Selective lasing of InGaAs quantum-wire array on a V-grooved GaAs substrate by distributed optical feedback

Distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers were fabricated by using strained InGaAs quantum-wire (QWR) arrays on V-grooved GaAs substrates as an active grating. After characterizing the luminescence from the QWRs and parasitic quantum wells (QWLs), a DFB laser cavity incorporating such a QWR array with its emission wavelength matched to the Bragg wavelength was designed and fabricated. The wavelength selectivity of the DFB cavity was found to strongly support the QWR emission, and DFB lasing from QWR gain up to 145 K has been achieved under pulsed current. The emission from the parasitic QWLs was suppressed by the DFB filtering and the loss induced by coupling to radiation modes. The DFB cavity was shown to be essential for obtaining lasing from QWRs on V-grooved substrates.