Schottky barrier restricted GaAlAs laser

A new type of a simple gain-guided GaAlAs laser using a Schottky barrier restriction (SBR) technique is presented. Low current thresholds of ~2.2 kA/cm2, CW operation up to 70°C with a T0 = 160°, and a high coupling efficiency to multimode fibres are comparable to the high-quality lasers prepared with more traditional current restriction methods. This excellent performance has been achieved with extremely simple processing afforded by the SBR scheme. Although these SBR lasers have not yet been subjected to aging tests, GaAIAs LEDs fabricated in an identical fashion show excellent reliability.