Abstract

Midwave (2-5 μm) infrared diode lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are required for a variety of applications including in situ chemical sensing and process monitoring, laser radar, fluoride-based fiber communications, and infrared countermeasures. As-rich, InAsSb heterostructures may display unique electronic properties that are beneficial to the performance of midwave infrared emitters. In biaxially compressed InAsSb, strain breaks the valence band degeneracy and increases the threshold energy of the dominant Auger process (CHCC or Auger-1).¹ With this improvement, the wavelength of diode lasers operating at room temperature may be extended from recently demonstrated 2,1– 2.3 μm devices (in unstrained InGaAsSb)² to the 3–5 μm range where emitters will be limited by Auger processes. In this paper we report the first prototype emitters, an optically pumped laser and a light-emitting diode (LED), constructed from biaxially compressed, InAsSb heterostructures.

© 1994 Optical Society of America