CNET of France uses organo-metallic epitaxy for laser

CNET's Bagneux laboratory has just determine the characteristics of the first 1.3 microns GaInAsP laser chips produced by means of organo-metallic epitaxy on InP at atmospheric pressure. The results of the first complete after test (pulsed threshold current density of 1,200 A/sq cm at room temperature for laser 100 microns wide and 500 microns long; low feature dispersion, high quantity yield) are encouraging. They seem to indicate that with appropriate structures (for example, embedded ribbon lasers), it may be possible to construct direct current lasers that function at room temperature with threshold currents of 30 to 100 mA. The results are among the best in the world (CNET's threshold current is only 40% greater than the Thomson record achieved with a reduced-pressure organo-metallic epitaxial method) and are comparable to those recently publilshed by Bell Labs (3,600 A/sq cm at 1.36 microns, the first to have determined the characteristics of lasers made using the same method.