High-temperature continuous-wave operation of optically-pumped type-II W lasers from 3-6.3 /spl mu/m

Summary form only given. The development of semiconductor lasers capable of emitting at wavelengths longer than 3 /spl mu/m at high CW operating temperatures has proven to be quite challenging. To our knowledge, the best result reported previously was T/sub max/=225 K for a lead-salt device (/spl lambda/=4.2 /spl mu/m). One promising approach is the W laser, named for the shape of the conduction-band profile in its four-constituent type-II active region (e.g., InAs/GaInSb/InAs/AlSb). A recent optically-pumped W structure lased CW up to T/sub max/=220 K at /spl lambda/=3.4 /spl mu/m. We report CW operation of optically-pumped W lasers nearly to room temperature. The maximum wavelength for an interband III-V device has also been extended considerably.