Abstract

We have observed optically pumped lasing in single-quantum-well (SQW) microlasers with diameters as small as ~0.5 μm. The microresonators use GaAs/AlAs quarter-wave-stack mirrors with a GaAs spacer containing the 80 Å thick InGaAs SQW. Total thickness, or length, is about 8 μm. They were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and the waveguiding structures were formed through the use of electron-beam lithography and chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE). A scaled diagram of a 0.5 μm device with file GaAs/AlAs layer thicknesses is shown in Fig. 1, and a scanning electron micrograph shows actual devices in Fig. 2.

© 1991 Optical Society of America