Electrically pumped continuous-wave 1.3 µm InAs/GaAs quantum dot lasers monolithically grown on on-axis Si (001) substrates.

We report on the first electrically pumped continuous-wave (cw) InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) lasers monolithically grown on on-axis Si (001) substrates without any intermediate buffer layers. A 400 nm antiphase boundary (APB) free epitaxial GaAs film with a small root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness of 0.86 nm was first deposited on a 300 mm standard industry-compatible on-axis Si (001) substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The QD laser structure was then grown on this APB-free GaAs/Si (001) virtual substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Room-temperature cw lasing at ~1.3 µm has been achieved with a threshold current density of 425 A/cm2 and single facet output power of 43 mW. Under pulsed operation, lasing operation up to 102 °C has been realized, with a threshold current density of 250 A/cm2 and single facet output power exceeding 130 mW at room temperature.