Room-Temperature Continuous-Wave Operation of 2.3-$\mu$m Sb-Based Electrically Pumped Monolithic Vertical-Cavity Lasers

Room-temperature continuous-wave (CW) operation of GaSb-based monolithic microcavity vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers operating near 2.3 mum is presented. These devices were composed of two n-doped AlAsSb-GaSb Bragg mirrors, a type-I GaInAsSb-AlGaAsSb multiquantum-well active region, and an n
⁺⁺
-InAsSb/p
⁺⁺
-GaSb tunnel junction. CW laser operation was observed up to 294 K. A CW threshold current density as low as 1.1 kA ldr cm
^-2
was obtained at 284 K for 60-mum-diameter devices (20-mum-diameter emitting area).