Arizona Board of Regents, a Body Corporate

Philip Dowd

Yong-Hang Zhang

Wolfgang Braun

Shane R Johnson

Chang-Zhi Guo

The invention discloses improved structures of light-processing (e.g. light-emitting and light-absorbing/sensing) devices, in particular Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), such as may find use in telecommunications applications. The disclosed VSCAL devices and production methods provide for an active region having a quantum well structure grown on GaAs-containing substrates, thus providing processing compatibility for light having wavelength in the range 1.0 to 1.6 &#x3bc;m. The active region structure combines strain-compensating barriers with different band alignments in the quantum wells to achieve a long emission wavelength while at the same time decreasing the strain in the structure. The improved functioning of the devices disclosed results from building them with multicomponent alloy layers having a large number of constituents. The invention discloses as a key constituent in the proposed alloy layers for the active region a substance, such as nitrogen (N), suitable for reducing bandgap energy (i.e., increasing light wavelength) associated with the layers while at the same time lowering the lattice constant associated with the structure and hence lowering strain.

Long wavelength pseudomorphic InGaNPAsSb type-I and type-II active layers for the gaas material system

A compound semiconductor device is provided that includes a substrate and an active region disposed above the substrate. The active region includes at least two different pseudomorphic layers, the first layer having the form In Ga P As Sb , and the second layer having the form In Ga P As Sb . The first layer includes at least In, Ga, and As, and the second layer includes at least Ga, As, and Sb. It is preferable for the substrate to be GaAs or Al Ga As (0<p<1), or to have a lattice constant close to or equal to that of GaA For the first layer, it is preferable if x is between 0.05 and 0.7, y is between 0 and 0,35, z is between 0.45 and 1, and 1&minus;y&minus;z is between 0 and 0.25. For the second layer, it is preferable if q is between 0 and 0.25 and 1&minus;r&minus;s is between 0.25 and 1.

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Tempe, AZ, United States of America

Philip Dowd