Heterostructure semiconductor lasers prepared by molecular beam epitaxy

0.72-0.88 micron (AlGa)As, 1.3-1.65 microns GaInAsP and AlGaInAs, and 1.78 microns AlGaSb double-heterostructure (DH) lasers were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. For AlGaAs DH lasers very low 300 K threshold current densities and long operating life (mean time to failure greater than 1,000,000 h at 300 K) were achieved and optical transmitters containing MBE-grown lasers have been field-tested. For lasers with lasing wavelength greater than 1 micron, MBE is in the development stage. The unique capabilities of MBE as an epitaxial growth technique and its important contributions to the field of optoelectronics are illustrated by a discussion of a new class of laser structures including quantum well heterostructure of GaAs/Al(x)Ga(1-x)As and Ga(0.47)In(0.53)As/InP, double-barrier double-heterostructure, and graded-index waveguide separate-confinement-heterostructure lasers. These new lasers, made possible by MBE, have characteristics unmatched by conventional liquid phase epitaxial growth techniques.