High power mid-infrared lasers based on the type II heterostructures with asymmetric band offset confinement for the spectral range 3.2-3.4 /spl mu/m

Summary form only given. We propose a new physical approach to design mid-IR lasers based on Ill-V compounds operating in the spectral range 3-4 /spl mu/m. The using of the wide-gap confined layers with large band offsets at the narrow-gap active layer heteroboundaries allows to create the high barriers for carriers and to reduce leakage current from an active region, that leads to increase the quantum efficiency of the emission due to the strong accumulation of the recombining carriers. Theoretical models of a new asymmetric laser combining the advantages of type I and type II heterostructures are discussed. This approach was successfully used for fabrication of the high power lasers operating at /spl lambda/=3.26 /spl mu/m. The laser structure containing the narrow-gap active InGaAsSb layer sandwiched by the wide-gap InAsSbP and GaInAsSb layers lattice-matched to InAs substrate was grown by liquid phase epitaxy.