Improved waveguide designs for 9.0μm GaAs-based quantum cascade laser （QCL） structures are presented. Modal losses and confinement factors are calculated for TM modes with the transfer matrix method （TMM） and effective index method （EIM）. The thicknesses of the cladding layer and waveguide layer, the ridge-width, and the cavity length are all taken into account. Appropriate thicknesses of epilayers are given with lower threshold gain and more economical material growth time.
Room temperature operation is an important criterion for high performance of quantum cascade lasers. A strain-compensated quantum cascade laser（λ≈5.5μm） with optimized waveguide structure lasing at room temperature is reported. Accurate control of layer thickness and strain-compensated material composition is demonstrated using X-ray diffraction. An output power of at least 45mW per facet is realized for a 20μm-wide and 2mm-long laser at room temperature.
The wet oxidation of AlGaAs with high Al content in a distributed Bragg reflectors （DBR） is studied by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. Some voids distribute along the oxide/GaAs interfaces due to the stress induced by the wet oxidation of the AlGaAs layers. These voids decrease the shrinkage of the Al2O3 layers to 8% instead of the theoretical 20% when compared to the unoxidized AlGaAs layers. With the extension of oxidation time, the reactants are more completely transported to the front interface and the products are more completely transported out along the porous interfaces. As a result,the oxide quality is better.
