Injection-Enhanced Dislocation Glide under Uniaxial Stress in GaAs–(GaAl)As Double Heterostructure Laser

By applying uniaxial stresses of the order of 108–9 dyn/cm2 to (GaAs–(GaAl)As DH lasers in addition to the forward bias current, the development of straight dark lines is observed in the electron beam induced junction current mode using an SEM. They are identified by a TEM as glide dislocations of the /{111} slip system that reflect the resolved shear stress on the slip planes. It is noted that, when no carriers are injected, these dislocations can scarcely be observed in the specimen with an external uniaxial stress. This fact suggests that the enhancement effect of carrier injection on the dislocation glide motion. It is also observed that once drak lines are introduced in the active layer, the dark lines propagate from these drak lines, indicating that the process-induced internal stresses can give rise to the generation of the dark lines.