Efficient small-area GaAs-Ga_1-xAl_xAs heterostructure electroluminescent diodes coupled to optical fibers

Abstract

A GaAs-Ga <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1-x</inf> Al <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</inf> As heterostructure prepared by liquid-phase epitaxy has been employed in the fabrication of efficient small-area (50-µm diameter) electroluminescent diodes, and the light output has been coupled into optical fibers. The light output through a short fiber was about 1 mW at a wavelength of 0.9 µm for a bias current of 200 mA dc. By comparison, the output from the most efficient diffused GaAs diodes of similar geometry was about 0.4 mW at this current.