-in-a-well doped device
(DWELL) structures were grown in a solid-source VG Semicon Cavity dimensions 3  15 mm
V90H molecular beam epitaxy system on 3 inch Si-doped GaAs Inset: Lasing spectra at room temperature and 100 C
(100) substrates. The dots were formed from 3-ML InAs grown on
2 nm In0.15Ga0.85As and covered by 6 nm In0.15Ga0.85As to give a
DWELL structure. Within the spacer layers 6 nm-thick Be doped
regions were placed 9 nm before each DWELL. The doping level
threshold current density, A/cm2

corresponds to 15 acceptors per dot. Each DWELL was separated by a undoped device
50 nm GaAs spacer layer of which the initial 15 nm was grown at p-type modulation doping device
510 C, following which the temperature was increased to 580 C for a 100
20 nm GaAs spacer layer. This growth sequence gives an HGTSL [3].
After that, the growth temperature was reduced to 510 C for the
doped regions and DWELL structure. The active region was grown at
the centre of an undoped 150 nm GaAs=AlGaAs waveguide, with n-
type lower and p-type upper 1.5 mm Al0.4Ga0.6As cladding layers. A
300 nm pþ-GaAs contact layer completed the growth. An identical
structure but with undoped spacer layers was grown for comparison
with the doped device. Devices with cavities of length 3 mm and
width 15 mm were fabricated with as-cleaved facets. Laser character-
istics were measured for pulsed current injection (5 ms, 10 kHz). 10
–250 –200 –150 –100 –50 0 50 100 150
temperature, °C
Results: Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Fig. 3 Temperature dependence of threshold current densities of p-type
images were obtained using a 200 keV JEOL-2010 microscope. The
modulation doped and undoped devices
images were recorded using dark-field conditions with a (002)
diffraction vector, providing strong chemical contrast for the zinc
blende crystal structure. A typical micrograph is shown in Fig. 1. The Fig. 3 compares the temperature dependence of Jth for the two
InAs QDs in each layer have a similar density and an average height devices over the temperature range 250 to 100 C. Between 240
of  7 nm. No defects are observed in a number of similar images, and 175 C, the temperature variation of Jth is almost identical for the
allowing an upper limit of 1  106 cm2 to be placed on the defect two devices. However, between 175 and 65 C, Jth for the p-doped
density, a result of the incorporation of the HGTSLs [3, 9]. device increases, approximately doubling from its low-temperature

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 3rd August 2006 Vol. 42 No. 16

value, whereas, over the same temperature range the undoped sample
exhibits a significant reduction in Jth. Above 65 C, Jth for the
undoped device increases steadily with temperature, resulting in
values of 31 and 115 A=cm2 at RT and 90 C, respectively. In contrast,
Jth for the p-doped device decreases over the range 50 to 40 C,
resulting in a negative T0 at and above RT. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first report of a negative T0 above RT. Although
at room temperature Jth for the doped device is higher than that of the
undoped device (48 and 31 A=cm2, respectively) the increase (55%) is
relatively small, and a value of 48 A=cm2 is competitive with the best
quantum well laser values [10]. Above 35 C, the p-doped device has a
lower Jth than the undoped device. For temperatures above  65 C the
Jths of both devices increase with approximately the same T0, indicating
the presence of a new loss mechanism that is unaffected by the doping.
Conclusion: The combination of HGTSLs and p-type modulation
doping has been applied to five-layer 1.3 mm InAs=GaAs QD lasers.
Both a negative T0 between 50 and 40 C, and a low RT Jth of
48 A=cm2 are obtained.
Acknowledgments: This work is supported by the UK Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant no.
GR=S49308=01 and the EU funded SANDiE project, contract
500101.
# The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2006
12 May 2006
Electronics Letters online no: 20061487
doi: 10.1049/el:20061487
T.J. Badcock, D.J. Mowbray and M.S. Skolnick (Department of
Physics & Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH,
United Kingdom)
H.Y. Liu, K.M. Groom, C.Y. Jin and M. Hopkinson (Department of
Electronic & Electrical Engineering, EPSRC National Centre for
III-V Technologies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, United
Kingdom)
E-mail: h.liu@sheffield.ac.uk
M. Gutiérrez (Dpto. de Ciencia de los Materiales e Ingenieria
Metalurgica, y Quimica Inorganica, Facultad de Ciencias, 11510
Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain)
ELECTRONICS LETTERS 3rd August 2006 Vol. 42 No. 16
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