Single heterostructure lasers of PbS1-xSexand Pb1-xSnxSe with wide tunability

Single-heterostructure diode lasers formed by compositional interdiffusion in PbS
1-x
Se
x
and Pb
1-x
Sn
x
Se and by liquid-phase-epitaxy (LPE) in Pb
1-x
Sn
x
Se show Performance characteristics significantly better than those observed in conventional homostructure lasers. Higher operating temperatures were obtained for all compositions, with CW operation above 77 K being achieved for compositions corresponding to wavelengths from 4.1 to 12.7 μm. Single-ended, CW powers as high as 70 mW, corresponding to
\eta_{ext} = 44
percent were observed in PbS
1-x
Se
x
devices.