Novel materials and device design by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition for use in infrared emitters

The authors have grown AlSb and AlAs{sub x}Sb{sub 1{minus}x} epitaxial layers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD) using trimethylamine or ethyldimethylamine alane, triethylantimony and arsine. These layers were successfully doped p- or n-type using diethylzinc or tetraethyltin, respectively. They examined the growth of AlAs{sub x}Sb{sub 1{minus}x} using temperatures of 500 to 600 C, pressures of 65 to 630 torr, V/III ratios of 1--17, and growth rates of 0.3 to 2.7 {micro}m/hour in a horizontal quartz reactor. They have also grown gain-guided, injection lasers using AlAsSb for optical confinement and a strained InAsSb/InAs multi-quantum well active region using MOCVD. The semi-metal properties of a p-GaAsSb/n-InAs heterojunction were utilized as a source for injection of electrons into the active region of the laser. In pulsed mode, the laser operated up to 210 K with an emission wavelength of 3.8--3.9 {micro}m. The dependence of active region composition on wavelength was determined. They also report on the 2-color emission of a light-emitting diode with two different active regions to demonstrate multi-stage operation of these devices